Food Processing _ May 2025 by Endeavor Digital Editions

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Exactly Is Ultraprocessed Food?

With no universally accepted standard, industry and consumers are left to sort it out on their own.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Big and Small AI in Product Development

Giant processors like Kraft Heinz are using artiﬁcial intelligence, but so are small producers of smoothies.

INGREDIENTS

The Beneﬁts – and Challenges – of Using Upcycled Ingredients

Challenges include a steady supply and consistent quality.

OPERATIONS

Beverage Innovation Begets Process Renovation

With new products hitting the market, beverage processing is taking off.

the Digital Dive

The time for digitalization is now.

Credit: Derek Chamberlain, generated with Shutterstock AI

Just Like That ... Almost

I thought the HHS-FDA action against petroleum-based dyes was an immediate ban, then I woke up.

As I listened in on the joint FDA-Health & Human Services press conference in which the agencies sought to end the use of six food colorants, I thought they had enacted a ban. Just like that. Presidential executive order-style.

It turned out it was only a request, a strongly worded one, and one that the key members of the food industry allegedly had already agreed to. But still a voluntary and negotiated end to the use of six petroleum-based colorants (see News story on p16).

But for the ﬁrst half of the April 22 press conference I was giddy with the assumption that common sense and urgency had suddenly gripped one of the most bureaucratic of federal agencies.

No more thousands of inconclusive studies. No more publications in the Federal Register that interested parties had six months to comment on something the FDA would spend another six years contemplating. No hundred-page legal descriptions of the intended action. And definitely no highly partisan Congressional hearings where both sides ask inflammatory questions just to embarrass the invited guests and to create sound bites.

Just "We've been kicking this subject around for years, so enough is enough. Stop using

these six color additives by the end of this year. Period."

Then I woke up.

After three decades of writing about the food & beverage industry, you'd think I'd be a little less naive. I know product redevelopment, even simple ingredient substitution, takes time. And I've drunk enough of the food industry's kool-aid in that time to believe things like this need to proceed slowly.

But consider:

1. These ingredients have been questioned for decades; this isn't out of the blue.

2. There have been sizable protests against processors that use them. Hundreds appeared outside WK Kellogg Co’s Battle Creek, Mich., headquarters last October to protest the cereal company’s use of these dyes.

3. They add nothing nutritionally or functionally to the products.

4. There are substitutes, and the major companies already are using them in reformulated products for overseas markets.

And maybe the most telling point: a few months after they're gone, no one will miss them.

I am still naive enough to suspect there are some well-intentioned – but large and investor-beholden – companies

that would like to have removed those colorants years ago but they didn't want to be the ﬁrst or only one. They didn't want their fruity-loopies to look dull compared to their competitors' neon fruity-loopies.

Could this have happened under the Biden administration? Probably not, although it should have. It’s a shame it took this kind of chief executive with a record of issuing executive orders without regard to the rule of law to get it done. Fear, especially of vindictiveness, should not be a motivator, but it has been.

We can't deport people without allowing them to defend themselves ... but we are. We can't ﬁre workers without notice and justiﬁcation ... but we do. We can't close down federal agencies without carefully considering the consequences ... but we have. And tariffs? Don't get me started.

So why can't we ban the use of six questionable color additives with the stroke of an autopen? If only the government worked that way – to our beneﬁt.

Written by Dave Fusaro

EDITOR IN CHIEF

What’s New Online

Don’t miss what’s happening on FoodProcessing.com

It's a long time till our next print magazine, August to be exact. But every day, we add more content to www.FoodProcessing.com. Here are just a few of the items there now or coming in the next two months.

COMPETITION

Vote for the R&D Teams of the Year

Our annual R&D Teams of the Year contest is underway. You get to choose the top product development teams by reading their essays and voting for whomever you think is best. Tyson, V8/Campbell's and Grupo Jumex are competing in the large-company category; Lifeway Foods, Rubix Foods, Dole Packaged Foods and Califia Farms are in the medium-sized category; and Bitchin' Sauce and Beleaf Vegan face off in the small category. Read their essays and vote at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/ SWH2LZV

Daily food & beverage news

We try to write a "best of" the news every month in this magazine, but all the stories you see on pp16-19 first appeared on our website and in our daily

newsletter. Stay informed and be the first at your company to know the news by signing up for our daily newsletter. bit.ly/3yHyZLZ

PODCASTS

Odwalla makes a comeback

For those who like to listen, we add Food for Thought podcasts every other week. Some recent ones: Grupo Jumex is bringing Odwalla juices back to the U.S. market; how cultivated meat can win over consumers and traditional processors; and Nassau Candy's tips on marketing to Gen Z and Gen Alpha. There are plenty more at: www.FoodProcessing.com/ podcasts

SURVEY

What are your R&D priorities this year?

Tell us your product development priorities this year -whether that means cutting costs, replacing colors or removing sugar. It should take just 5 mins. of your time to help paint the big picture of current product development in the food & beverage industry. PLUS, you might win a $50 Amazon gift card. Take the survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/ 3MXH2FG

EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Dave Fusaro dfusaro@endeavorb2b.com

SENIOR EDITOR Andy Hanacek ahanacek@endeavorb2b.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ed Avis, Claudia O’Donnell

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Mohamed Z. Badaoui Najjar, Ph.D. R&D Senior Director–Strategy & Portfolio Sector Food & Beverage, PepsiCo

Ed Ballina

Principal, Operational Excellence Consulting (retired from PepsiCo)

James Davis

Director-Global Sanitation, OSI Group LLC

Leslie Herzog

Vice President of Operations & Research Services, The Understanding & Insight Group LLC (retired from Unilever)

Steven Hill, Ph.D.

Vice President-R&D, QA, Food Safety, Sustainability, Engineering, Regulatory, T. Marzetti

Leslie Krasny Krasny Law Ofﬁce

Jagriti Sharma

Senior Vice President of Product, Poppi Alvaro Cuba Simons Operations & Supply Chain Consultant (formerly of Mondelez and Kraft)

Gary M. Stibel

Founder & CEO, The New England Consulting Group

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR

Derek Chamberlain dchamberlain@endeavorb2b.com

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Rita Fitzgerald

rﬁtzgerald@endeavorb2b.com

AD SERVICES MANAGER

Jennifer George jgeorge@endeavorb2b.com

EXECUTIVE STAFF

VP/MARKET LEADER - ENGINEERING DESIGN & AUTOMATION GROUP

Keith Larson

CIRCULATION REQUESTS

Lori Books

ENDEAVOR BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC

CEO Chris Ferrell

COO

Patrick Rains

CRO

Paul Andrews

CDO

Jacquie Niemiec

CALO

Tracy Kane

CMO

Amanda Landsaw

EVP DESIGN & ENGINEERING GROUP

Tracy Smith

Tariffs’ Threat to Food Safety, Quality

Between ﬁnding new suppliers or adding workers, processors need to be vigilant.

President Trump’s tariffs have been on-again/off again several times in the past month. If they ever do get enacted, food safety professionals should prepare for cascading effects throughout the supply chain.

Just as some buyers in tariffed countries will shift their purchases away from U.S. suppliers, it is just as likely that many U.S. food companies will shift purchasing to domestic supply chains to save costs. Domestic growers and processors may experience demand surges, creating a fundamental safety challenge where production pressures increase faster than the food safety infrastructure.

Processing facilities operating beyond designed capacity may compromise existing food safety management systems. Rapid workforce expansion typically outpaces adequate food safety training. Quality assurance programs designed for standard production volumes become stretched if volumes increase substantially.

Companies expanding domestic production should conduct comprehensive risk assessments before increasing capacity, with particular attention to known or reasonably foreseeable hazards that may be compromised under accelerated production schedules.

When legitimate import channels become prohibitively expensive, sophisticated black

market operations emerge that target food supply chains. These operations present unique food safety hazards, as products may be transported without temperature monitoring or veriﬁcation; traceability documentation is often falsiﬁed, eliminating the ability to conduct recalls; and products may be “washed” through multiple intermediaries to obscure origin.

Product substitution represents perhaps the most immediate economically motivated adulteration (EMA) risk in this environment. When high-value ingredients face substantial tariff increases, suppliers may substitute lower-value alternatives without disclosure. For example, we might see conventional produce falsely labeled as organic to command premium pricing that offsets tariff costs. Expensive oils like extra virgin olive oil might be diluted with cheaper oils.

Food companies will need to enhance receiving processes to identify potentially diverted products by implementing enhanced documentation veriﬁcation, supplier approval processes and potentially laboratory testing to verify product authenticity and safety.

Companies facing margin compression commonly target operational efﬁciency measures that inadvertently compromise food safety systems through extended production runs between sanitation cycles.

That allows bioﬁlm formation and harborage point development, reduced preventive maintenance increasing equipment failure risks during production, and reformulation to extend shelf-life requiring additional validation.

Canadian companies may approach these changes as permanent structural adjustments requiring comprehensive revisions to supplier veriﬁcation programs rather than as temporary workarounds.

The Canadian supply chain realignment may represent a more than temporary adaptation — it may reflect a fundamental restructuring of North American food trade that will persistent even if tariffs are removed. New supplier relationships will need to be established and a holistic assessment of food safety programs should be conducted as part of new supply identiﬁcation and onboarding processes.

In these uncertain times, navigating the complex intersection of international trade policy and food safety requires specialized expertise that combines regulatory knowledge, technical assessment capabilities and strategic planning.

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The Future of Self-GRAS Determinations

Serious consideration must be given by FDA as to whether the agency has the authority to dispatch the self-afﬁrmed GRAS pathway without amending the FDCA.

In an unexpected move, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) secretary, directed the FDA “to explore potential rulemaking to revise its Substances Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Final Rule and related guidance to eliminate the self-afﬁrmed GRAS pathway.”

The announcement, which was issued on March 10, also indicated that HHS was “committed to working with Congress to explore ways legislation can completely close the GRAS loophole.” FDA may encounter a myriad of difﬁculties trying to carry out this task by way of the rulemaking process considering current statutory provisions and a host of other practical considerations.

The concept of GRAS substances stems from the 1958 Food Additive Amendments, which revised the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to require premarket

authorization by FDA for food additives. In defining the term “food additive,” Congress specifically excluded any substance that is “generally recognized, among experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate its safety, as having been adequately shown through scientific procedures ... or experience based on common use in food to be safe under the conditions of its intended use.”

