Dannon, Pepperidge Farm, Coors and Frito Lay. What do these four companies have in common? Popular consumer brands? Delicious products to consume?

As a born and bred Philly girl, I watched in wonder as the world media picked up the story of the South Philadelphia cheese steak landmark with the little tiny sign in its window demanding that all patrons place their orders in English. After all, this is America, right? Not really, it's South Philly where people are earthy, honest and anything goes.

Now is the time of year when Food Engineering begins to evaluate what our readers will want to read in the next 8 to 16 months. In fact, our publishing company was founded on this principle: helping people succeed in business with superior information.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of my colleagues in the food and beverage industry for finally bringing to market a group of products I have been requesting for more than a decade: single-serve packs of food & beverage, the latest of which are the popular 100-calorie packs.

Do you ever consider how much you accomplish in a day, a week or a year? We do. Each year at this time, Food Engineering's editorial team begins work on a three-and-a-half month project that provides a very unique service to our industry-the Food and Beverage Plant Construction survey. In its 29th year, this research survey uncovered more than 500 plant projects of $1 million or more last year.

I am writing this column on the day they call the most depressing day of the year: January 24. By the time you read this, say around mid-February, I am not so sure that day will seem any different.

As we prepared this issue's cover story on innovation in food manufacturing, I was reminded that innovation comes in all shapes and sizes.

After you have been doing something for 25 years, you have to hope you would finally get the hang of it.

About two months ago, a group of 80 people from the food and beverage processing industry got together in a quiet Utah mountainside community.

Every once in a while, I think it's a good idea to see where you have been in order to decide where you want to go.