Over the last 18 months, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains from end to end around the globe. In many cases, food and beverage processors suddenly learned the hard way where weaknesses in their supply chains were. Justin Marx, CEO of Marx Foods, a supplier to restaurants and home cooks, shares insights on the ongoing supply chain challenges facing the industry.

When strolling the aisles of a supermarket, consumers constantly evaluate products, often according to their packaging. People judge obvious things like uniform fill levels, straight labels, firmly closed caps, and so on. Many of these are cosmetic, but there is one evaluation point far more important: Is the package leaking? This is not always an easy thing to determine, which makes it even more critical since buyers may not realize what has happened until they get the product home, only to find it spoiled.

While the FDA over the years has allowed PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) to be used in paper and paperboard food packaging, it certainly makes sense today to eliminate as much PFAS as possible from the environment, because these chemicals (like the ones used in firefighting foams) simply don’t go away—they don’t naturally decompose—hence they’ve become known as the “forever chemicals.”

Cargill, Continental Grain Company and Sanderson Farms, Inc. have reached a definitive agreement for a joint venture between Cargill and Continental Grain to acquire Sanderson Farms for $203 per share in cash. This represents a total equity value for Sanderson Farms of $4.53 billion.

ABB will acquire ASTI Mobile Robotics Group (ASTI), a manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots (AMR), which has a broad portfolio across all major applications enabled by the company’s software. The acquisition will expand ABB’s robotics and automation offerings, providing the company with a complete portfolio of flexible automation technologies.

While some food and beverage companies have dedicated capital project managers (CPMs) to see construction and automation projects through even at multiple sites around the world, many companies are left wanting a CPM on staff to handle their projects.

Does OEE hold its own in being the only KPI you should be using? How should you apply OEE? What data should you use to determine OEE? How useful is it, really?

Located in Madison, Wisconsin, Tribe 9 Foods (Tribe 9) is a specialty foods company dedicated to creating delicious, nourishing and functional food. In 2019, Tribe 9 built a new manufacturing facility to support further growth in Taste Republic’s co-manufacturing, private label and foodservice businesses. Capabilities at this new facility include extrusion, IQF, form-fill-seal, flow-wrap packaging, nut butter milling and gluten-free flour blending.