Kurt Penn, the founder and CEO of Good Foods Group LLC, was first exposed to high pressure processing back in 2008 at a trade show and then when the chicken sausage business he owned was purchased by Perdue Farms, who was using HPP.

The one thing that all of the largest food and beverage companies have in common is that they’ve built an infrastructure that allows them to face challenges to existing businesses while still finding ways to grow.

Food Engineering’s annual ranking of the 100 largest food and beverage companies in the world

Bearing manufacturer SKF has realized the importance of the operational insights that can be gleaned from data, and it's turning this digital transformation into a major part of its business.

These projects show that renovations and new facilities aren't just for the billion-dollar food and beverage processors. Small and medium-sized processors can benefit from properly scaled and engineered solutions too.

Choosing a site for a new food or beverage plant is a complicated process, with a number of factors to evaluate and prioritize. Like a jigsaw puzzle, it's easier to start small and consider individual pieces before trying to put them all together.

Being able to adapt on the fly is great, but it's a lot easier to do when you've accounted for as many potential contingencies as possible.

There may not be a lot of changes in where the world's largest food and beverage companies rank compared to each other, but the challenges they are facing are still very real.

Nestle, PepsiCo and Anheuser-Busch InBev hold on to the top three spots.

The winners, chosen from more than 300 entries, were announced at an awards ceremony at the Sweets & Snacks Expo, held May 22-24 at McCormick Place in Chicago.