In other words, Congress concluded that if scientiﬁc experts could readily agree that a substance is safe, there was no need for FDA to approve it as safe as well. Thus, this provision of the law recognizes that since GRAS substances are, by deﬁnition, not food additives, FDA cannot require such substances to be subject to agency authorization by way of a notice or a petition prior to marketing these substances.

Nonetheless, FDA did institute an afﬁrmation process, whereby a company taking a GRAS position could submit a petition requesting FDA to afﬁrm its conclusion of GRAS.

However, in 1997, FDA proposed a rule to replace the GRAS afﬁrmation process with a notiﬁcation system. This rule established a

FDA may encounter a myriad of difﬁculties trying to carry out this task by way of the rulemaking process.

notiﬁcation procedure where FDA can consider and comment on (although not endorse) the GRAS determinations made by industry.

Importantly, under the GRAS notiﬁcation process, a party is permitted, but is not required, to notify the agency of its GRAS determinations.

Several practical and legal questions arise as to how FDA can carry out Secretary Kennedy’s missive. First, Secretary Kennedy in March slashed some 10,000 jobs at HHS, which included 3,500 at FDA. Given these deep personnel cuts, one must ask whether the agency will have sufﬁcient human resources to undertake this regulatory review in a timely way.

Second, and perhaps more signiﬁcantly, serious consideration must be given by FDA as to whether the agency has the authority to dispatch the self-afﬁrmed GRAS pathway without amending the FDCA – a point which, notably, FDA had previously conceded and a point on which FDA prevailed in a case a few short years ago. Amending the FDCA would require an act of Congress.

As to the HHS commitment to work “with Congress to explore ways legislation can completely close the GRAS loophole,” several legislative attempts on the federal and state levels have been made in the last few years to modify the GRAS program at FDA. While none of these efforts had gained much

traction previously, attention by a cabinet secretary of a Republican administration combined with support of consumer food safety advocacy groups could muster bipartisan support for the effort.

However, whether such legislation could be successful without some level of consensus among FDA, the food industry and consumer advocacy groups remains to be seen.

Practically speaking, were FDA to be granted authority to require premarket notification of GRAS determinations, how the program would operate in practice would need to be determined. For example, would businesses that rely on GRAS status for specified ingredients or components be

FOOD SAFETY

required retroactively to seek FDA review, and would FDA be willing to extend enforcement discretion while that process is being undertaken?

Additionally, would the FDA review period for reviewing GRAS determinations be time-limited or could the process take years to complete, as is the case now with Food Additive Petitions? Further, what liability could extend to a downstream user who is unaware that its product contains a selfGRAS substance?

The most important takeaway for now is that Secretary Kennedy’s announcement has no legal effect on the status of ingredients currently marketed as GRAS and will not until FDA completes

its task of exploring regulatory pathways to end self-GRAS determinations or Congress intervenes through legislation. In the meantime, industry stakeholders should closely monitor legislative and regulatory developments, as potential changes could reshape the future of food safety compliance in the U.S.

Written by George Misko & Cynthia Lieberman

GEORGE

FOOD PROCESSING MAINTENANCE SOLUTIONS

Nate Hedtke Vice President, Innovation and Customer Engagement American Egg Board

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Sponsored Content

Egg Industry Remains Conﬁdent in Bird Flu Battle

With spring migration of wild birds well underway, egg farmers are working overdrive to keep their flocks safe and healthy as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI or bird flu) continues to threaten poultry and birds of all types. Not only is the industry researching ways to protect flocks, but it also is battling to restore their numbers. Nate Hedtke, vice president of Innovation and Customer Engagement for the American Egg Board, discusses why he believes the industry will ﬁnd solutions and bounce back in the near future.

Food Processing: Give a quick explanation of the American Egg Board mission, goals and what the group is working on currently.

Nate Hedtke: Think of the American Egg Board as the marketing arm of the U.S. egg industry. We’re fully funded by U.S. egg farmers, and we focus on research, education and promotion of eggs.

FP: Can you describe how the HPAI has affected flocks across America at this point?

NH: We’ve been battling this for a while now, and it’s not an overexaggeration to say that farmers are in the ﬁght of their lives. HPAI, or bird flu, is extremely unforgiving, and it doesn’t discriminate when it comes to the flocks that it infects. It has impacted all sizes and types of farms, from commercial layer farms to backyard flocks, and all different types of production: conventional, cage-free, free-range, pasture-raised and organic. We’re seeing this virus outside

of birds now in mammals and other livestock.

FP: But bird flu is not new, so what makes this year different from past years?

NH: The current outbreak we’re dealing with really started back in 2022. Prior to that, the last big one was back in 2015; we learned a lot from the virus then, but it has changed. The virus that we’re dealing with now seems to be much more resilient. We’re continuing to learn more about it, but that makes it a challenge.

FP: What’s the outlook for the rest of 2025 when it comes to bird flu outbreaks? Are we making headway in preventing them or minimizing the impact?

NH: The disease is spread through wild birds, and the spring migration is well underway. We did have a couple weeks in mid-February into early March where we didn’t see any outbreaks, but birds are starting to move again (at the time of this recording in mid-March). If history is any lesson, it’s reasonable to assume that there likely will be some outbreaks.

FP: What are the latest ﬁgures you can share when it comes to egg production, supply-chain challenges, market impacts? How do you see these things evolving?

NH: To date we’ve lost more than 30 million birds since the start of 2025. To put it in perspective, our average flock size is around 320 million birds. Nationally, the egg supply is very constrained, and it’s likely to take into 2026 for the entire industry to recover — and that assumes we don’t get new outbreaks or those new outbreaks are minimal. That’s driven by a few things. First, the normal process to repopulate a farm takes six months under normal conditions. Second, that process is not six months right now, it’s 9 to 12 months because our pullet farms have been impacted by bird flu too. Finally, consumers love eggs, and we’ve been seeing tremendous demand growth, which is putting more pressure on the industry recovery. Our focus is on trying to stabilize the industry as much as we can, as quickly as we can, knowing that there are headwinds.

FP: Talk about the biosecurity measures in the egg industry, and what’s being done there to meet the needs of battling this virus.

NH: Biosecurity is the industry’s No. 1 defense against the virus. Farmers learned a lot in the 2015 outbreak and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in extensive on-farm biosecurity practices and equipment, but it’s not foolproof. In the 2015 outbreak, it was being transmitted through lateral spread, farm to farm. So the industry implemented vehicle and truck-washing stations, and showering in, showering out of barns for workers, so that workers are not spreading it. There are farms that have implemented lasers on their barns to prevent wild birds from flying overhead. But there’s more to learn, and we look forward to working with the USDA and support the Secretary of Agriculture’s new ﬁve-point plan to help the industry.

FP: In terms of research, veterinarians and inspectors, is the government providing enough resources and support?

NH: The industry’s been very happy with the response from Secretary Brooke Rollins. She’s made it known that addressing this situation is at the top of her priority list, and I think we’ve seen that with the elements of the plan, which included support for farmers, enhanced biosecurity, looking at vaccines, etc. We’re incredibly optimistic about the

Food For Thought

Hear the conversation by tuning in to Food Processing’s Food For Thought podcast.

additional resources available to producers and the commitment to the industry.

FP: What would you say to CPG companies who might be thinking of reducing their use of eggs as an ingredient or replacing them outright as a reaction to this market turbulence?

NH: I strongly recommend they take a holistic approach to the role of eggs beyond an ingredient cost input. First, when it comes to product formulations and R&D work, eggs provide over 20 different functionalities, covering taste and flavor, texture, stability and binding, emulsification and other functionalities. There is no 1-to-1 replacement for the egg, which requires additional ingredients to attempt to match performance. You need to be confident the quality won’t change. Further, if you’re going to remove a natural ingredient like an egg, will that deter consumers who don’t know the ingredients now listed on your package? Next, eggs are a commodity, which means there are going to be fluctuations in the market based on supply-and-demand dynamics. But you need to consider all the other costs beyond ingredient. It’s going to take R&D resources and time, and potential packaging changes. Finally, the American Egg Board would love to be a part of this conversation. We’ve got culinary and R&D professionals who can help you, talk you through the decision and maybe shed light on some things you should consider.

IN THIS SECTION

» Chobani spending $1.7B on two plants

» Ferrero expanding in Ontario

» CEO retirements at Monster, Molson

‘Voluntary’ Removal of 6 Color Additives Coming

HHS/FDA and food companies apparently have agreed to remove Blue 1 & 2, Green 3, Red 40 and Yellow 5 & 6 ‘by the end of next year.’

The FDA and its parent, Dept. of Health & Human Services, have asked food & beverage processors to remove six petroleum-based colorants from products "by the end of next year." And they apparently have the food industry’s agreement.

While an April 22 press conference contained rhetoric hinting at an imposed ban, agency press releases circulated the morning after clariﬁed that the agencies were “establishing a national standard and timeline” and “working with industry to eliminate … Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 & 6 and Blue 1 & 2—from the food supply by the end of next year.”

Food & beverage processors apparently are on board, the result of friendly meetings between the industry and the regulators.

“Let’s start in a friendly way and see if we can do this without statutory or regulatory changes,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. “They want to do it. Why go down a complicated road in Congress? [Processors] don’t want to deal with a patchwork of 30 different state laws. We’ve had wonderful meetings with the food industry. I’ve been amazed.”

There are passed or pending laws in as many as 30 states that, while similar in many respects, especially about the six additives singled out, have enough variation to create different regulations for nationwide food processors to adhere to.

And processors are capable of replacements. They’ve been forced to remove synthetic colorants in other parts of the world, including Canada and Europe. “You want red?” Makary asked. He held up watermelon juice, beet juice and carrot juice.

“The transition will not increase food prices,” Makary added. “We’ve seen that in other countries.

“We have a new epidemic of childhood diabetes, obesity, depression and ADHD. Given the growing concerns of doctors and parents about the potential role of petroleum-based food dyes, we should not be taking risks and do everything possible to safeguard the health of our children.”

Makary was among seven speakers, who included Robert Kennedy, secretary of HHS. With MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Mothers as their backdrop on stage, they thanked the food industry for cooperation in meetings on this issue.

