Whatever the manufacturing model, the fundamental principle remains the same: food safety cannot be designed solely around yesterday's problems. The facilities best prepared for the next pathogen will not necessarily be those that predicted exactly what was coming. They will be the ones designed to recognize change, reassess risk and adapt before that risk becomes a recall.
Conversations with manufacturing CEOs are rooted in strategy, risk and performance, highlighting the evolving expectations placed on design and construction partners.
With comprehensive automation and cross-departmental collaboration, CJ Schwan’s frozen pizza manufacturing facility and distribution center in Salina, Kansas is the 2026 Plant of the Year.
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.
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.
Black & Veatch’s Kim Lovan and Carrie Woehler discuss how food and beverage manufacturers are implementing automation, considerations for vetting solution providers, and how automation projects have evolved.
By integrating modern pump technology, hygienic design principles, clean-in-place (CIP)-ready systems and energy-efficient components into the plant layout from the start, manufacturers can reduce waste, secure lower long-term operating costs and meet stringent food safety requirements.
In an environment defined by rapid changes in consumer behavior, long-term success depends not on guessing the future correctly, but on ensuring the facility can adapt when the future shifts.
Food and beverage manufacturers continue to invest in their operations, but their capital expenditure is more deliberate under dynamic economic conditions
Food and beverage manufacturers continue to invest in their operations, but their capital expenditure is more deliberate under dynamic economic conditions