How do corporate chefs influence new product innovation? Prepared Foods profiles refrigerated foods giant Reser’s Fine Foods, Beaverton, Ore., and interviews Chef Sean Dwigans, Culinary Business Development Manager; and Chef Todd Ketterman, Culinary Manager. In this installment, Dwigans and Ketterman share how they research food trends and incorporate new flavors, tastes, textures and ingredients.

How do corporate chefs influence new product innovation? Prepared Foods profiles refrigerated foods giant Reser’s Fine Foods, Beaverton, Ore., and interviews Chef Sean Dwigans, Culinary Business Development Manager; and Chef Todd Ketterman, Culinary Manager. In this installment, Dwigans and Ketterman discuss the new product development process, timelines, and interactions with customers and their own food scientist colleagues in R&D.

The crowded field of plant-based animal proteins tends to skirt the humble egg. As substitute ingredients in baking formulations are common, but very few players are tackling the breakfast table side of the equation. David Feder, Executive Editor-Technical for Prepared Foods sits down with Harold Bollaci, founder and CEO of The Vegg New York, LLC, and Rocky Shepherd, co-founder, inventor, and artist, makers of The Vegg vegan scrambled eggs and whole egg yolk substitutes.

Prepared Foods' Executive Editor-Technical David Feder shares some new hot and spicy sauces and snacks he spotted at Natural Products Expo West 2023. The new product launches demonstrate that the category of pepper-infused foods and beverages not only is continuing to grow but is expanding in variety.

David Feder, Executive Editor-Technical for Prepared Foods media, takes a look at the trends in pasta and all things noodles, with Ann Contos, Senior Product Development Manager and Yury Krasilovsky, Executive Chef, Foodservice R&D for Barilla America, Inc., makers of pastas, pestos, and sauces since 1877.

David Feder, Executive Editor-Technical for Prepared Foods media, interviews Paul Kollesoff, co-founder of The Urgent Co., makers of industry-upsetters Brave Robot animal-free ice cream and Modern Kitchen animal-free cream cheese. Real dairy products made through the process of precision fermentation-derived real dairy proteins.

The media, and especially social media, have gone viral over a recently released study implicating the polyol sweetener erythritol in cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. If you’ve been following this controversy surrounding erythritol, don’t panic yet. Check in first with David Feder, Executive Editor—Technical for Prepared Foods as he provides some reasoned opinion on the matter.

Executive Editor Technical David Feder interviews Zilian Cheuk, Vice-president of Product Development, and Hugo Perez, an executive for ZenB US, Inc., makers of pastas, sauces, and snacks from yellow peas on how the company’s single-ingredient yellow pea pasta is not only an excellent mimic for wheat pasta but helps promote digestive health, a key aspect of immunity.

Ethnobotanist, herbalist, and author Kerry Hughes, MSc, principal for EthnoPharm shares five botanical ingredients food and beverage developers should be paying close attention to. Some will be familiar, some will be new, and Kerry will tell us what put them on her radar and how product makers can make the best use of them.

Prepared Foods talks all things sugar reduction—from ingredients to formulation strategies—with Lindsay Wisener. Wisener is the owner and principal at WiseBev, a beverage development consultancy specializing in better-for-you beverages. In this podcast, Wisener identifies some of the most active beverage categories for sugar reduction, interesting new finished products, new ingredient options and strategies for overall formulation.