The voluntary “ban” actually covers eight colorants in all. Citrus Red 2 and Orange B apparently are in the stages of being approved, but FDA will revoke those authorizations in the coming months. And Red 3 was banned by FDA late last year, although the speakers asked the food industry to remove it earlier than the current Jan. 15, 2027, deadline.

The FDA also said it’s authorizing four new natural color additives in the coming weeks – calcium phosphate, Galdieria extract blue, gardenia blue and butterfly pea flower extract –while also accelerating the review and approval of others.

Food trade associations quickly followed with statements of acceptance. “Consumer Brands has long asked HHS and FDA to re-establish themselves as the country's leading regulatory authority and we appreciate that the administration has reasserted their leadership in response to the myriad of state activity in the food regulation space. A state patchwork of differing laws creates confusion for consumers, limits access to everyday goods, deters innovation and increases costs at the grocery store.”

Cal-Maine Egg Prices Investigated

Cal-Maine Foods, the country’s largest egg producer, reported it’s being investigated by the Antitrust Div. of the U.S. Dept. of Justice over the high price of eggs.

“In March 2025, the company received a civil investigative demand from the Department of Justice in connection with an antitrust investigation to determine whether there is, has been or maybe a violation of the antitrust laws by anticompetitive conduct by and among egg producers,” Cal-Maine said in its third-quarter ﬁnancial report.

Egg prices reached record highs in March of this year, when the average cost of a dozen eggs hit $6.23, up from $5.90 in February. In that third-quarter report (ending March 1), Cal-Maine reported sales of $1.4 billion – double what it did a year earlier – and net income of $508.5 million – 3.5 times the previous year. Despite national shortages, Cal-Maine sold 30 million more dozens of eggs (331 million dozens total) in the quarter than it had the year before.

TreeHouse Trimming

TreeHouse Foods is eliminating its chief commercial ofﬁcer role and planning for the elimination of 150 corporate support jobs. Scott Tassani, an executive vice president, business president and chief commercial ofﬁcer, will leave May 30; his duties will be absorbed by other senior leaders. In addition, the company will be centralizing and reorganizing its corporate support functions, which will lead to the elimination of 150 roles.

Big Foods’ Stock Prices This Year

Jan.2April1*April8*April24

PepsiCo$150.21$149.67$140.30$135.31

All ﬁgures in U.S. dollars at daily closing price. Smithﬁeld’s prices begin Jan. 28, when it went public.

We're comparing stock prices of the eight largest U.S. companies on the ﬁrst trading day of this year; on April 1 before tariffs were ﬁrst mentioned; on April 8, the day, they were enacted; and on our last date (April 24) before we went to press.

FDA May Outsource More, Delays FSMA 204

The FDA is drawing up plans that would end most of its routine food safety inspections work, multiple federal officials told CBS News, and outsource this oversight to state and local authorities. The plans have not been finalized and might need congressional action to fully fund, said the officials. CBS appears to be the only source of this story.

FDA did provide the TV network a rebuttal: "The claim that the FDA is suspending routine food safety inspections is false. FDA is actively working to ensure continuity of operations during the reorganization period and remains committed to ensuring critical programs and inspections continue."

The agency also said it will extend the compliance date for the Food Traceability Rule (FSMA Sec. 204(d)) by 30 months, apparently pushing the due date back to June of 2028. The ﬁnal piece of the landmark Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, it was to take effect in January 2026. The rule requires enhanced tracking and tracing systems for higher-risk foods, including cheeses, eggs, nut butters, herbs, leafy greens, certain fruits and vegetables, ﬁsh and ready-to-eat deli salads.

USDA Rolls Back Two Salmonella Rules

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is withdrawing a proposed rule that would consider salmonella an adulterant in raw chicken and turkey products. FSIS said it received 7,089 comments during the comment period, which closed on Jan. 17, and “the comments have raised several important issues that warrant further consideration.” A week earlier, FSIS said it will delay the date it will begin sampling not-ready-to-eat breaded stuffed chicken products (chicken kievs) for salmonella and the date establishments need to reassess their HACCP plans for these products from May 1 to Nov. 3.

Chobani Spending

$1.7 Billion on Two Plants

Where is Chobani getting all this money? Back in late March, the company said it’s spending $500 million – then its biggest investment ever – on its Twin Falls, Idaho, plant, increasing production by 50% and footprint by more than 500,000 sq. ft. When complete, the plant will span 1.6 million sq. ft., operating 24 production lines and employing more than 1,200 people, including 160 new jobs. The addition should be operational in early 2026. The facility produces yogurt, oatmilk and coffee creamers.

Then in late April, the yogurt company announced plans to spend $1.2 billion to build a dairy plant in upstate Rome, N.Y., now its largest investment. The planned 1.4 million-sq.-ft. facility, its third plant in the U.S., is being built on 150 acres of land once home to the Grifﬁss Air Force Base and is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs. The project is should be complete at the end of 2026.

Other expansion projects

HilmarCheeseCo., which manufactures cheese for private label, regional and national brands as well as whey ingredients, ofﬁcially opened its new production facility in Dodge City, Kan., in March. The facility employs nearly 250 people and clocks in at more than $600 million worth of capital investment by the company.

FerreroGroup is spending C$445 million to expand its Brantford, Ontario, plant to launch a new product, Ferrero Rocher chocolate

squares, and to be the ﬁrst plant outside of Europe to make Nutella Biscuits. The new plant should create 500 jobs, bringing total employment at the Brantford plant to about 2,100. There was no mention of when it might come online.

SustainableBeefLLC has begun work on a beef processing plant in North Platte, Neb. The 550,000sq.-ft. facility will cost $400 million to build and is expected to be fully operational in December, at which point it will employ some 850 people and process 1,500 head of cattle per day. The project took off after retail giant Walmart invested in the company in 2022 to supply beef to stores in the Midwest.

BauduccoFoods broke ground on its newest production facility in Zephyrhills, Fla. It’s expected to cost more than $200 million to build and will produce Bauducco biscuits, wafers and panettones. It also will house a distribution facility. The development of the site is expected to be completed in three phases, with the ﬁrst anticipated to be operational by mid-2026, the second by 2028 and third by 2030. The company says about 600 new jobs will be created in the Tampa Bay area once all three phases are open — with Phase One offering about 120 full-time roles.

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Move over prebiotic sodas and even those promising energy or focus. Erha promises allergy relief in a can. The Allergy formulation, one of three new drinks, has cucumber, apple and lemongrass for mild seasonal congestion and quercetin and nettle to suppress the histamine response in the body. It’s also high in acerola.

HersheyCo. ofﬁcially opened its new, 250,000-sq.-ft. Reese chocolate processing plant in Hershey, Pa., on Apr. 16. It is the ﬁrst manufacturing facility to be built in Hershey in more than 30 years. Nearly 100 employees work at the site, with the potential for added positions as the operations scale up.

Kroger ﬁnished a multiyear expansion of its TamarackFarms Dairy processing facility in Newark, Ohio, adding about 40,000 sq. ft. and a new aseptic milk production line to the plant at an estimated cost of $77 million.

J.M.SmuckerCo. will invest $52.6 million to upgrade its Buffalo, N.Y., Milk-Bone dog treats plant in response to increased sales of its Soft ’N Chewy products.

MaximusMeats, previously a butcher shop and meat wholesaler, is buildings its ﬁrst processing facility, a 29,000-sq.-ft. plant in Summerdale, Ala., costing $11 million. It should create more than 60 jobs and is scheduled to be complete this year.

Asian food company WowBao has announced it will build its ﬁrst company-operated manufacturing facility in Forest City, N.C., investing $6.45 million and creating 88 jobs in the area.

People

RodneySacks, co-CEO, chairman and one of the founders of Monster BeverageCorp., announced he will retire from the company on June 12. His founding partner HiltonSchlosberg will serve as the company’s sole CEO after that. The 75-year-old Sacks will continue to serve as chairman.

MolsonCoorsBeverageCo announced that president and CEO GavinHattersley will retire from the company and its board of directors by Dec. 31. He has served in the role for more than six years and has spent 28 years in the beer industry overall. The board is launching a search for Hattersley’s replacement.

Campbell’sCo. shifted two senior executives to new posts as another departs the company’s snacks division. ChrisFoley, who has been president of snacks since 2022, will leave the company after a 25-year career with Campbell’s, replaced by ElizabethDuggan on May 12. She’s currently senior vice president and general manager of Campbell’s Co. of Canada. Janda Lukin, currently senior vice president and chief marketing ofﬁcer for snacks, will become chief growth ofﬁcer, a newly created role.

HormelFoodsCorp. promoted two leaders in its retail business segment. ScottWeisenbeck will be vice president of marketing-retail, while JoeO’Connor will become the vice president of emerging brands-retail.

JonathonNudi, who’s held a number of top positions in more than three decades with General Mills, will retire on June 30. LizMascolo, currently president for North America Blue Buffalo, will replace him in one of his current roles, as segment president of North America pet (Nudi was group president of pet foods). Nudi also oversaw the international and North America foodservice segments. Mascolo has 22 years of experience across a broad set of General Mills brands and businesses.

ShawnaNelson, who started with OrganicValley as an intern 20 years ago, will take the reins of the dairy co-op from JeffFrank, who departs for MonogramFoods’ CEO position. Frank will be just the second CEO in Monogram’s history, taking over for co-founder and CEO KarlSchledwitz, who will remain chairman. Schledwitz has led Monogram since its inception in 2004.

ValleyMilkLLC, Turlock, Calif., announced the upcoming retirement of its CEO GlennWallace. He will step down at the end of this year when a successor is found, after serving for ﬁve years.

T.MarzettiCo. named Tanya Berman president of its retail business unit, luring her away from Mondelez. She has 25 years of experience in general management and marketing. Most recently, she was a senior vice president at Mondelez, leading the company’s U.S. portfolio of cookie and cracker brands. Prior to that, she held several leadership roles at Mars Wrigley including vice president of the chocolate business unit and senior brand director of M&Ms.

NatalieDyenson will become chief food safety ofﬁcer of Boar's Head on May 12, taking the reins from FrankYiannis, who was named interim chief of food safety in October 2024 in the wake of a deadly Listeria monocytogenes outbreak from its Jarratt, Va., processing plant. Dyenson was chief regulatory and food safety ofﬁcer for the International Fresh Produce Assn.

