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In Ep. 72 of MeatingPod, we're talking product innovation, protein trends, cosmetically imperfect foods and giving back with Eric Ouellette, co-founder and CEO of Semper Foods, a niche frozen food distributor and co-packer, specializing in commodity and further processed value-added protein solutions. In 2021, Semper Foods was named to Inc.'s Best in Business list, which honors companies that have gone above and beyond to make a positive impact. Listen in to learn more about how Semper Foods 'keeps the faith' with its employees, communities and customers, and why Eric considers the company "the TJ Maxx of foods."

As part of the May 2022 IFFA show in Frankfurt — focused on the meat and alt-meat industries — ADM's head of global savory business, Juan Manuel Benitez-Garcia, discussed “seven trends to watch in the protein alternatives market.” After his presentation, Benitez-Garcia sat with Alt-Meat to go into more depth on these trends and their effect on the market.

In Ep. 70 of MeatingPod, we're talking high-tech automation and tasty innovation with Ron Godshall, president of Godshall's Quality Meats, the largest producer of whole-muscle turkey and beef bacon in the U.S. Ron will share the latest on Godshall's current smart manufacturing initiative — an investment of $74 million to expand the company's Lebanon, Penn. plant. The expansion will double the size of the facility to 200,000 square feet, will utilize advanced robotics and automation, and will support numerous green initiatives for the operation.

In Ep. 69 of MeatingPod, we're talking food safety, animal welfare and a new food safety advisory committee at USPOULTRY with Rafael Rivera, manager of food safety and production programs for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. Rafael shares the latest on USPOULTRY research into salmonella, campylobacter and vaccines, and offers insight into some exciting new developments he's instituting aimed at advancing food safety programs in the poultry industry.    

In Ep. 68 of MeatingPod, we're talking foreign material prevention with Suzanne Finstad, vice president, food safety & quality assurance, Poultry Division, Tyson Foods. Suzanne shares  Tyson's key learnings from the 2019 foreign material recall of nearly 12 million pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip products, and the importance of having robust processes in place to ensure that equipment is in good condition to help prevent such incidents from occurring. 

Bob Hibbert, senior counsel with the Washington, D.C. law firm Wiley Rein LLP, is a regulatory and legal expert on the meat and alternative meat markets. He updates MeatingPod listeners on the state of alt-meat labeling, the possible timeline for federal approval to sell cultivated meat for human consumption, and how state laws, like California’s Prop 12, could have an effect on the meat substitute markets across the country.

In Ep. 66, we're talking how to maintain optimum asset performance by using predictive maintenance tools with Paul Kafer, principal of Anabasis Technical Consulting LLC. Paul, a 40-year food industry veteran and former vice president of engineering at Smithfield, gives the low-down on the advantages of combining the principles of predictive maintenance with the tools of Industry 4.0 — including thermal imaging and airflow monitoring — to collect and analyze data can translate to utility and other cost savings that boost the bottom line.

In Ep. 65 of MeatingPod, we're talking key trends reshaping turkey processing and where the poultry segment is going next with Bill Folk, vice president of operations, Butterball LLC. Bill shares how the nation's largest turkey producer is implementing efficiency-focused innovation to optimize processes and assure efficiencies in the supply chain. He also covers how Butterball is responding to the effect of evolving consumer demands such as the seemingly contradictory pull towards comfort food and push towards health.

In Ep. 64 of MeatingPod, we're talking about the latest science informing Appendix A & B guidance documents with Bob Hanson, principal of Hanson Tech LLC and Jeff Sindelar, professor and extension meat specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As members of the North American Meat Institute's Appendices A & B Core Working Group, Jeff and Bob have been at the center of the group's review of the science gaps in the 1999 and 2017 versions of the lethality and stabilization guidance documents to determine possible solutions. In this episode, they give us the scoop on how the various research activities will help meat and poultry processors better utilize the 2021 Appendix A & B revised guidance, which comes into effect in December 2022. 

