On Valentine’s Day, Harvard Medical School’s HealthBeat newsletter ran an informative article entitled “What is it about coffee?” The authors reminded us of the days not too long ago when we worried that coffee would harm our hearts, give us ulcers, deform our babies and make us overly nervous.
To be certain we are all on the same page, let’s look at my list of truck, tractor and refrigeration fuel choices. My list includes: ethanol, methanol, bio-diesel, clean diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), propane (LPG) and methane gas. That is a list of eight possible choices.
While the term “open innovation” may be new to some, it has been around for a decade (or maybe even a century). Simply put, open innovation is about sourcing new ideas and concepts from outside the organization to help develop new innovative, creative and money-making ideas for the company.
Today’s consumers are more willing to seek out and try new food products. Delivering products to meet a diverse range of interests is a key to keeping consumer brand loyalty. So what should cultured dairy product processors do to grow and maintain sales and profitability?
We need dietary fat. Milk naturally contains fat. So let’s better understand the facts on fat and communicate this to consumers instead of trying to dodge the topic. After all, dairy foods are in a unique situation when it comes to fatty acid profile, as research shows that all fatty acids are not created equal.
How is the dairy industry like Blockbuster, the video rental chain? What can dairy processors learn from Gillette? Will the food industry be up to the task of feeding billions more people in the years to come? What did Confucius have to say about intellectual property rights?
If the Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich., can make cereal “craveable” by using quality chocolate in its new Kellogg’s Krave (crispy shell cereal squares filled with rich, smooth chocolate, with each serving delivering 8 to 9 grams of whole grains, depending on variety, and 3 grams of fiber), dairy processors can turn it up a notch when formulating with cocoa.
It is time to talk about best practices for the dairy processing industry. But I am not an engineer and I can’t get too technical, like recommending that you lower your refrigeration system’s minimum head pressure set point or telling you that you should lower your boiler steam generation pressure to match your process requirements.