HersheyCo. keeps restocking its executive team, this time hiring TiffanyMenyhart from Kraft Heinz to become chief customer ofﬁcer and StacyTaffet away from PepsiCo to be chief growth ofﬁcer. Taffet was senior vice president of beverage portfolio strategy and marketing for PepsiCo. Menyhart has 15 years in confection; she will lead Hershey's U.S. confection sales team. She was an area vice president for strategic accounts & growth channels at Kraft Heinz. Earlier, she spent nearly 15 years at Wm. Wrigley Co. and then Mars Wrigley Confectionery.

RichProducts hired JaimieLowe as executive vice president and chief financial officer, joining the company’s executive team. Lowe brings more than 25 years of experience in global finance leadership roles, having worked for Unilever, Danone, and most recently Tyson.

GregLyons, who was chief marketing ofﬁcer for PepsiCo North American Beverages for eight years, has left the company and been replaced by company veteran MarkKirkham, who most recently was PepsiCo’s senior vice president of marketing for sparkling brands KevinMyers has been appointed interim group vice president of supply chain for HormelFoods, succeeding SteveLykken, who is leaving the company “to pursue another opportunity.”

Jonathon Nudi

Tanya Berman

Tiffany Menyhart

Cheesecake Meets Mufﬁn

ROLLOUT

Krusteaz, a 93-year-old baking brand, is mixing things up with its latest product launch: Cheesecake Muffin Mix. Recent insights from Datassential reveal that 80% of consumers like or love cheesecake, and Krusteaz is leaning into this flavor preference. The 17-oz. boxed muffin mix yields a dozen standard-sized soft, fluffy muffins with a sweet, tangy, creamy cheesecake center. The muffin base has warm notes of vanilla, cinnamon and honey to mimic the flavor profile of a traditional cheesecake crust. Makers simply add water, oil and eggs. For an even richer filling, they can add an extra 4-oz. of cream cheese. The suggested retail price is $3.99.

“We identified cheesecake as an underrepresented flavor in the muffin mix segment, so we developed a product to fill unmet demand and please the palates of muffin — and cheesecake — lovers,” says Andy Heily, president and CEO.

Iconic Bread Brand Expands into Sweet Treats

The grab-and-go snack cake aisle just got some serious competition from Flowers Foods Inc. The company is making a sweet splash with the launch Wonder brand snack cakes. The 11-item line consists of crèmeﬁlled chocolate cupcakes, crème-ﬁlled confetti cakes, glazed honey buns, iced honey buns, powdered mini donuts, frosted mini donuts, crunch donuts, pecan cinnamon twists, cinnamon rolls, brown sugar cinnamon donut sticks and peanut butter wafers.

Bold Condiments Developed With the Help of AI

Silver Spring Foods, a subsidiary of family-owned Huntsinger Farms Inc., the world’s largest grower and processor of horseradish, is adding kick to the sauce aisle with the launch of its Signature Sauce Line. Inspired by consumer insights and emerging flavor trends, this new lineup includes garlic parmesan aioli, honey chipotle aioli, horseradish bistro aioli and hot honey chili sauce.

Silver Spring Foods used Tastewise artiﬁcial intelligence to assist with the development process. Research revealed that more than 70% of consumers gravitate toward sweet flavor proﬁles followed by spicy. Garlic also emerged as a top choice, and 31% of consumers said they preferred a tangy, creamy burger sauce.

“Crafted by our ‘Zing Masters,’ this lineup honors our heritage while also leaning into today’s trends,” says Samantha Bibbs, food technologist at Silver Spring Foods and co-creator of the new lineup. “Zing Masters are a team of horseradish experts dedicated to evaluating and protecting the zing found in our products and researching and developing new sauces.”

“For generations, Wonder bread has been a staple in American households,” says Ashley Hornsby, director of brand management. “With the launch of our new treats, we’re giving consumers a delicious way to enjoy Wonder beyond the bread aisle.”

ROLLOUT

Advancing Childhood Nutrition

Children’s nutrition company Once Upon a Farm is expanding its toddler product portfolio with three concepts designed to support key areas of growth and development for little ones 1 to 3 years old. Smart Wheels is an organic soft-baked bar shaped like a tractor wheel. It debuts in one variety, raspberry beet kale, and is made with 100% whole grain oats, real fruits and vegetables and zinc for mind-body nutrition. A ﬁve-pack of individually wrapped 15g bars has a suggested retail price of $5.99.

Belly Blends is the latest addition to the company’s signature pouches. Available in two varieties — red berries, cherries & sweet potato, and banana, berry & acai — the 3.2-oz. pouches are loaded with probiotics and prebiotic ﬁbers. One pouch sells for about $3.29.

The last item is Smoothie Melts, which are freeze-dried, dairy-based melts made with organic whole milk from pasture-grazed cows, plus real fruits and vegetables. The two varieties are Blueberry Burst and Tropical Greens.

Ethically Sourced Luncheon Meats

North Country Smokehouse introduces four Certiﬁed Humane deli meats: applewood smoked turkey, black forest ham, honey ham and oven-roasted turkey. The company has also reimagined its grab-and-go packaging, which has a new look and is focused on convenience and shelf appeal. Packs feature an easy peel and reseal technology and lightweight yet rigid tray.

“The lunchmeat category lacks the flavor and texture people crave,” says Mike Kelly, vice president of retail sales. “We set out to create a line of humanely raised, whole muscle deli meats that deliver a truly artisanal bite. The new sleek, slim shape [package] helps our retail customers maximize space.”

Purpose-Driven Beverage Platform From Snoop

Entertainer and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg has invested and teamed up with Harmony Craft Beverages to launch Iconic Tonics premium functional beverages. The popularity and growth of such better-for-you beverages is being fueled by consumer demand for healthier alternatives to traditional sodas and alcohol. The brand is poised to disrupt the space with a diverse portfolio of innovative beverages.

In addition to Snoop Dogg’s hemp-derived THC-infused Do It Fluid and Doggy Spritz brands, the portfolio includes Lifeblood by Love Yer Brain elixir, Malus elevated cider, Herbaceé wine-inspired botanical-forward drinks and more.

“We’re building a platform that’s bigger than any one brand,” says Evan Eneman, co-founder and CEO of Iconic Tonics. “Consumers are moving beyond traditional alcohol and sugar-laden beverages. They want function, flavor and experience. With Snoop’s cultural reach and our proven ability to develop and launch groundbreaking drinks, we’re setting the stage for the next evolution in beverages.”

COVER STORY

With no universally accepted standards, industry and consumers are left to sort it out on their own.

Credit: Derek Chamberlain, generated with Shutterstock AI

Written by Andy Hanacek SENIOR EDITOR

It’s quite clear that ultraprocessed foods have become the latest target of avoidance for the health-conscious set. What is not quite clear, however, is which food and beverages are not processed, somewhat processed or ultraprocessed.

Discussions and debate on the beneﬁts of lowering the consumption (and, subsequently, production) of ultraprocessed foods have increased in recent times. Pages have been written about what is and what is not ultraprocessed but, as of this writing, there is no worldwide standard. Yet, achieving the goal of fewer ultraprocessed foods and reducing the processing and ingredient loads in food and beverage products would be much easier if there were a standard set of rules to follow.

Yes, there is the Nova Food Classiﬁcation system — but not every group, agency or association has accepted Nova as gospel on what is not processed versus ultraprocessed (and everything in between). The Nova system was developed and published in 2009 by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and breaks foods into four groups based on the amount and type of processing performed on the product.

Unprocessed or minimally processed foods fall into the ﬁrst group. Unprocessed items come directly from the plant or animal without any alteration after they’ve been

harvested. Minimally processed foods include those that have gone through a processing step by which “subtraction” was the focus: cleaning, removal of inedible or unwanted parts, fractioning, grinding, drying, fermentation, pasteurization, cooling, freezing or other processes. These products do not add any substances, including oils, fats, sugar or salt, for example.

Group 2, Processed Culinary Ingredients, includes things such as oils, fats, sugar and salt — products typically created through pressing, grinding, crushing, pulverizing and reﬁning of natural foods or from nature (think syrup or honey, for instance).

The third group contains Processed Foods, which includes items from Group 1 which have had an ingredient (or more) from Group 2 applied to them to preserve them or make them more palatable. Processed foods, according to Nova’s deﬁnition, typically have two to three ingredients.

Finally, Group 4 houses ultraprocessed foods, which are deﬁned as “industrial formulations made entirely or mostly from substances extracted from foods (oils, fats, sugar, starch, and proteins), derived from food constituents (hydrogenated fats and modiﬁed starch), or synthesized in laboratories from food substrates or other organic sources (flavor enhancers, colors, and several food additives used to make the product hyper-palatable).” Foods found in Group 1 are found only in small proportions in these products, if they are present at all.

Land of confusion

Even with the detail into which the Nova system goes, it is not universally accepted — the World Health Organization (WHO) and other groups recognize it as standard, but USDA doesn’t. And that has led to confusion among consumers, who are increasingly interested in the level of processing happening to the foods they eat.

“Despite the fact that the term ‘ultraprocessed’ is more commonplace, there is still no scientiﬁcally agreed upon deﬁnition for ultraprocessed food,” explains Sarah Gallo, senior vice president for product policy and federal affairs at Consumer Brands Assn. (www. consumerbrandsassociation. org). “Because of that, it’s really premature to make any dietary recommendations for the American public.”

To make matters cloudier, Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Danish pharmaceutical company behind GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, this spring announced it was interested in deﬁning ultraprocessed foods — which raised a few eyebrows.

Chef Andrew Hunter is head of culinary development for Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, executive chef for Niman Ranch, global development chef for Kikkoman, and the culinary innovation partner for The Mushroom Council ( www.chefandrewhunter.com). He believes the definition for what is less-processed versus ultra processed isn’t the primary concern when it comes to food and beverage companies adjusting to a new normal.

“The challenge is understanding how the current administration is deﬁning and ultimately enforcing

Determining how processed is “too processed” for food products is a signiﬁcant question without a universally accepted answer as of yet.

mandates on ultraprocessed foods and our willingness as an industry to adapt,” he explains. “It's important to accept that, while the administration might be the current catalyst for mandating a shift toward less processing, consumers have been asking for similar improvements for several years.”

