With the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. consumer purchase behavior has shifted to more retail and less foodservice, and ground products have been go-to-products for people sheltering in place. In turn, increased demands to meet production needs are challenging processors to keep grinding and stuffing equipment highly operational at top speeds.
For major beef packers stuffing large chubs, such as 10 pounds of either course or fine ground, the challenges at that scale in stuffing relate to equipment function and maintenance because it’s a very automated process, says Jacob Nelson, facilities manager and meat processing specialist at Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center, in Stillwater. “If the equipment fails, then the whole process fails.”