A new year and new opportunities are in motion for the industry, after a (sometimes) bumpy but successful 2021. Supply chain issues—and corresponding unavailability of ingredients and materials—will hopefully wane as the year moves forward, while staffing challenges will likely remain, since they were present even before the pandemic. No real solution exists other than to increase automation and technology to compensate for a shallow labor pool.
Here at FOOD ENGINEERING, a new year means a bigger, better and expanded 2022 Plant of the Year award. As I write this, we are still taking submissions and nominations, since the deadline is February 28. You can submit your entry (or entries) right here.