To Hunter, the deﬁnitions aren't confusing. For consumers seeking minimally processed foods, a long ingredient list ﬁlled with things they don’t recognize communicates “more processed,” whether right or wrong. He has worked to simplify numerous products to overcome some of the nutrition hurdles that have popped up with consumers over the years, and as more people read nutrition labels and ingredient lists, processors will face more challenges to support the ingredients and processes they use.

“The consumer trend for several years has been cleaner ingredient decks with lower salt, fat and sugar,”

he says. “We need to work toward understanding ingredients, cooking methods and packaging that help us deliver cleaner labels with less processing.”

One

certainty: act now

Salt, fat and sugar are the much-maligned, and much-reliedupon, flavor enhancers found in so many food and beverage products. And the industry knows that products with too much are in the crosshairs. Consider the reaction when the FDA unveiled its proposed front-of-package nutrition box, which would call out the saturated fat, sodium and added sugars in every product for consumers to see at a glance. These ingredients are often at the heart of the ultraprocessed argument, and processors must reassess products in their portfolios with ingredients that improve their look on the scale. Hunter says there

talking about nutrient-dense foods that are part of healthy dietary patterns that have the potential to be demonized under a really indiscriminate system, if we're not careful.” are tools and innovations that can help kick off the effort today, and companies shouldn’t hesitate to walk down that path.

“R&D teams do have flavordevelopment processes at their disposal that might currently be considered unproven or unorthodox,” he says. “Now might be the right time to explore new ways to think about products and processing.”

Gallo agrees that the industry must step up, as consumers are getting mixed messages and making their own decisions, sometimes based on misinformation or misguided thinking. They’re simply trying to make the right health choices for themselves and their families and need to sort out the value of different processing steps done to food and beverage products.

“Processing in and of itself does not pose a risk; processing can add vitamins, make products more shelf-stable or give access to foods we otherwise might have to pay more to get,” she explains. “Unfortunately, the more clickbait-y discussions out there ignore the beneﬁts of processing and paint it with broad brushes, which really stands to harm consumers and possibly prevent them from accessing foods that are part of healthy diet patterns.”

Gallo cautions industry outsiders against moving too quickly or succumbing to labeling items without sound science or the entire picture, saying that many products are formulated and processed to help consumers with speciﬁc needs based on health, age or ability.

“Think about fruit or foods that may be cut up to make them easier to consume,” she says. “We're

As with any potential changes to regulations, legislation or guidelines, one of the best things processors can do is to speak up and get involved in the discussion

Foods processed speciﬁcally with health beneﬁts, shelf-life or accessibility in mind could get swept into a misguided category of processing if stakeholders don’t take careful measures to understand the reasons for certain processing steps.

Food For Thought

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now. On top of the business and development part, “there’s a really important advocacy part to play,” Gallo says, “and it’s a really critical time to talk to your elected ofﬁcials.”

Meanwhile, Hunter says, processors should be working on their product lines to minimize any damage should those foods and beverages ﬁnd themselves on the negative end of the processed spectrum.

“If anti-processing becomes the norm, lots of food companies will be forced to redeﬁne their brand strategy and rearchitect their product line,” he says. “While that might be an unpopular answer, it's better to be proactive than to employ a waitand-see strategy.”

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PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Giant processors like Kraft Heinz are using artiﬁcial intelligence, but so are small producers of smoothies.

BIG & SMALL AI AIDS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Written by Dave Fusaro

EDITOR IN CHIEF

“H

mmm. With that looming ban on red dye No. 3, I need to ﬁnd a replacement. And if we need to use that front-of-pack nutrition label, we should reduce the sugar in some of our products. Where do I start?”

Increasingly, the answer to that question is an artiﬁcial intelligence program.

AI can find those replacements – that is, after testing via computer models a number of possible substitute ingredients. That reduction in trial-and-error product development time is the prime selling point for AI programs. You might have to put in extra time in your first attempt to build the database, but once you’ve entered your company and product data that first time, successive uses will get quicker.

“Think of it like noise-canceling headphones,” suggests Ben Wolpert of FlavorMind (flavormind.ai). “It ﬁlters out 90% of the noise so you can focus on the 10% that matters.”

“I think the role of the product developer will shift over the next couple of years,” says Alexia Ciarfella, the other principal in FlavorMind. “There will always be a need for product development expertise, but I think product developers will be more involved with developing the methodology of using artiﬁcial

intelligence, thinking about quantifying the attributes of products and ingredients that we weren’t able to quantify before.

“I think our strongest partners in the coming years will be data scientists and software engineers,” she adds.

Re-creating an icon

The AI-assisted creation of a plant-based Kraft macaroni & cheese has become a classic example. Kraft Heinz was so impressed by the experience in 2022, it bought into and created a U.S. joint venture with NotCo, originally a Chilean developer of plant-based foods, which developed its own AI system to create those products.

Using NotCo’s process, primarily the AI engine it calls Giuseppe, the mac & cheese project took eight to 10 months instead of what they claim would have been 24 months.

The process: First you score your product, giving quantitative measures to gold-standard characteristics as well as goals for the new variation you’re trying to create. You feed that data into Giuseppe and the AI platform recommends formulas or recipes to the product developer.

It's a lot more complicated than that, but we’ll get into that in a minute.

Giuseppe dates back 10 years but largely was under wraps until the Kraft project, as well as one that developed an eggless custard for Shake Shack. Several other Kraft Heinz

Photo: Derek Chamberlain, Shutterstock AI

products also resulted, such as Not Mayo, Not Cheese Slices and Not Hot Dogs and Sausages. While those projects were custom and proprietary applications of Guiseppe, NotCo this year started offering the Guiseppe engine to all food & beverage processors.

NotCo developed a cocoa-free brownie prototype for demonstration purposes. It solves two current priorities in product development: ﬁnding a replacement for spiraling cocoa costs and improving sustainability.

The ﬁrst module within Giuseppe is Concept Quant. “First you create the concept from scratch,” says Bernardo Moltedo, culinary scientist manager in NotCo’s Chile headquarters. “The ﬁrst goal was sustainable replacements for the cocoa. We also add the description of what makes a brownie.”

That’s enough to start, but those are pretty vague goals. “We also

used its

have the functionality to incorporate the brand identity and recommend concepts that would ﬁt that brand identity or target audiences,” adds Alisia Heath, NotCo’s vice president of research and development for business-to-business.

From there, the process moves into FomulateOS, another subset of Guiseppe, where the product developers add more speciﬁc needs of the product, including the traditional recipe and all the ingredients for a generic brownie. It also assumes a standard process for manufacturing the product – something the client should alter to match his processing abilities.

That module also starts recommending ingredients – some that Giuseppe has in its database, including ones geared toward the tastes and other demands of different countries, plus the ingredients the client has on hand or is familiar with, as well as novel ingredients that should be considered. “From there you get a good, skeletal formula,” says Moltedo.

The final module in Guiseppe is Synthesis, an optimizer. The product developer needs to refine the variables and objectives, and Synthesis will search its database of 500 ingredients to find the optimal ones for your cocoa-free brownie. “Instead of 100 trials with different ingredients, this will narrow the field with the objectives and variables you input, also pricing, to the first five suggested formulations,” continues Moltedo.

The product developers will test those first five formulations and input their reactions and further suggestions and instructions –looking to fine tune texture, color, sweetness vs. bitterness, moisture. “The learnings come from doing the physical trials on the bench top and

having the [client’s] team report on sensory,” says Heath. “Then input into Giuseppe how well this trial turned out, how close to that control product we are or how close we are to the product goals.”

“Synthesis will learn from those first five trials, give you another five. You may end up doing 15 trials, but not 100,” says Moltedo. “This could be a loop until you get the desired product."

Even this “ﬁnal” round probably consists of three or four formulas, which should be put to the ultimate test: consumer panels. The best recipe might be chosen right away, or the consumer responses could provide more input for another round in the Guiseppe process. Eventually the outcome will be the ﬁnal product, hopefully perfect.

“Giuseppe was built to address the pain points of product developers, not to replace them,” concludes Heath, “to accelerate their ability to deliver solutions on the bench top.”

A smaller approach

NotCo may be built for big companies. An approach for smaller companies comes from a newly formed company. “FlavorMind is built for small to mid-sized shops or beverage brands that already have popular drinks but need to hit a nutrition target, ﬁnd ingredient swaps or lower costs without sacriﬁcing flavor, et cetera,” says Ben Wolpert, one of the two founders.

Wolpert is a software engineer. The other founder, Alexia Ciarfella, is a former product developer who, in six years with Mondelez, built a machine learning model used to augment the Oreo cookie recipe development process, which reduced prototype iteration time by 33%.

NotCo

AI engine to develop a plant-based version of Kraft's iconic macaroni & cheese.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Their collaboration is symbolic of AI’s melding of data science with the art of the product developer.

“FlavorMind needs a copy of your ingredient inventory, current recipe and cost sheet,” says Wolpert. “Our trials are a handful of recipe trials over a few weeks, using the ingredients they already buy or have easy access to.”

They warn that an initial project for a company will require a fair amount of up-front work, primarily to “digitize” and quantify that company’s products, ingredients, corporate goals and other critical inputs.

“You need to digitize a robust set of characteristics, things that you can grade somehow in a quantitative way,” says Wolpert. “You need to have them in a database rather than just written down somewhere, having them in a way that the model can work with.

“This is a necessary ﬁrst step, and a lot of companies will

need to get there at some point anyway,” he continues. “One of the challenges is collecting this data or formulating a coherent way for you to capture this data, the characteristics that describe the product.”

“Sweetness – how do you talk about that in numbers?” asks Ciarfella. “You need to quantify the total amount you want, the calories, the particle size, the desired sweetness level, its sensory attributes. You can get creative with how you describe things, but you need to get it all into numbers.”

“You can replace sugar with something that gives the same amount of sweetness, but it may bake differently, affect texture or act differently as the product ages,” Wolpert continues. An AI program should predict those negative outcomes before you bake the ﬁrst batch of cookies.

There are going to be attributes that don’t seem to lend themselves

to numbers – like packaging, environmental impact, corporate goals. “But you can create scales and rate them on those scales and incorporate those numbers into the formula just as you would carbohydrates,” says Ciarfella.

As an example, FlavorMind reformulated a tropical smoothie for a retailer. While there was not a lot of added sugar to begin with, the client still wanted to reduce sugar.

