Food Engineering logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • MEDIA
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest Headlines
  • Manufacturing News
  • People & Industry News
  • Plant Openings
  • Recalls
  • Regulatory Watch
  • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
  • New Plant Products
  • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
  • Alternative Protein
  • Automation
  • Cannabis
  • Cleaning | Sanitation
  • Fabulous Food Plants
  • Food Safety
  • Maintenance Strategies
  • OEE
  • Packaging
  • Sustainability
  • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • Plant Construction Survey
  • Plant of the Year
  • Sustainable Plant of the Year
  • State of Food Manufacturing
  • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • White Papers
  • EVENTS
  • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
  • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
  • eNewsletter
  • Custom Content & Marketing Services
  • FE Store
  • Government Links
  • Industry Associations
  • Market Research
  • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
  • eMagazine
  • Archive Issue
  • Advertise
Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!

Editor's Note

Annual survey of the industry is mostly good news, but some worries lurk

By Casey Laughman
processing line

We asked processors for the first time about how their costs are increasing and how hard it’s been to hire strong employees. Their answers shed light on some industry stress points.

Image courtesy of Getty Images

October 14, 2019

If it’s October, then it’s time for the results of our annual State of Food Manufacturing survey. This year is no different, and you can find the story here. But don’t leave just yet because there are a couple things that I found particularly interesting about this year’s survey.

The good news is that both throughput and budgets are generally increasing, which means the industry is growing and companies are investing in hardware and software to help manage that growth. Last year’s survey had pretty similar results for those two questions, so that’s a good sign that the industry is doing fairly well overall.

But there are a couple troublesome things lurking in this year’s results, and they’re both from questions that we added this year. A significant percentage of respondents say that material, labor and/or overall costs per product are going up. While that’s to be somewhat expected on a year-to-year basis, most processors don’t have a large margin on each particular product, so there’s not a lot of wiggle room there.

Even more worrisome are the questions about labor availability, which we also added this year. In our discussions with processors, engineering firms, consultants, equipment vendors, software providers—anybody, really—we hear a steady stream of comments about the difficulties of finding and keeping good employees. Whether we’re talking about production personnel, equipment assemblers, programmers or plant engineers, everyone is having a hard time finding needed employees and then keeping them.

This is also happening with contractors and subcontractors. As we reported in our Plant Construction Survey in June, companies are willing to invest in new construction or renovations right now, but the difficulty in finding people who can do the work is delaying projects or adding costs. That’s good news for contractors and subcontractors that can keep busy and make good money doing so, but bad news for companies that are trying to keep to a budget or a timeline (or both).

There’s no easy solution, as evidenced by the answers to how processors are doing things differently to attract and retain employees. Some are offering more money, some are investing in more and better training, and some are focusing on benefits such as insurance or time off. Some are doing all of those things and more. But with a tight labor market and tighter restrictions on immigrants, at some point in the supply chain, someone’s running into trouble having enough workers to meet demand.

This is something we’ll be keeping an eye on, and in this particular case, I’d like to have some help from you. Send me an email with your success stories or your struggles when it comes to hiring and retaining employees, and we’ll use that information to help shape how we cover this going forward, whether it’s stories in the magazine, next year’s survey, or a session at our Food Automation & Manufacturing Conference in April.

Overall, there are a lot of good things in this year’s survey results, and I think you’ll agree as you read the story. But solving the workforce issues isn’t an easy task, and nobody’s found the perfect solution just yet.

KEYWORDS: food and beverage companies food and beverage industry trends workforce

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Casey laughman0031

Casey Laughman is the former Editor in Chief of Food Engineering magazine. He has almost two decades’ experience as a writer and editor for mainstream and trade publications. He spent several years as a writer and editor for two news services before becoming the editor of a legal publication and managing editor of a trade magazine that covered the commercial facilities market.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    With a CAGR of 12.07%, Bonafide Research estimates this...
    People & Industry News
  • skilled MEP worker

    Predicting Food and Beverage Manufacturing Trends for 2024

    The two words that should be kept in mind are labor and...
    Automation
    By: Derrick Teal
  • cleaning and sanitation

    The basics of cleaning and sanitation in food plants

    Sanitation maintains or restores a state of cleanliness...
    Food Safety
    By: Richard F. Stier
close

1 COMPLIMENTARY ARTICLE(S) LEFT

Loader

Already a Registered User? Sign in now.

Manage My Account
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Customer Service

Food Plant Openings and Expansions June 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions June 2025

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Shalima Sreenath

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Shalima Sreenath

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Samara Heaggans

Celebrating Women in Engineering: Samara Heaggans

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

More Videos

Popular Stories

Cargill Cocoa Plant

Cargill Invests in its Cocoa Supply Chain

Campbell’s Utah plant

Going for Gold(fish): Inside The Campbell’s Company’s $160M Cracker Plant Expansion

Woman engineer on construction site

Exploring the Impact of Women Engineers on the Food Industry

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ESSENTIAL TOPICS

Alternative ProteinAutomationCleaning/SanitationFabulous Food Plants

Food SafetyMaintenance StrategiesOEE

PackagingSustainability

Events

June 17, 2025

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ State of the Cold Chain

On Demand Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

July 23, 2025

Decarbonizing Process Heat: What You Should Know and Next Steps

Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

See More Products

Plant of the Year

Related Articles

  • construction

    2019 Construction Survey Highlights Good and Bad in Food & Beverage Industry

    See More
  • Annual Salary & Job Satisfaction Survey: Life is Good, But it Could be Better

    See More
  • Clear Seas 2

    Survey: How the food and beverage industry is responding to COVID-19

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • food-book.gif

    The 10 Principles of Food Industry Sustainability

  • GlobalData_logo_blue_header.png

    Trends and Opportunities in the US Packaging Industry...

  • statical.jpg

    Statistical Process Control for the Food Industry: A Guide for Practitioners and Managers

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • February 4, 2022

    2022 State of the Industry: Non Alcoholic Beverages

    In Beverage Industry’s annual State of the Industry: The Non-Alcohol Beverage Market, the analysts at Beverage Marketing Corporation will dive into the beverage patterns of 2021 and prognosticate whether those patterns will continue in the years ahead.
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Elevate your expertise in food engineering with unparalleled insights and connections.

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Food Master
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!