Developing custom flavors for new and existing foodservice and restaurant customers for sous vide proteins involves collaboration and communication, according to Keith Goerl, Vice President, R&D and Commercialization at Ed Miniat LLC. Successfully meeting client needs involves employing a variety of channels to stay ahead of emerging flavor trends and testing new concept inside the in-house kitchens, he adds. In this episode, Goerl also addresses operational lessons learned during the pandemic and how the resurgence of foodservice and new relationships forged during COVID affected Miniat’s post-pandemic business.

All meat analogue companies face a potentially huge hurdle right out of the gate: The cost of the physical plant necessary to make their particular foodstuffs, whether in the form of bioreactors or extruders or mixers, or any of an endless number of other pieces of equipment. And that doesn’t account for the cost of running and maintaining and manning a facility. Many founders are vowing to build their business on an “asset-light” platform, but what does that really mean? CRB Group’s Tony Moses explains the options, the pitfalls, the costs and the value of a solid TEA, which he explains in the podcast.

Dr. Konrad Ahlin, the senior robotics researcher at the Georgia Tech Research Institute provides updates on the use of flexible automated systems, robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality in food processing plants. He also outlines how these advances are affecting plant workers and specific operations like movement of product and maintaining yields throughout the processing line. Dr. Ahlin also discusses how collaborations with researchers at other educational institutions are affecting development of new ideas for automated systems and robotics.