Food For Thought

At Pack Expo in Chicago in October, I caught up with Xinnan Li and Jim Owen, both senior analysts with Rabobank’s RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness team, who spoke to us during last year’s show about the impact of tariffs on plastics and paperboard in packaging, among other things. This year, the duo talks about the impacts of tariffs that still remain this year, as well as how things like the cl...

At the recent Pack Expo International show in Chicago, the Food For Thought podcast sat down with Randy Godet of Industrial Info Resources, or IIR, to offer an update on where the firm thought the food and beverage industry’s appetite for capital spending sat as we fast approach the end of 2026. Godet talked about the trends driving how food and beverage capex projects are developing and how compa...

Alie Burnet of Conagra Brands returns as a guest on the Food For Thought podcast, this time focused on the findings of her company’s second annual Future of Snacking report , which Conagra recently shared. With snacking still heavily on-trend for many consumers today, she details some of the deeper insights the report unearthed. Burnet talks through three forces heavily influencing the future of s...

In this episode of the Food For Thought podcast, Megan Torres, senior brand strategy manager for Reser’s Fine Foods, talks about the trends driving several recent new product launches and the work that brought them to market for the company. Torres explains how the company was able to lean on its expertise in potatoes to build out its deli-fresh soups and chowders line, and how its new pasta entre...

Dana Ryan, senior director of scientific affairs for Liquid I.V., joins the podcast in this episode to walk through the steps that the company took to develop the proprietary blend of allulose and amino acids that sits at the foundation of the company’s innovative sugar-free product line launched a few years ago. Liquid I.V. spent several years perfecting the formulation of the product line, which...

Liz Miller, global client partner at Knit, joins the Food For Thought podcast to discuss the findings of a survey that the market research agency executed in partnership with McCormick’s shopper insights group. The study focuses on what’s driving consumer decision-making in grocery stores today, particularly around the various categories in which McCormick & Co. plays. Miller digs into the det...

At the National Restaurant Association’s annual restaurant show this summer, senior editor Andy Hanacek met with Jenna Hagerich, senior brand manager at Campbell’s Foodservice, and they talked about the various brands and trends driving their product offerings currently. Many of the insights Hagerich shares easily cross over from foodservice to the retail channel, and she dives into the Campbell’s...

Kids of all ages are headed back to school right now, and the Food For Thought podcast has some insights on how that could impact food and beverage consumption trends from Julia Wilson, a partner in KPMG’s Strategy practice, focused on consumer clients. Wilson discusses results found in  KPMG's Consumer Pulse Back-to-School 2026 Survey , which finds that families expect to spend more per child on...

Chris Darling, chief commercial officer for Mama’s Creations, joins the podcast to talk about the transformation of the grocery store deli department in recent years into a real destination for grab-and-go-seeking consumers. He offers insights into the shift in consumer demand toward clean-ingredient, ready-to-eat options there, and why this change has made the deli counter into a high-volume dest...

This episode is brought to you by the American Egg Board. Eggs remain a well-rounded, multi-functional staple of every kitchen, whether for industrial product formulators or at-home chefs. Consumers understand that seeing eggs on the ingredient list often translates to a product featuring simplicity with numerous attributes and health benefits. Nelson Serrano-Bahri, director of Innovation for the...

Tia Glave, president and co-founder, and Jill Stuber, vice president and co-founder, of Catalyst Food Leaders, return to the Food For Thought podcast to discuss leadership culture at food and beverage companies in this episode. The duo talks about how companies can use the leadership abilities within every employee to drive company culture and get more workers engaged in the organization and their...

Consumers continue to seek a great burger when they visit restaurants across the U.S., and even with things like the “chicken sandwich wars” and other innovative products, the burger still stands tall. Lucy Woods, senior manager of consumer insights for Cargill, joins the podcast to discuss the trends driving burger consumption and demand focused more on the foodservice marketplace today. Do consu...

Welcome to the Food for Thought podcast. I’m Andy Hanacek, senior editor of Food Processing magazine. Dave Gardner, who was recently promoted to president and CEO of Ajinomoto Foods North America (AFNA), joins the Food For Thought podcast to discuss what is driving the popularity in Asian foods as well as frozen foods in the U.S. today. Gardner explains how the quality, value and convenience of fr...

