Food and Beverage Manufacturing Top Stories

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Blending advanced automation with purposeful design, this year’s Plant of the Year reflects how food manufacturers are engineering smarter, more efficient operations to meet evolving industry demands.

Desteaming — the practice of replacing steam with a right-sized thermal solution like hot water — can improve the efficiency of hot water generation, helping to reduce operational expenses and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

In past years, customers have focused more on automation as part of broader sustainability or throughput goals. Now, the focus has shifted slightly, with more emphasis on how many operators can be reassigned or how much support a system will require post-install.

Rising energy costs and global pressures are pushing food manufacturers to prioritize efficiency. ABB research shows energy makes up about a quarter of operating costs, driving investments—but real gains require a holistic, system-wide approach.

At the 2025 Automation Fair, Rockwell Automation CEO Blake Moret noted that manufacturers are enhancing efficiency with automation and AI. Food manufacturers use digital twin and cloud platforms for predictive maintenance, reducing workloads and improving visibility. This article covers strategies for effective implementation.

Gardner Pie Company turned to Benchmark Automation to develop a series of conveyors to support manufacturing and packaging of baked and frozen pies without damaging tender, flaky crusts.

Bakeries that view bearing selection through the lens of heat stability, contamination control and energy efficiency will reduce disruption and protect both product integrity and margin.

Operator safety is becoming a critical lever for performance in food and beverage manufacturing. As workforce challenges intensify, processors are investing in automation, advanced HMI design and safer equipment to improve both retention and productivity.

In an industry where product quality increasingly determines competitive advantage, the ability to see what you're processing isn't a luxury — it's a fundamental requirement for profitable operation.

A synthetic dye that was once stable across wide pH ranges, heat loads and storage conditions may be replaced with a pigment that behaves very differently under shear, thermal cycling or light exposure.