“You could replace the mango puree with something that seems as sweet but has less sugar, but you don’t want to lose the overall proﬁle of the original recipe,” says Wolpert. “We were going to replace some mango puree with coconut water, but the taste lacked a certain brightness. So the model added back some acidity via lime juice or lemon juice.”

Ultimately, samples were tested with consumers, who also provided quantiﬁable feedback that led to further tweaks in the recipe. The end result was a hit with customers.

The same smoothie client also had a problem with wasted spinach. They had to buy it in bulk for one of their green drinks, but always ended up throwing some away as it spoiled. So the program found ways to use it in some of the existing products and also suggested new recipes that used spinach.

“I think the approach a lot of companies will take is that [they would like to minimize] the expensive processes that take humans a lot of time,” concludes Wolpert. “You would rather ﬁnd out that a formula doesn’t work in a program run than wasting vats of a product on the plant floor.”

Reducing the mango puree in a mango smoothie helped lower the sugar level, but FlavorMind needed AI suggestions to increase positive attributes that also were lost.

Photo: grinchh, Adobe Stock

INGREDIENTS

THE BENEFITS – AND CHALLENGES – OF USING UPCYCLED INGREDIENTS

Upcycled food components offer multiple beneﬁts. However, challenges include a steady supply and consistent quality.

Written by Claudia O’Donnell

CONTRIBUTING

EDITOR

An estimated 40% of the world's food supply goes to waste when on-farm losses are considered, according to “Driven to Waste: The Global Impact of Food Loss and Waste on Farms,” a 2021 report by Tesco and the World Wildlife Fund. That’s the kind of shock headline that is driving the upcycling of raw materials.

On a crisp December day in 2024, volunteers arrived at a Chicagoland flavor company to help distribute boxes of mixed berry smoothies. The nutritional powdered beverage was the result of a Bigger Table (www.biggertable.org) project that combined donated and upcycled dairy proteins with functional ingredients to create a flavorful drink, which was then donated to local charities and food banks.

Bigger Table is a partnership between area companies that donate expertise and ingredients (most of which would otherwise become food waste) and the Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network (CFBN).

Matching efforts to prevent food waste with the needs of food-insecure consumers seems logical. However, Alan Reed, executive director of CFBN (chicagolandfood.org), says it can be challenging. To start, “There’s a spectrum of what is considered ‘food waste’ in the food ingredient world,” says Reed. Food ingredients can often be repurposed, making it challenging to deﬁne them precisely.

Operationally, time must be spent determining whether “out-of-spec” products (e.g., safe products that don't meet the customer’s specifications) are usable. “We can use ingredients that may not meet all quality standards, but we would never compromise on food safety,” states Reed.

“In another case, we used an ingredient past the shelf-life date for its original intended use [i.e., where it needed

to be crunchy],” Reed explains. “However, it was still appropriate for our purpose, as we planned to add water and boil it before consumption.”

Overall, diverting ingredients from food waste to a higher purpose, such as feeding people, requires considerable creativity, an understanding of the distinction between safety and quality and a passion for reducing hunger in the U.S., advises Reed.

Such planning and passion increase the chances of success in using upcycled ingredients. However, when your business involves novel components, experience provides essential expertise.

Vendor challenges

Guar meal, also known as cluster bean meal, was just a by-product of guar gum production, but a few years ago it was discovered to be an excellent source of high-quality protein.

Now CoryPro Ingredients (www. corypro.com) processes guar meal into human-grade protein concentrates and isolates that align with key industry trends, including plant-based, low-flavor, non-GMO, cost-effective and allergen-friendly.

"This is my third startup focused on upcycled ingredients," says Robert Beausire, CEO of CoryPro. Previous ones were Zea10 LLC, which evolved into Evergrain, and Apparo Inc. Whether working with large CPGs or small company brands, Beausire ﬁnds the concept of upcycling appeals to product developers in a very positive way.

Launching a food tech startup specializing in upcycled

INGREDIENTS

ingredients presents its own set of challenges. First, “Macro ingredients such as protein need a large-scale source of the raw material that must be consistent in quality and [how it would appear on a food label’s] ingredient list,” says Beausire. Guar meal, for example, has a single ingredient, guar, and is available at scale, with over 1.3 million tons produced annually.

Second, Beausire points to the challenge of ﬁnding facilities capable of scaling up to small commercial quantities, which is crucial for demonstrating a product's commercial potential to investors. This can be incredibly challenging to nearly impossible when the ingredient is genuinely new or has a novel production process.

However, building that capability, either as a small-scale facility or by modifying a co-manufacturing facility, can be critical, as demonstrating the ability to generate revenue ultimately drives future investment in a fullscale facility.

Even at the earliest stages of development, financial realities must be considered. “It always takes twice as long to develop significant sales as what you plan for,” Beausire reflects. “CFO and financial experts always see shortening this timeline as a way to improve the financial picture, but the timeline should not be underestimated.”

Despite these hurdles, Beausire and CoryPro are making progress. “We are self-funded to date but are looking for a seed investment. We are already able to produce samples, have a provisional patent ﬁled and are working on small-scale commercial plans.”

A chicken soup remedy

“We believe that a delicious chicken soup does not need to be made from beautiful, shelf-stunning ingredients,” says Taryn Pellicone, who, along with her cousin Val Zweig, co-founded the Prescription Chicken/Chix Soup Co (www.rxchicken.com). All the company’s products are Upcycled certiﬁed.

Instead, the company uses chicken bones (the source of many nutrients), “stubs and nubs” of carrots, onion skins, celery butts and much more. “We found that using these upcycled ingredients produces just-as-delicious and nutrient-rich soups,” says Pellicone.

Speaking to farmers, Pellicone and Zweig discovered that signiﬁcant amounts of vegetables

Table brought together suppliers to produce nearly one million servings of a low-sugar, ﬂavorful protein drink with 12 essential nutrients.

Bigger

were either composted or wasted because they were not suitable for retail sale. That “waste” is put back and simmered into delicious broths and soups.

Pellicone echoes a key challenge mentioned by Beausire. “One of the hardest things about upcycled ingredient use is guaranteeing the supply.” She believes the company’s food processing suppliers are currently not equipped to sell upcycled goods. “Creating sellable goods means they must create a speciﬁcation for their food products and provide an ample source for us and other [upcycled-using] businesses.” Growing seasons produce supply fluctuations that create major disconnections in the supply chain — and an sustainable production system results.

Chix Soup Co has overcome this by partnering with numerous local farms and vegetable purveyors nationwide. “We are a part of the Upcycled Food Assn., which connects us to many brands with the same issues,” says Pellicone. “When we get together and talk, we ﬁnd we have different resources that can help combat supply chain challenges.”

Obtaining Upcycled Certiﬁcation requires a tremendous amount of work. “We strive to be as upcycled as possible because it’s important to us both personally and for our business. However, it's still not widely recognized by consumers,” says Pellicone.

Chix Soup Co receives excellent feedback when upcycled is mentioned, but

they feel people aren’t yet buying solely based on ingredient sourcing. “There’s excitement around diverting waste, but it’s not as top of mind as we’d like. We see both confusion and enthusiasm, but for true impact, we need more brands to embrace upcycling,” says Pellicone.

A brave new world of upcycling

One recent forward-thinking paper, “Food Waste Biotransformation into Food Ingredients: A Brief Overview of Challenges and Opportunities” (www.mdpi. com/2304-8158/13/21/3389), offers insights into a brave new world where renewable feedstock materials, such as agricultural food waste and by-products, are converted into valuable food components on a vast industrial scale.

The report notes that current food loss and waste (FLW) treatments include landﬁlling, composting, incineration, conversion to animal feed, production of biofertilizers and energy generation. “However, innovative technologies offer bioconversion processes to produce high-value-added products with reduced reliance on fossil resources and virgin materials,” says José Pinela, a researcher at INIAV I.P. and CIMO/SusTEC and lead author of that report. Additional beneﬁts include reduced global warming and improved food security.

The report provides an overview of the challenges in obtaining bio-based functional compounds, such as antioxidants, preservatives, flavorings, sweeteners and prebiotics, among others. “These upcycled ingredients could be alternatives to potentially harmful and artiﬁcial additives that are now under scrutiny,” adds Pinela.

Various chemical, biotechnical and physical processes exist for biomass conversion, but their efficiency is often low. Integrated biotechnological strategies with cascading processing steps would improve efficiency by recovering a multitude of valuable FLW components without requiring the purification of material between each processing step.

Other suggestions for FLW bioreﬁneries include the ability to handle multiple feedstocks, thereby avoiding production slowdowns if a speciﬁc resource becomes scarce. Additionally, microbial strains capable of metabolizing multiple feedstocks should be utilized.

The paper notes that new methods for processing biobased, food-grade ingredients could lead to more natural alternatives to those artiﬁcially produced or derived from virgin materials. It goes on to review half a dozen ingredient categories while examining both challenges and opportunities.

For one example, phenolic compounds, known for their bioactive, functional and health-promoting properties, are abundant in FLW.

Obtaining an Upcycled Certiﬁcation requires a tremendous amount of work. The Upcycled Certiﬁed mark is used on all Chix Soup Co products.

While free phenolics are currently extracted using solvents, microbial fermentation offers a sustainable method to recover bound phenolic compounds.

Solid-state fermentation of pomegranate husks has been found to yield 8kg of ellagic acid per ton of waste. In another study, the fermentation of green coconut husks by Phanerochaete chrysosporium released ferulic acid, which could then be converted into vanillin.

Lactic acid bacteria can produce bacteriocins with broad-spectrum bactericidal or bacteriostatic effects from low-value substrates such as sugar beet pulp, corn stover, cheese whey and mussel

processing waste. One bacteriocin, nisin A, is currently authorized as a food preservative (E234) and is the only one produced on an industrial scale. However, production costs remain high; therefore, high-nisin-producing strains and low-cost fermentation substrates have been a focus of research.

“The biorefinery concept for FLW biotransformation holds great potential, but significant advancements are still needed in process efficiency and food safety assurance,” concludes Pinela. “Overcoming these challenges and ensuring consumer acceptance will be crucial for the commercial viability and sustainability of this approach.”

Rind's Coconut Crisps use more of the coconut by leaving the peel on. "It's nutritious and delicious," the package says.