In mid-May, I attended the National Restaurant Show at McCormick Place in Chicago, visiting several booths and taking in the product and equipment innovations there — while eating and drinking my way through many delicious, and filling, product samples. One of the booths I visited was the Mezete booth, where Khaled Kasih, CEO and third-generation leader of Amman, Jordan-based Kasih Food Production...

Randstad USA recently released its Workmonitor 2026 Report, and Christina Parker, senior vice president for the company, joins the Food For Thought podcast to dig into the results. The report covers numerous topics, and Parker discusses the sentiment on artificial intelligence in the manufacturing space, noting a disconnect between what employers and employees expect the impact to be over the next...

Private-label brands have transitioned from a budget-driven alternative to a core pillar of growth and loyalty in the food and beverage industry. In this episode, Circana’s Sally Lyons Wyatt unpacks data showing how store brands continue to gain ground in the marketplace, even as inflation pressures ease. The conversation also explores how evolving shopping behaviors — especially the rise of e-com...

Jake Steslicki, vice president for PMCF, joins the podcast this time around to discuss the merger and acquisition landscape coming out of 2025 and heading into the new year in the food and beverage industry. He gives an analysis of how the previous calendar year went, and then digs into where things sit today. What should the industry expect when it comes to deal-making through the rest of the yea...

In this episode, Maheen Khan, senior brand manager for Challenge Butter, unpacks new research on Americans’ eating habits and what it signals for the future of food. The survey, sanctioned by Challenge Butter, signals a clear shift away from rigid diets and consumption rules toward a more flexible approach to eating — “culinary individualism,” as Challenge Butter is calling it. Khan explains how c...

“The meat industry is having a moment,” says Brian Brozovic, who details some of the trends and insights he saw and learned at the Annual Meat Conference to start this episode of the podcast, and digs deeper into the culinary and product trends driving innovation today. Brozovic then goes on to discuss how the industry is preparing for the potential of the MAHA movement and new Dietary Guidelines...

In today’s episode, Jason Baskin, director of Retail Strategy and Business Transformation of Hormel Foods Corporation talks about the ways in which the 135-year-old company continues to evolve and grow. Guided by a tight focus on consumers and on providing what the company calls “real food protein,” Hormel feels well-positioned to move into a new phase of growth. In addition, Baskin offers insight...

This episode is brought to you by Control Concepts Inc. Food and beverage processing engineers have much to balance when designing and optimizing facilities and production lines — including maintaining optimum food safety and process performance. Implementation of hygienic air-handling systems should be a critical piece of that puzzle, says Henry Tiffany, president of Control Concepts Inc. , who s...

Nolan Lewin, director of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center and vice president of the New Jersey Food Processors Association , joins the podcast to discuss a wide variety of topics hounding the food and beverage industry. First, Lewin discusses the impact that the new Dietary Guidelines and other regulatory machinations are having on processors, and then highlights what some companies are doing to...

The robots are coming! Well, in food and beverage processing, robotics and automation are already here, sure — but what we see today pales in comparison to what the future may hold. Berk Pehlivanoglu and Ozan Ozaskinli of Value Gene Consulting Group join the Food For Thought podcast to talk about an in-depth report their firm released in January, titled “How Humanoids Will Reshape Food Manufacturi...

We’ve got a new set of Dietary Guidelines, and as the industry has had some time to digest them, Natalie Rainer, partner and member of the Health Care and FDA practice at K&L Gates, offers her thoughts on how food and beverage processors can prepare. Rainer digs into some of the significant differences between this iteration of the guidelines and previous ones, as well as what hasn’t changed i...

Conagra Brands has released its third annual Future of Frozen Food report , and we’re speaking with Alie Burnet, director of Enterprise & Portfolio Strategy for Conagra, about the report’s findings this year. She talks with the Food For Thought podcast about four trends driving growth in the frozen foods aisle, from protein-packed meals to restaurant-inspired favorites, family-style solutions,...