The Food Production Solutions Association and Messe Frankfurt are delivering live demonstrations of their sliced pepperoni production line at this year’s Equipment, Automation and Technology Show for Food and Beverage, or EATS, taking place Oct. 28-30, 2025, at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

Participating exhibitors in this line include Anritsu, BAK Food Equipment, Fusion Tech, Handtmann, Multivac, Poly-clip System and Weber.

This line is being organized and sponsored by FPSA member Epstein, who is also overseeing the project management. 

“Epstein is proud to serve as project manager for the pepperoni line at EATS 2025,” said Chad Ware, vice president, director of industrial process at Epstein. “With more than a century of experience designing and building food processing facilities, we understand the complexity and precision these systems require. Personally, it’s been incredibly rewarding to work closely with so many talented partners to bring this demonstration line to life. We're excited to showcase what collaboration and innovation in our industry can achieve.”

In addition, FPSA and Messe Frankfurt are announcing the support of JBS Foods in this project with donations of protein and finished product for the live demonstrations taking place during the trade show.

This year’s EATS production line program will feature hosted demonstrations throughout the show, walking the audience through the entire process of manufacturing pepperoni, starting with raw protein and spices and finishing with a finished packaged product that the consumer will see for retail purchase.

In addition to the sliced pepperoni line, the 2025 EATS Show also includes an additional production line featuring a fresh pet food product. Launched in 2017, the EATS Production Line program highlights the latest processing and packaging technologies and shows how manufacturers from a variety of different brands can coordinate to make a high-quality product. 

"The Meat Industry Suppliers Alliance has spearheaded the production line program since its launch, with our members continually incorporate their latest technologies and pushing to set the bar even higher for the good of our industry,” said Chris Lyons, president and CEO of the Food Production Solutions Association. “This year’s pepperoni line is the perfect example of that.

"Producing this product is no simple task—the team began work on this line in the fall of 2024 and meets on a regular basis to plan accordingly and address key challenges that can be expected in a production line of this sort. These challenges will be shared during the live demonstrations of this line, and experts working on this line will be available for private consultation during the show.”

“The pepperoni line delivers exactly what EATS was built to provide—up-close, technical insight into the processes that drive real-world production,” said Sarah Hatcher, group show director for EATS. “This collaboration goes beyond equipment; it’s about solving complex processing challenges and giving attendees a front-row seat to the innovation driving our industry forward.”

Attendees can see the production line technologies in action, meet over 350 suppliers from the food and beverage technology industry and access more than 30 education sessions over the three-day show. EATS 2025 registration is live.

Source: EATS Show