Sometimes they say, “Don’t ask the question if you don’t want to hear
the answer.” Perhaps that’s never been more applicable than now – when
food industry leaders want to believe the nation’s economy is
recovering.
Frito-Lay's "Zero Landfill" plan helped it earn "most innovative company" accolades from Fast Company magazine. Editor Bob Garrison profiles six more intriguing and innovative operations in Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’
10th annual “Food Plants of the Year” feature.
What does ConAgra Foods CEO Gary Rodkin have in common with champion basketball coach Phil Jackson? It’s more than a mustache and more than you might think.
Honored by the American Film Institute as a top 10 science-fiction pick, “Back to the Future” takes movie viewers back to a time when televisions, and by default, TV dinners were new. What a rare opportunity, huh? Wouldn’t it great to know how the future unfolds while you look back on past events? Although we don’t have that privilege, I’m glad to learn that several market observers predict a future where we’re going back to frozen foods.
Spring is a natural time to keep an eye on things . . . certain indicators, if you will. It might be signs of life from your lawn or garden. Or, like me, you might be looking for signs of life from your fantasy baseball team. Chances are, you’re also watching for any signs of an uptick in the economy.
It would be understandable if some companies viewed today’s economy as an excuse to shrink back and simply stay afloat. And it’s no surprise that others are trimming the fat everywhere. But then there are the optimists; the companies that, for better or worse, committed to projects before the downturn, and plan to see them through.
There are enough opinions, theories and issues behind the story of Pilgrim’s Pride and its mid-February decision to officially “idle” three plants — that the resulting ruckus could be compared to a hen house, complete with flying feathers and lots of squawking.
At a time when consumers demand value, branded retail food companies no longer can afford a dysfunctional approach to R&D. Gone are the days of emphasizing development over consumer research.
Every Sunday morning I get up, start the coffee maker and open my front door to retrieve the plump Sunday paper. It’s one of my favorite weekend rituals and I’ve observed it for years. I love attempting the Sunday crossword and reading the Metro and entertainment sections. But lately, a new part of the paper has drawn my interest.
What qualities does someone need to successfully lead a food company? That topic captivated me last September when Refrigerated & Frozen Foods profiled Nestlé Prepared Foods Co. and, in part, its President and CEO Angelo Iantosca.
The food world is full of unlikely combinations. For example, a few years ago a friend told me about her new odd “combo” obsession. I tried it, and consequently spent more than a handful of evenings eating spoonfuls of peanut butter dipped in vanilla yogurt.
by CarolynChapin | February 17, 2009 | Comments (0)
I admit it. After attempts at resistance, I recently jumped on two bandwagons.
First, in December, my husband and I got new touch screen phones equipped with GPS, Web browsing, speech recognition functions — and lord knows what else. Honestly, it will take me months to comprehend the full extent of this new little tool.
by CarolynChapin | January 12, 2009 | Comments (0)
It was back in the early '70s and most often, right after school. That's when every able-bodied kid in my block huddled together. Each one stuck a foot in the middle and then one kid (certainly a leader among us) used a mathematical process to determine who would be "it" in the next game of freeze tag.
