Food Processing - January 2009
e d i t o r ’ s P L at e
January 2009 • Volume 70, no. 01
www.foodprocessing.com
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EDITORIAL
Editor in ChiEf nEws & trEnds Managing editor-digitaL technicaL editors daVe Fusaro dfusaro@putman.net dianE tooPs dtoops@putman.net Erin EriCKson eerickson@putman.net
reasons for optimism
our Manufacturing survey shows the resilience of the food and beverage industry.
he economic crisis obviously is deeper than just high-risk mortgages and car makers and has gripped the entire world. Even China’s growth is slowing to a halt. And the week I write this, the head of India’s Satyam Computer Services admits to Enronlike overstatement of earnings and assets. But any day now, maybe even before you read this, a new president will move into the Oval Office. Lifelines have been tossed to key companies, and those should start paying off shortly. It’s doubtful things can get any worse than they were in the waning days of 2008. So you’ve got to believe we’ve hit bottom; you’ve survived the worst and things are only going to get better. Attitude is half the battle. Our Manufacturing Trends Survey was taken during the dark days of November. Despite a lot of caution and a fair amount of anxiety expressed in it, there’s also resilience and optimism. Our report is on p.26, and a fuller report, with answers from all the questions, is on
www.FoodProcessing.com.
Looking at a couple of questions, you have to decide if the glass is half full or half empty. When asked “How has the economy affected your plant?” half answered “not much.” Which, however, means the other half checked off layoffs, reduced production and closing facilities. “How is your company dealing with the economy?” Forty percent said “no great changes” and 20 percent said “we’re growing.” When asked how they anticipate production changing this year, 30 percent said it would stay about the same and 57 percent predicted growth – 12 percent foresee growth above 20 percent. Only 13 percent predict decreases. Maybe most importantly, we asked “How do you feel going into 2009?” Forty-three percent said optimistic, 22 percent said pessimistic; a third were neutral.
Mark anthony, Ph.d. daVid Feder, r.d. kantha sheLke, Ph.d. PLant oPerations editor BoB sPerBer Packaging editor kate Bertrand connoLLy consuMer understanding hoLLis ashMan, JacqueLine BeckLey rePrints Marketing cLaudia stachoWiak managEr fostEr rEPrints 4295 ohio street, Michigan city, in 46360 866-879-9144, Fax: 219-561-2019 claudia@fostereprints.com
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EDITORIAL ADvIsORy BOARD
toM ehrenBerg engineering systems analyst Johnsonville sausage Principal Food scientist, unilever Foods Vice President of r&d Mars snackfood u.s. senior Vice PresidentFood, Beverage & agribusiness ge corporate Lending national food & beverage industry leader, grant thornton LLP Vice President-ice cream, smith dairy VP & general Mgr.-china operations, tyson Foods inc. Vice President-Marketing, herr Foods inc. President (retired), nestle r&d cente
LesLie herzog raLPh JeroMe
dEnnis KrausE
deXter Manning
WiLLiaM MccaBe JaMes rice
Those may not be the most positive signposts for the new year, but frankly they’re more upbeat than I expected. Which is not to say the food industry feels immune to the economic downturn. “The economy is slow and appears to be continuing to slow down. What can we produce that will be consumed at a rate that will give us profit?” wrote one respondent. “I think the challenge for us is to find the correct products for today’s consumer and to plan for tomorrow’s consumer.” The economic toll on the food industry has taken some company leaders in recent weeks (see our news stories on p.15). But it’s a new year with a new administration in Washington. People gotta eat, so stay the course. But to paraphrase one of our survey respondents: What can you make that people will buy and eat even in times like these?
Who’s got the best R&D team?
daryL thoMas eLaine WedraL, Ph.d.
Burt young
retired VP-engineering kraft Foods, Lockwood greene, ch2M hill
PuBLIshIng
PuBLisher Larry Bagan lbagan@putman.net
DEsIgn & PRODuCTIOn
grouP art director art director ProduCtion managEr stePhen c. herner sherner@putman.net Jason Vargas jvargas@putman.net anna mariE mcCann amccann@putman.net
ADMInIsTRATIvE sTAFF
President and ceo John caPPeLLetti Vice President JuLie caPPeLLetti-Lange Vice President oF content keith Larson Vice President circuLation Jerry cLark circuLation Manager Patricia donatiu
Speaking of inaugurations, a new feature we’re planning this year is an R&D team of the year. Actually, we’re shooting for winners in three size categories: less than 250 employees, 250-499 employees and more than 500 employees. You get to nominate and vote on them. More details are spelled out on p.30. But generally, go to our web site or directly to www. FoodProcessing.com/nominate. Now through about Feb. 28, you can nominate a food or beverage processor’s R&D team in any or all of those categories. After March 3, you can vote for the finalists in each category. Then we’ll profile the winning teams in our July issue. Don’t be modest: It’s OK to nominate your own team. Any questions, shoot me an e-mail.
dave Fusaro, editor in chief e-mail: dfusaro@putman.net
January 2009 Food Processing • 9
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