All National Provisioner Podcasts

Drs. Francisco Najar and Phil Bass interview chemical engineer and meat scientist Diana Huerta, an Applications Engineering Manager for Sealed Air Corp. She uses the knowledge from both parts of her education to discuss packaging in the meat industry, as well as the role of automation in the industry.

Drs. Francisco Najar and Phil Bass are speaking with Iowa State University’s Dr. Rodrigo Tarte in a rather salty episode of MeatsPad. The language is fine, but the topic of the discussion focuses on salt and its use in the production of processed meats.

Analyzing the meat industry is PerkinElmer’s mission, using the latest data techniques to improve food safety and quality. In this special podcast, David Honig talks about the challenges of analysis in the meat industry and the tools PerkinElmer uses to overcome them. Sponsored by:

Papa Cantella’s is a family-owned and operated manufacturer of premium sausages and prepared foods based in southern California. Company President Tony Cantella joins us to discuss becoming the official supplier of the signature Dodger Stadium hotdog and other premium sausages. He also explains how this product and partnership fits into the broader Papa Cantella’s portfolio.  

Hosts Drs. Francisco Najar & Phil Bass speak with Dr. Dale Woerner of Texas Tech University. Dr. Woerner and two of his graduate students join the podcast to discuss their work in beef research. The beef industry has been active in researching genetics, but the dairy cattle industry also has its share of issues that can hopefully be resolved by cross-breeding. Listen to hear more about the Tex...

Heidi Diestel, fourth-generation farmer with turkey product specialist Diestel, joins us to talk about the company’s first-ever gravy offering, which is organic and incorporates bone broth from its own turkeys. She also talks about Diestel’s approach to thoughtfully raising turkeys, remaining family-operated, and advancing independent farming through business and community partnerships.

Alaskan Salmon Company is an e-commerce company specializing in sustainably sourced wild salmon. After exclusively selling to chefs, sushi masters, and restaurant clients, Founder Kyle Lee discusses seafood supply chain disruption, launching a direct-to-consumer model for at-home cooks, and sustainability.

In this episode of MeatsPad, Drs. Francisco Najar-Villarreal and Phil Bass talk with Dr. Bucky Gwartney, International Marketing Specialist in the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Dr. Gwartney discusses the role of AMS within the USDA and the way that the agency can be an asset to small processors. He also gets into the specifics of grading and his work in the agriculture industry.

Dr. Dilger of the University of Illinois joins hosts Drs. Francisco Najar-Villarreal and Phil Bass in a wide-ranging discussion. In this episode, they cover everything from pork quality to cultivated meat to scholarly journals and local agriculture.

MeatsPad hosts Francisco Najar-Villarreal and Dr. Phil Bass talk with Noah Hall of UltraSource LLC.

Michael Dikeman is a Professor Emeritus in Meat Science at Kansas State University, having begun his education there in 1971. He talks with MeatsPad host Francisco Najar-Villarreal about his career in the field of meat science, as well as his current work.

Cargill Marketing Manager Kelsie Reuter announces the commercial rollout of The Chompery – a new line of premium dog treats. Instead of locating near the dog food aisle in major grocery chains, Cargill is marketing the snacks in the meat section. Austin Keating, Multimedia Specialist for BNP Media and the National Provisioner magazine, interviews Reuter to learn more. 

CEO of Marx Foods Justin Marx says he believes restaurants have hit their bottom. He estimates 80% of restaurants open before COVID-19 will remain open – focusing on controlling costs and quality. Austin Keating, Multimedia Specialist for BNP Media and the National Provisioner magazine, interviews Justin Marx to learn more.

National Provisioner editor-in-chief Andy Hanacek talks with Curt Terry, Chief Operations Officer of SugarCreek, about innovations in bacon processing and how technology can aid bacon quality and improve operations.

MeatsPad welcomes Dr. Travis Arp, who is the Senior Director of Export Services/Access for the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Dr. Arp shares about the importance of the quality attributes of meat produced in the United States. Also, he explains in detail about those factors that make the U.S. meat industry a very competitive and successful industry.

On this week’s MeatsPad podcast, Dr. Jonathan Campbell joins hosts Francisco Najar-Villarreal and Dr. Phil Bass. He discusses the art of curing and the applications of sodium nitrate and nitrite in processed meats.

RJ’s Meats of Hudson, Wis., brings its sandwich capabilities to its home in Hudson, Wis. Austin Keating, Multimedia Specialist for BNP Media and the National Provisioner magazine, interviews Rick and Joe Reams to learn more.

In this episode, Francisco Najar-Villarreal talks with Dr. Bekhit, who discusses the oxidation of meat and strategies to improve shelf life and meat quality.

Hofmann Sausage Company recently started selling summer sausage and three new flavors of jerky. In-spite of their renowned hot dog business suffering from less food service sales in the  COVID-19 pandemic, the chief marketing officer for the 142-year-old company, Rebecca Baker, says their diverse product lineup and a large network of customers along the east coast keep business going strong. Austi...

Francisco Najar-Villarreal and Dr. Phil Bass return in this week’s MeatsPad podcast to talk with Dr. Dustin Mohrhouser, associate pork quality manager with Smithfield Foods. He talks about the work he does with Smithfield in terms of animal health and meat quality. You may never think about guacamole the same way again after hearing Dr. Mohrhouser discuss abscesses.

This week, MeatsPad features Dr. Amilton De Mello of the University of Nevada. One of Dr. De Mello’s many areas of research involves nutrigenomics. The benefits of eating meat for its nutrients is well known, but there may be more benefits that can come from meat consumption, down to the nucleotide level.

Dr. Gerrard, department head of the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, discusses the factors that determine meat taste, tenderness and quality. Do you know why a chicken has both white meat and dark meat? Do you know the factors that affects the tenderness and taste of red meat? This week, Francisco Najar-Villarreal talks with Dr. David Gerrard of Virginia Tech about some of the basics beh...

Andy Hanacek, editor-in-chief, gets an update from Evan Inada, Columbus Craft Meats, on how COVID-19 affected demand for charcuterie and high-end deli proteins, as well as some of the company's business approaches and tactics.

Evan Inada, Columbus Craft Meats, talks with Andy Hanacek, editor-in-chief of The National Provisioner, about the ways in which charcuterie has grown over the years and how it is driving new customers to the deli today.

Andy Hanacek discusses the trends driving charcuterie with Evan Inada, Columbus Craft Meats, and how the processor has been developing products to support consumer demand in the segment.