INGREDIENTS

Flavor with a crispy texture

Flavour Glaze 3.0 is a non-GMO, enhanced sauce product, a versatile, flavor delivery system that provides bold and consistent flavors and vibrant colors. It’s launched in six trendy flavor proﬁles: Bulgogi Korean BBQ, Botanero (Chili Lime), Buttery Garlic, Fuego (Intense Chile Spice), Lemon Pepper and Nashville Hot. When applied to breaded and fried foods, the product ensures food stays crispy for an additional 30 minutes. This ensures a crispy, delicious product during foodservice delivery or other off-premise dining occasions. These bold and new flavors can be applied to items such as chicken nuggets and tenders, fried breaded ﬁsh, pizza crust, flatbread, biscuits, French fries, onion rings, pasta salads and many others.

Grifﬁth Foods; Alsip, Ill. www.grifﬁthfoods.com

Sugar for bakers

Domino Baker's Sugar for professional pastry chefs and bakers has ultraﬁne grain size, enabling it to dissolve quickly, blend easily and melt effortlessly, making it suitable for cakes, frostings and glazes. It aerates batter more effectively, creating lighter, flufﬁer cakes with improved volume. Bakers can also achieve silky-smooth frostings and glazes, while its even dissolving properties contribute to consistent

color across baked goods. Plus, as a one-for-one substitute for white granulated sugar, it offers convenience without compromise. It is Non-GMO Project veriﬁed and Kosher certiﬁed.

Domino Sugar/ASR Group West Palm Beach, Fla. www.dominosugar.com

Clean umami

“Clean umami” is the theme of the TasteNrich Solution and Basic series. Basic, as the name implies, consists of basic umami solutions, and TasteNrich are premium solutions. Both enhance umami and salt perception while aligning with shifts toward naturalness and clean-label products. They boost flavor, cut sodium without cutting flavor and are natural savory alternatives.

CJ Bio; Seoul, South Korea cjbio.net

Whey protein works under heat & acidity

This French supplier claims to have the world’s ﬁrst portfolio of functionalized precision fermentation dairy proteins, designed to overcome the limitations of both traditional and plant-based alternatives. By enhancing stability, digestibility and processing performance, they produce dairy proteins that combine high nutritional value with superior taste and texture and an emphasis on sustainability. The FermWhey range includes: FermWhey Native, delivering a high-purity beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) with an optimized amino acid proﬁle; FermWhey MicroStab, which features a microparticulated

structure that ensures heat and acid resistance, making it suitable for UHT beverages and fresh dairy products; and FermWhey Gel, allowing manufacturers to create spoonable dairy and cheese products with improved texture and stability, eliminating the need for additional stabilizers.

Verley; Lyon, France verley-food.com

Strawberries anytime

MicroDried Strawberries offer versatile solutions with natural appeal. They maintain their pristine quality, ensuring robust nutrition, great color, intact cell

structure and distinct sweet and tangy flavor. Whether you need strawberry powder for even flavor distribution, strawberry fragments for distinctive piece identity or sliced strawberry for unique texture and visual appeal, these ready-to-eat, premium, dried strawberry ingredients offer versatility and creativity for developing innovative food and beverage products – such as cereals, granolas, snack mixes, smoothies, baked goods, desserts, dressings and sauces.

MicroDried; Nampa, Idaho 208-461-5100; www.microdried.com

BEVERAGE INNOVATION BEGETS PROCESS RENOVATION

With new product lines and types hitting the market, beverage processing is taking off, implementing new technology and making upgrades to take advantage of opportunities.

Written by Andy Hanacek

SENIOR EDITOR

The ﬁrst quarter of 2025 has been a busy one for beverage companies, kicking off a year in which several prognosticators expected growth and innovation for the category. Some might say, “quite busy,” with big-ticket acquisitions, facility openings and new capital spending projects announced, plus new products galore.

Just the highlights alone from the ﬁrst quarter sound like a year’s worth of news — and all of it indicative of a beverage category full of opportunity, with companies shuffling their decks to take advantage of the growth areas. Of course, it's not all rainbows and roses: There have been plant closures in certain segments and reports that the younger generation isn’t drinking alcoholic beverages at the same rates that their elders do.

Meanwhile, companies are trying to position themselves to take advantage of the rise in popularity of better-for-you and/or functional beverages. In the energy drink sector, Celsius Holdings acquired Alani Nu, while Talking Rain Beverage Co. launched its own better-for-you soda (named Popwell, see below), and PepsiCo

In 2023, Talking Rain Beverage Co. launched its I.C.E. (Innovate, Create and Enjoy) Labs innovation and incubator program to guide new beverage ideas from concept to commercialization.

COURTESY OF TALKING RAIN BEVERAGE CO.

simply decided to acquire the Poppi healthy soda brand to jump into that segment.

If you build it …

On the capital spending side of the equation, even though 2025 is expected to be a below-standard year for the top publicly traded food & beverage companies overall, investments continue to show up on the beverage side of the fence.

Anheuser-Busch, for example, has spent an average of nearly $12 million at each of six breweries in the U.S. in the past 18 months or so, while Diageo North America will go big, pouring $415 million into the construction of a new, 360,000-sq.-ft. facility in Montgomery, Ala., that is expected to open in the second half of the year. And that’s just two of the projects in the works — several new facilities have opened in the past year for companies looking to capitalize on consumer demand.

Westrock Coffee Co. (www. westrockcoffee.com), a Little Rock, Ark.-based, global provider of coffee, tea, flavors, extracts and ingredients across retail, foodservice, C-store and other channels, opened a new, 570,000-sq.-ft. processing plant in Conway, Ark., in June 2024. Westrock chief operating ofﬁcer Will Ford says it is “the largest ‘roast-to-ready-todrink’ facility in North America and was designed to scale as customer demand increases.”

Not only does the plant allow Westrock to increase production capacity and meet growing demand, but it also improves operational efﬁciencies by consolidating multiple stages of production — such as roasting, grinding, extraction and packaging — under one roof. According to Ford, Westrock designed and built the plant with a high level of automation, starting with two fully automated roasters featuring in-line moisture and roast color analysis capabilities, that can handle 360kg (nearly 800 lbs.) per batch.

“To optimize production, advanced lauter tun tanks were installed to efﬁciently route liquids through various chillers and mixers,” he says. “A large grinder was also essential for streamlined coffee processing.”

The plant is fed by 24 green coffee storage silos with a capacity exceeding 1 million lbs. And Westrock expects it will need every bit of that supply. The Conway plant currently operates at 75% capacity utilization with infrastructure for four to six additional packaging lines, Ford notes.

Cold(-crafted) call

For Talking Rain (www.talkingrain.com), best known for the Sparkling Ice brand of beverages, process innovation drives one of the key attributes for its newest line of drinks: Popwell.

Just this February, Talking Rain jumped into the better-for-you soda category with the launch of

Westrock Coffee Co.’s new Conway, Ark., processing plant, which opened in June 2024, is highly automated from stem to stern, and the company touts it as the largest “roast-to-ready-to-drink” manufacturing facility in North America.

PLANT OPERATIONS

Popwell, a new line of prebiotic and immunity-support drinks. Oscar Mayorquin, chief operating ofﬁcer of Talking Rain, says the company wanted to differentiate the beverages and build on prior product line innovations, so it took the step to implement a new process for the category and create the drinks through a cold-crafting process that would preserve the flavors and functionality of the Popwell beverages.

“Processing the beverage in a cold-ﬁlled environment and using preservatives from natural sources versus pasteurizing it allowed us to maintain Popwell’s original goodness and bring best-in-class flavor to the prebiotic soda category,” Mayorquin explains. “We ﬁnd cold-crafting to be an area with a lot of growth potential, especially for functional beverages.”

Product innovation, for most companies, begins at the R&D and product development level. In 2017, Talking Rain began using flavors and colors from natural sources while maintaining longterm shelf stability for its products.

“Our consumers are savvy about the ingredients in their beverages, and many are searching for options that support healthy lifestyles and overall wellness — while never sacriﬁcing flavor,” Mayorquin explains. “That has really motivated us to craft betterfor-you beverages that deliver bold flavors along with vitamins and antioxidants and other functional ingredients.”

In 2023, Talking Rain decided to take innovation a step further and involve more than just the R&D team. The company opened its “Innovate, Create and Enjoy” or I.C.E. Labs, playing off its

flagship ICE drinks. The in-house innovation and incubation program takes beverage concepts through an iterative, small-scale test-and-learn model that works those beverages up through a system of steps, and as they perform well, they continue to grow in distribution. Popwell beverages worked their way through the I.C.E. Labs program to eventually reach their February launch.

“We manage all aspects internally, including flavor development, processing and product attribute validation,” Mayorquin says. “Our food scientists utilize our stateof-the-art laboratory, analytical equipment and pilot canning and bottling lines to bring our products to fruition while ensuring the highest quality and integrity.”

Westrock also amped up its R&D efforts with the construction and opening of its Conway plant. The facility includes a fully equipped beverage R&D lab that mirrors the company’s full-scale operations, which smooths the transition from product development to commercial production, Ford says.

“The Coffee Lab supports every stage of the process, from fresh grinding to cupping, featuring small roasters for developing unique roasting proﬁles and CQI-certiﬁed Q grading capabilities for precise sensory evaluation,” he explains.

As the company grows, Westrock sees the Conway facility’s end-toend support helping it advance responsible sourcing efforts and supply-chain transparency through digital crop-to-cup traceability capabilities. Ford adds that the company also expects to see further “wins” in the future from the innovation the entire Conway complex has implemented.

Written by Andy Hanacek SENIOR EDITOR TECHNOLOGY

TAKING THE DIGITAL DIVE

For food & beverage processors that have yet to make their way fully into the digital age, the time to jump in is now.

The food & beverage digital age is here, and for those processors who were waiting to see other processors swim successfully before jumping into the pool, now is the time to do more than just dip a toe in the shallow end.

There’s plenty of room to make improvements, whether a processor seeks organizational or operational efﬁciency, from the ofﬁce to the plant floor. Research into new applications for digital technology keeps pushing the envelope, and while other industries have taken the lead, food & beverage companies aren’t far behind now.

Lee Coffey, strategic marketing manager-consumer packaged goods at Rockwell Automation (www.rockwellautomation.com), says although food & beverage manufacturers may slightly lag other industries when it comes to digital transformation, momentum is building.

“We’re having conversations with executives that are thinking bigger than ever — reimagining both manufacturing and supply chain processes — and we’re engaging with customers that are at different stages of maturity,” he says.

