SugarCreek: Brandworthy Food Solutions

Co-development Isn't Just for New Food Products Anymore

Posted by SugarCreek

Mar 23, 2015 3:00:00 PM

food-combination--developmentCo-development tends to be a win-win for brands and manufacturers—streamlining sales and production alike. Yet for all the collaboration that happens between brand and manufacturer, there seems to be one aspect of partnership that seems strangely neglected.

While food safety has always been a primary concern for both brand and manufacturer, food safety stories tend to revolve around a failure to meet standards or a product recall. Few partnerships have produced newsworthy innovation—until recently. Lately, collaborative efforts to innovate food production seem as though they are finally coming full circle as brands treat food safety innovation on par with product development.

ConAgra Foods

A food industry giant, ConAgra Foods features among more than 97 percent of products in American pantries and refrigerators at any given time.

As the manufacturer behind household brands like PAM, Egg Beaters, and Chef Boyardee, ConAgra clearly understands what it takes to see success. And this major manufacturer is taking the next step in food production by encouraging food safety through innovation. ConAgra is partnering with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at the Nebraska Innovation Campus for the “Breaking Ground for the Future” collaboration.

Here, students will get to experiment and explore old and new food products alike with professional ConAgra food scientists at the helm of product development. Additionally the collaboration is expected to increase the ongoing research involving food safety practices as they relate to:

  • Food commercialization application
  • Microbiology
  • Robotics

Students with futures as food scientists, policy makers, microbiologists and engineers will get a once in a lifetime opportunity to assist ConAgra Foods as the manufacturer moves toward the future of food production and safety.

DuPont and Safer Food Production

While DuPont is a brand name most often associated with household paints, it has a strong foothold in the food production industry, offering “a range of industry-leading food solutions from production to safety to texture and taste to health and nutrition to sustainability...In fact, a majority of… investment in [research and development] is for innovative new food solutions” such as:

  • HOWARU probiotic strains
  • Danisco soy protein and other food additives, such as hydrocolloids
  • Plenish soybean oil featuring zero trans fats
  • Cremodan and Cremodan SoftServe ice cream additives
  • Pioneer wheat varieties
  • Surlyn resins
  • Delrin engineering polymer
  • Cyrel FAST manufacturing hardware
  • BAX System for detecting pathogens and various organisms in samples of food and the environment
  • BioVia anti-microbial blends for controlling growth of mold and yeast
  • Appeel lidding sealant resins and other barrier resins to prevent cross-contamination
  • ISCEON refrigerants to aid in the sustainable usage of refrigeration systems
  • Tyvek Air Cargo Covers to protect perishable foods during transport
  • FoodPro Cleanline used for water reduction

DuPont’s goal in working with food manufacturers is to increase the production of foods that are safe and beneficial for the ever-increasing population. Through the use of DuPont brand food solutions, manufacturers can decrease the amount of contamination and spoilage of food products.

Wal-Mart’s Poultry Safety Efforts

There’s no question that Wal-Mart, with $500 billion in annual global sales, is one of the largest distributors in the world. Now the mega-corporation is working to make a name for itself as a food safety pioneer, collaborating with the CDC to create a poultry safety program. Through the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), poultry manufacturers and suppliers will have to pass certain standards in order to be certified to sell with the global chain.

Hopefully stories like these will become the norm as the impetus toward innovative food safety partnerships trickles down through the channels and branch out to other corporations and areas of production.

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SugarCreek

Written by: SugarCreek

Sugar Creek prides itself on its authentic culinary expertise. With nearly 50 years in the food manufacturing business, we know what Americans want to eat.

Topics: Food Safety, Innovation