For all the time I’ve spent covering the food industry, I never had the chance to attend the Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo – until this year.

I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but while planning the agenda alongside Kelley Rodriguez, FA&M content manager and editor-in-chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, I knew the attendees – including myself – would absorb a wealth of manufacturing knowledge. That proved to be true.

Specifically, four food manufacturers delivered presentations: Stampede Culinary Partners, Cafe Spice, The Campbell’s Company and Carolina Foods.

Brock Furlong, president and CEO of Stampede Culinary Partners, offered a look at how the sous vide method for protein processing is growing among retailers and foodservice operators. Furlong says sous vide addresses four key pain points: food safety, quality control, labor shortages and a need for innovation. The company, which processes beef, chicken, turkey and pork, is expanding its customizable product offerings to include pet food, plant-based options and egg bites – a format that Furlong says has been in demand.

Cafe Spice, a family-owned manufacturer supplying Indian, Asian and other cuisines for hot bars and foodservice operations nationwide, discussed the benefits the company realized by building a 70,000-sq.-ft. production facility in Beacon, New York. The facility joins Cafe Spice’s 50,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant in New Windsor, New York.

Virgilio Felix, Cafe Spice’s COO, noted the new facility created several efficiencies, including reduced downtime, increased throughputs, reduced product giveaway, lower scrap rates through recipe-level controls, and enhanced employee safety.

As an honorable mention for the 2025 Plant of the Year, the Campbell’s Company gave an overview of the $160 million expansion of its plant in Richmond, Utah. The facility – located 10 miles from the Idaho border – is the only plant west of the Mississippi River that produces Goldfish crackers.

Aptly named Project FINN, the expansion added more than 107,000 sq. ft. and allows the plant to produce 5 million Goldfish per hour. And, by fully automating the process, the production of small-format Goldfish packaging is now 36% faster than anywhere in the brand’s network.

Finally, Carolina Foods, the recipient of FOOD ENGINEERING’s 2025 Plant of the Year award, detailed the design and construction of its 425,000-sq.-ft. bakery in Pineville, North Carolina. Taking insights from its original honey bun and doughnut bakery in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company built the facility to its own specifications through collaboration with many partners. Check out our full story.

I can’t forget to mention our panel highlighting the important work women engineers do in the food industry. I moderated the discussion featuring Shalima Sreenath, head of downstream processing for Cellibre, and Samara Heaggans, director of process quality engineering for Feastables, which is Mr. Beast’s confectionery brand. Not only did they share their journey to and through the food industry, but they also discussed how women engineers can be better supported.

As I mentioned in a previous editor's note, my introduction to food manufacturing came through the confectionery industry, so it was eye-opening to learn how it’s done in other sectors. I’m already looking forward to all that next year’s FA&M will bring.