Technology often moves at a pace so quickly today that identifying and solving the next big hurdle can become more and more challenging. Therefore, digitalization continues to become more critical for a few reasons.

Ripe for the picking

Digitalization initiatives can help processors meet regulatory demands or optimization targets. Various global organizations and standards, such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), EU Food Regulation (EU), Codex Alimentarius Commission (World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), carry requirements ensuring food safety and quality and consumer protection, says Josh Hartman, vertical market strategy leader for Dematic (www.dematic.com).

“Although regulations vary by country and region, there is a general theme of traceability across them all,” he explains. “Traceability is critical in understanding how, where and when raw materials and ingredients travel through production to ﬁnished goods and packaging and eventually to its ﬁnal destination.”

Hartman says the past decade has seen growth in Industrial Internet of Things devices, RFID tags and GPS trackers, which help companies track and monitor location, condition, temperature, humidity, pH and other attributes of raw materials and ﬁnished products throughout the supply chain. Smarter data systems then work with these devices to provide

Is it Digitization or Digitalization?

We’ve used the two terms interchangeably before, and so do many of you. But this time we did a little web search and came up with this distinction from ECM Consultant Co.:

Digitization, digitalization and digital transformation are frequently used interchangeably. Understanding the differences between digitization and digitalization is critical when developing a company strategy.

Digitization converts analog info into digital form, while digitalization transforms processes using digital tech. Digitization is about converting information, while digitalization improves processes and creates new opportunities.

deeper and faster insights to operators, helping with production quality control, smarter packaging, energy management and traceability and compliance elements.

“From an operational optimization standpoint, digitization coupled with real-time analytics can help drive a great deal of value within the supply chain,” he adds. “Understanding operational design, and marrying that information with how product flows in and out, can enable you to make ongoing, smarter adjustments that maximize efﬁciencies in throughput and storage capacity.”

Some segments of the food & beverage marketplace are blazing the trail, with seafood, meat, dairy and cold-chain logistics operations leading the way on digitalization, based on the needs for the tracking and monitoring mentioned above. For those, product quality, temperature and humidity are mission critical, and smart sensors can capture that information in processing plants, in transport and at the ﬁnal destination, and relay it back to

the FSQA team for analysis. This technology can be used to track livestock on the ranch or farm as well, Hartman notes.

Work-in-progress for some

Some processors might struggle with the data avalanche that often comes with digitalization, Coffey says, such as how to collect and store it, but more importantly, how to analyze it.

“With the rapid adoption of intelligent devices, companies are now generating more data than ever before,” he says. “However, many still struggle to extract actionable insights from this data.”

He suggests Operational Technology (OT) DataOps solutions that take that huge amount of data, aggregate and contextualize it, and help processors utilize it for trend analysis, analytics and artiﬁcial intelligence (AI) modeling. Hartman reminds processors of the need for a proper, central point of control for any data systems they might use.

“Full optimization requires more than a solid stack of warehouse management, execution and control systems,” he says. “You need a centralized control tower that pulls all of that information together, coupled with a strong analytics layer to pull out the most critical and actionable data in real time.”

Additionally, companies still relying on periodic, manual product-quality checks can turn to machine vision and AI to fully digitize their product inspection functions and work the data into action items. Doing so would give plants real-time, data-driven insights despite the high speeds of the production lines, detect product defects with greater accuracy, reduce product waste, improve compliance and ensure quality as well, Coffey notes.

Every plant and every company is different, but the right approach to tech implementation can help solve many operational challenges, Hartman says. Labor shortages, cost increases, maximizing storage

HEAT EXCHANGERS

density and proliferation of SKUs all can be overcome with the proper automation.

“At its core, a solid automation approach will enable you to do more with less,” Hartman notes. “Processors can achieve more throughput with less labor through the right mix of mechatronics, systems and analytics.”

Macroeconomic factors such as inflation have changed many processors’ approaches to maintaining their margins. Gone are the days when consumers would accept more price increases on products. Instead, Coffey says, they are trading down and looking for cheaper alternatives, which is driving processors to focus on operational productivity for cost control and yield optimization.

He adds there has been increased interest in more visibility into the areas of material loss and in leveraging AI to drive data-driven optimization. Meanwhile, cybersecurity remains an important consideration for processors taking on these initiatives.

“As digital transformation initiatives accelerate, they also increase the potential threat landscape. Additionally, many companies face challenges in fully mapping out their plant floor assets,” Coffey says. “Therefore, to enhance their cybersecurity posture, we’re seeing more companies reaching out for comprehensive network and security assessments to help identify all devices, assess risks and prioritize upgrades based on criticality.”

Protecting the data protects the equipment and systems running the plants, which in turn keeps facilities, workers and end products safe — the human element that remains among the highest priorities for most companies as the industry continues to push into the digital age.

PFA-coated blender

The purpose-built PFA-coated Ribbon Blender is engineered to meet the needs of sensitive and challenging applications where stainless steel or carbon steel may not be suitable. This specialized

blender has a 5-cu.-ft. working capacity. The interior of the trough, the double ribbon agitator, bolted stub shafts and funnel of the valve are all coated with black PFA. In addition to preventing product contamination and steel corrosion, the coating promotes material release and simpliﬁes cleaning. The dust-tight knife gate valve is easy to operate and further ensures a smooth discharge process.

Ross Mixers; Hauppauge, N.Y. 800-243-7677; www.mixers.com

Water temperature control

Vari-Heat technology, an advanced adaptive control program engineered to dynamically modulate heat output in real time, brings precision and efﬁciency to industrial water temperature control. By automatically

EQUIPMENT

adjusting to system demands and environmental conditions, it ensures optimal temperature stability, signiﬁcantly enhancing energy efﬁciency. This prevents temperature overshoot, allowing for smooth and gradual heating transitions. The system features control technology, enhanced cooling capabilities with modulating valves and a modular heater tank design for flexibility and power.

Delta T Systems Inc.; Richﬁeld, Wis. 800-733-4204; www.deltatsys.com

Larger HPP system

The QIF 600L high-pressure processing system offers an impressive 600-litre cycle capacity, claiming to be the largest in the industry. Its vessel diameter improves load efﬁciency and accommodates more packages per cycle. Equipped with up to 12 intensiﬁers, the scalable system can meet the most demanding production needs. By using ultra-high pressure instead of heat or chemicals, HPP inactivates foodborne pathogens to ensure product safety while maintaining freshness, taste and nutritional value.

Quintus Technologies; Lewis Center, Ohio 614-891-2732; www.quintustechnologies.com

Fluid transfer for low volumes

The FDS Nano Twin Screw Pump is designed to meet the growing demand for lower fluid volume transfer of shear-sensitive products. This twin screw pump is suitable for a diverse range of applications in the pharmaceutical, life science, dairy, food and personal care industries. It is the world’s smallest twin screw pump, engineered to handle viscous

products of up to 1 million cP and capable of managing entrained air levels of 70%. Its advanced axial movement facilitates precise dosing and metering, ensuring that delicate products are processed at optimal quality levels with minimal waste.

Fristam Pumps; Middleton, Wis. 800-841-5001; www.fristampumps.com

Optical sorters for nuts

Compass optical sorter for nuts is an easy to operate high-performance, high-capacity system

offering a high ROI and quick payback. This machine identifies and removes undesirable product defects and foreign material such as shells, shell fragments, rocks and wood sticks, helping nut processors protect food safety and achieve exact final product quality specifications while maximizing ease of operation and increasing profitability.

Key Technologies; Walla Walla, Wash. 509-540-7415; www.key.net

Versatility and detectability

The X52 dual energy X-ray inspection system is designed to meet the demands of challenging applications in packaged products. Its proprietary software provides increased adaptability by seamlessly transitioning between single energy, dual energy or both modes, optimizing the performance of the system depending on the application. This machine identiﬁes a wide range of contaminants including glass, metal, mineral stone, calciﬁed bone, dense plastic and rubber compounds based on their material composition, offering thorough inspection for product safety and quality. It further enhances accuracy by analyzing

material densities, providing an advanced level of detection to preserve consumer well being and uphold industry standards. Mettler Toledo; Lutz, Fla. 813-889-9500; www.mt.com

Liquid magnetic separator

Two new machines offer improved performance for food and other industries. The Liquid Magnetic separator includes advanced features for superior ferrous particle capture and is available in 2", 3", and 4" line sizes. The Performer Weigh checkweigher integrates advanced metal detection with precise weighing capabilities. The system employs Electro-Magnetic Force Restoration (EMFR) technology, delivering superior accuracy and repeatability compared to traditional strain gauge scales. Bunting Magnetics; Newton, Kan. www.buntingmagnetics.com

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Stay on Top with EDUCATIONAL WEBINARS with

What are current consumer trends? The new ingredient and equipment breakthroughs? What regulatory deadlines do I need to be aware of?

Following are just a few of the webinars we have scheduled for the second half of this year, with the dates they will be broadcast live. But you can always watch them on-demand as your schedule allows. All allow for a live Q&A.

• AI in Product Development (June 27)

• The Food Plant of the Future (July 31)

• What Makes a Top R&D Team? (Oct. 22)

• New Proteins (Nov. 20)

• Analyzing our Annual R&D Survey (Aug. 27)

• The Top 100 Companies and the State of Business (Sept. 24)

• Water & Wastewater (Dec. 17)

Read more about them and register for any or all at: www.foodprocessing.com/webinars

SSV Series Drum Motors

The Most Hygienic Conveyor Belt Drives

Hygienic SSV Series Drum Motors feature an IP69K-rated sealing system that withstands pressure washdown up to 3,000 psi. For modular, wire mesh, and monolithic thermoplastic HTS[J^TWGJQYX88;)WZR2TYTWXMF[JYMJGJQYUWTᠴQJRFHMNSJIINWJHYQ^ onto the drum or onto an exchangeable drive sleeve (XP) to drive the belt without using sprockets.

The new SSV-XP Drum Motor features an exchangeable profiled sleeve. The GJQYUWTᠴQJNXRFHMNSJIINWJHYQ^TSYT the drive sleeve (XP) which can be easily removed and J]HMFSLJIKTWFSTYMJWUWTᠴQJIXQJJ[JYTRFYHM the belt required on the conveyor without changing the drum motor.

Eliminate Routine Maintenance

Increase Efficiency