Over the past few years, the food and beverage manufacturing industry has become so increasingly complex, I think only a true genius would be able to grasp the interconnectivity of all of its current challenges and begin to form solutions.
For example, here are a few recent headlines from mainstream media outlets:
• From The New York Times: “The True Deservers of a Food Prize.” This article questions the recent announcement of the World Food Prize winners based on their connections to GMO research.
• From CBS This Morning: “Utensils can influence food taste, how much you eat, study finds.” Seems white yogurt on a white spoon tastes sweeter than pink yogurt on a white spoon.
• From The Boston Globe: “Will new laws make your food safer?” A reporter questions whether FSMA will really make a difference in the safety of our food supply.
The warp speed of modern news reporting has had a huge impact on how food and beverage processors and government agencies react when their policies and procedures are called into question. For instance, the widespread influence of social media has sometimes stifled CPG manufacturers and removed products from store shelves.
In contrast, recent daily headlines on FoodEngineeringMag.com show how both mainstream media and social media pressures may be influencing the food and beverage industry to reach for the greater good. For example:
• Food retailers and manufacturers seek to benchmark food waste
• US companies surpass calorie reduction goal three years early
• Are you playing by the new rules of customer engagement? (Top CPGs identify and engage with customers directly).
Today’s media influences infiltrate many of our actions and reactions at home and in the workplace. They are incredibly strong, but they are not always correct. In this increasingly fast-paced environment, the printed pages of Food Engineeringcannot report every facet of food and beverage manufacturing-related news. But in the past year, we have greatly expanded our coverage to include social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook and daily headlines on FoodEngineeringMag.com to provide you with many more news stories. We hope you use this expanded information source to make better-informed decisions about the complex world of food and beverage manufacturing.
