Food safety veteran Sharon Beals provides her perspectives on what food manufacturers need to know about continuing the learning process when it comes to protecting workers and customers from foodborne illnesses. In the wake of the recent listeria outbreak that sent nearly 60 people to the hospital and played a role in the deaths of at least nine people, Beals notes that deli meat processor Boar’s Head and others can glean new approaches to improve conditions at their plants. Vigilance, communication and sharing information on systems that work will be key to improving food safety down the road, she notes.

All meat analogue companies face a potentially huge hurdle right out of the gate: The cost of the physical plant necessary to make their particular foodstuffs, whether in the form of bioreactors or extruders or mixers, or any of an endless number of other pieces of equipment. And that doesn’t account for the cost of running and maintaining and manning a facility. Many founders are vowing to build their business on an “asset-light” platform, but what does that really mean? Tony Moses, former executive at the food industry-focused design, engineering, construction and consulting firm CRB Group, explains the options, the pitfalls, the costs and the value of a solid TEA, which he explains in the podcast. 

In this third episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, describes how consumers feel about food safety and innovation in meat products they purchase and eat. She also will outline how product lines recover after recalls from the consumer perspective and the successful job that processors are doing in developing  new types of cuts and offering trending flavors that consumers are looking for when they shop or go out to restaurants for their meals. 

In this second episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, will explain whether consumers understand or care about the millions of dollars that meat processors are spending to upgrade their operations through robotics and AI. She also will provide data on the importance of food safety to consumers and how processors should take advantage of the opportunity to explain how these tech advances are benefitting consumers in terms of product choices and food safety. 

As robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) move into more prominent roles in meat processing and other industries, our guest this week is predicting that using virtual reality equipment — think headsets and hand controllers —  are likely to become required so manufacturers can keep up with the competition. Colin Usher is research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute at Georgia Tech University and specializes in VR systems that provide an interface between humans and robotic systems that resemble today’s high-end video games. He contends that VR equipment may eventually allow plant workers to do their jobs remotely in air-conditioned rooms instead of the cold, wet and damp floor in a meat processing plant. Usher also believes that companies will need to shift to VR systems and predicts that advances in the technology could ultimately lead to lower implementation costs. 

With new USDA rules on Salmonella in frozen and raw poultry taking effect, the fight to address microbial infection actually is also being waged on the hatchery level using research that ultimately could protect humans from some biological invasions. Our guest is Dr. Margie Lee, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. She also developed groundbreaking research on how the chicken microbiome allows chicks to fight off Salmonella after they hatch in a concept called competitive exclusion. Dr. Lee offers insights into how researchers are using these findings and how a seminar on earthworms led to concepts that could have implications in protecting other species by paying attention to microbiome conditions.

This episode will focus on a specific category of food products that includes meat that is marketed to consumers following strict Jewish dietary laws or those who appreciate the value of foods that carry the Kosher seal. Felipe Kleiman, founder and CEO of KLM Kosher, outlines the efforts meat processors (and other food companies) must make to offer Kosher-certified products and describes innovations and food developments that allow purveyors to expand their Kosher offerings. He also notes what meat processors need to do to address a looming global meat shortage that has been projected over the next decade, potentially expanding the market for new Kosher-certified products.

Several companies across several continents are blazing a trail to a future cultivated meat market for consumers. They have, invariably, run into slippery slopes and rock slides. One company that has run into fewer obstacles is Australia’s Vow. Adding a tablespoon of showmanship to a gallon of hard-core R&D, and remaining dedicated to not just novel technologies but novel food experiences, Vow is both producing a product that is consistently on the market and is planning a series of new announcements in the near future. Vow CEO George Peppou joined MeatingPod from Australia to discuss the cultivated meat business in general, and Vow’s business in particular.

With major meat processors making bold investments in high-tech upgrades, companies like Cargill Inc. are seeing benefits in terms of increased efficiency, higher levels of plant safety, improved yields on the production line and workers with new skills. In this episode of MeatingPod, Enrique Villars, Cargill North America’s Manufacturing Excellence Leader, outlines how the Minneapolis-based processor’s Factory of the Future concept is spreading to 35 Cargill plants and how the high-tech modernization effort is affecting operations. 

In this first episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, offers perspectives from the consumer point of view on protein purchases and consumption. This episode will focus on poultry, which posted measurable gains in the inflationary times compared with beef and pork. Roerink also will discuss trends among several generational demographics and the direction in which these also may be heading in 2024. The data could serve as a launching point for other consumer selections as well as potentially open doors for new concepts among protein producers.