Future Food Cast Future Food Cast

In this episode, we interview Brian Hofemeier, the Vice President of Government Sales and Education at JTM Food Group. He discusses the government's regulation of the food industry, the supply chain and ingredient sourcing, and how JTM Food Group provides nutritious food to K12 schools. Brian also explains his role at JTM and how the company offers a variety of food products for restaurants, schools, colleges, and universities, focusing on kettle-cooked items such as macaroni and cheese and ethnic sauces. He touches on the importance of following government rules and regulations for food businesses that receive funding from the government. We also talk about JTM's efforts in reducing fat and sodium in their food-for-school programs and how they work with multiple suppliers to maintain ingredient quality.

In today's episode, we speak with Travis Day, the Executive Director of the New Mexico Chile Association. We discuss how the association innovates in the chili industry and provides quality products while supporting farmers, growers, and manufacturers. Travis shares the background of NMCA as a non-profit organization supporting the chili industry and its efforts to promote the industry through advocacy. He also talks about the New Mexico Certified Chili Program and its use by authentic farmers, processors, and restaurants. Travis highlights the challenges of addressing labor shortages and the process of mechanical harvesting of chili peppers from plants. He shares information on new varieties that offer increased yields, worker programs, and water issues, as well as distribution and inflation challenges. Travis emphasizes NMCA's commitment to preserving cultural significance, supporting farmers, and ensuring quality products.

In this episode, we spoke with Jason Freeman, Founder and CEO of Farmer Direct Organic about how they are creating a product that is 100% organic, 100% traceable back to the family farm, and 100% tested for pesticides and herbicides. We discuss offering both gluten and gluten-free options. The company is focused on social justice and promoting fair treatment for farm workers, as well as animal welfare. We also delve into government regulation surrounding these issues and the difference in hydroponic practices between the US and Canada. The moral of the story is that building integrity in the supply chain will be rewarded by the market. For aspiring entrepreneurs, control over decision-making is important, and setbacks and failures are inevitable. The company is also exploring ways to scale sustainably, including the implementation of ancient technology from Amazon.

In today's episode, Martino Brambilla, President of Embassy Ingredients Ltd, discusses how they create innovative flavors and baking ingredients. Martino gave a brief history of his journey and discussed how the Harvard course helped him make critical business decisions that led to his success. He mentioned how he focuses on tastes in the baking sector, which accounts for only 2% of flavor sales, and the remaining 98% is in beverages. We discuss the procedure as well as the baking components and tastes change in the beverage flavors. He explained how they assist customers in picking flavors for their products. He provided brief insights about taste trends and marketing tactics for business success. We discussed why certifications are essential in the company and how cleaner ingredients aid in concentrating on a better lifestyle. We talk about the supply chain challenges and how they keep enough supply for the suppliers.

In this episode, Moses Akingbade, Vice President of Quality at VersaCold Logistics Services, covers how they ensure food safety, quality, and freshness in the logistics industry. He highlighted, in brief, how are they assisting customers in the supply chain as well as transportation networks. He also explained how they manage the cold chain and prevent food contamination during delivery. We discuss the method of tracking the warehouse management system process. He further emphasizes how environmental circumstances play a role in keeping food fresh throughout transit. We also discussed the alarm system and how the items are delivered to their clients securely while adhering to all standards.

In this episode, we talk with Elaine Kellman, Vice President of Citromax Flavors, about how changing consumer tastes are driving innovation in the flavor sector and how the Citromax Group is delivering solutions in the food and beverage industries. She gave a brief history of how she followed her passion for the flavor industry. She described how the food technologists' team works to produce prototype formulations by adding tastes in beverage bottles. We discuss how they not only manufacture finished goods but also sell to people all around the world. She explained about the production plant that manufactures finished flavors. She added that the parent firm has 1.1 million lemon trees in Argentina, the world's largest lemon-growing region and that this company is the world's second-largest (and the only American-owned company in Argentina) for organic lemons. . She discussed the many drinks and foods for which they create flavors and their ability to produce extracts and emulsions and share information on the technologies and product varieties. We discussed consumer trends and how they promote their products through various R&D to learn more about what customers desire in flavor.