The whole muscle quest: Allyson Fish, president of global plant and alternative proteins for ADM, talks about the technology of whole muscle alt-meats, kids as alt-meat consumers, and her expectations for the future of the whole muscle alt-meat market.

In Ep. 62 of MeatingPod, we're talking leveraging technology and automation in meat processing with Andrew Demakes, vice president of operations at Old Neighborhood Foods. With more than $250 million in annual sales, the four-generation family-owned manufacturer of quality meat and deli products, has achieved its success by producing high-quality, better-for-you and minimally processed meats, and by investing in state-of-the-art processing, high pressure processing and packaging equipment.

In Ep. 61 of MeatingPod, we're talking animal welfare audits, biosecurity and professional development in the meat and poultry industry with Maggie Smith, founder and owner of Viand Group, a Tennessee-based consulting company specializing in food safety and animal welfare. Bonus: Find out why she advises that it is better to be a crockpot than a microwave!

In Ep. 60 of MeatingPod, we're talking clean label, better-for-you meat products made and sourced sustainably with Loree Mulay Weisman, founder, president and CEO of Mulay's Sausage, based in Longmont, Colorado. In this episode, we find out more about this Certified Woman Owned Business posted record sales and distribution channels in 2021 and is looking at even more tremendous growth in 2022.

Getting in on the ground floor: CRB Group is a Swiss company that designs and building manufacturing facilities around the world — including, more and more often, production plants for alternative meat products. Alt-Meat spoke with Tony Moses, CRB’s director of product innovation in the United States, about the specifics of designing for alt-meat production, and the challenges of planning ahead for such a dynamic industry.

In Ep. 58 of MeatingPod, we're talking how a little automation in a small meat processing plant can make a big difference with Kurt Byrd, chief financial officer with Carolina Packers, home of Bright Leaf red hot dogs. Kurt shares how a smaller operation is able to adapt through implementation of automation solutions, and the challenges and opportunities that automation provides. He has a lot of great tips on how a small-sized operation can adopt automation one step at a time.

In Ep. 57 of MeatingPod, we're talking what's new in applied and actionable science in poultry processing, with Dr. Marcos Sánchez-Plata, associate professor of global food security with the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University. Marcos shares his expertise in — and passion for — practical meat science and technology applications all over the world, and in this episode he gives listeners an update on the array of practical meat and poultry research in the pipeline, the restart of the well-known Meat and Poultry en Español Schools and says he's excited about new opportunities in processing automation and technologies.

In Ep. 56 of MeatingPod, we're talking meat color, food waste and novel packaging materials with Dr. Ranjith Ramanathan, Associate Professor and Leo and Kathy Noltensmeyer Endowed Professorship in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at Oklahoma State University. Ranjith updates us on his latest research into factors that influence fresh meat quality, food packaging, preservation and processing, meat waste, and greenhouse gas emissions.

MeatingPod talks with Matt Crisp, CEO of Benson Hill, one of those companies that is breaking new protein barriers in ways that aren’t obvious to consumers. The company’s research into crop management and breeding may hold the key to lower alt-meat prices, enhanced sustainability claims, and greater demand at retail and in restaurants

In Ep. 54 of MeatingPod, we're talking data-driven decision making and continuous improvement in poultry processing with Chris Sawyer, director of continuous improvement at Brakebush Brothers, the Wisconsin-based third-generation owned and operated poultry company whose slogan is "Good People. Great Chicken." Chris, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, talks automation, collected useful data and optimizing processes and continuous improvement through the L6S approach.

In Ep. 53 of MeatingPod, we're talking a novel approach for pathogen control and food safety management in poultry processing with Juanfra De Villena, director of quality assurance and food safety at Wayne Farms. Juanfra talks about his research with Dr. Marcos Plata-Sanchez at Texas Tech University, which uses biomapping and other techniques to better characterize the efficacy of traditional pathogen interventions. The work resulted in some interesting findings about the prevalence of salmonella and campylobacter as a measure, as well as the impact of line speeds on pathogen control.