Meat and Poultry Processing Top Stories

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Andy Hanacek sits down with Michael Uetz of Midan Marketing to bring you insights into the meat and poultry landscape from the virtual Meat Conference this year.

Meat and poultry brands and restaurant operators have been moving beyond the classics and incorporating peppers with dynamic flavor profiles. For example, according to the Chicago-based Mintel Menu Insights database guajillo, Calabrian, serrano and ancho chilis have been gaining traction on menus, adding a sweet or smoky edge to menu items. 

“Your knives are your paintbrush, your sculpting tool,” says Kari Underly, principal, Range Meat Academy, based in Chicago. Their medium may be different, but butchers also use handheld tools like artists to bring shape to an undefined surface. 

Meat processors and food safety inspectors both want the same thing: safe food. However, the relationship between the two entities can be touch-and-go at times. At the best circumstances, state or local governments and small meat plants can work together to develop successful operations that produce quality meat items. 

Back in 2014, the Animal Sciences Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison began to ponder the question: How do we teach meat science in the future? What will a classroom look like, and how will students get the best education possible? 

The latest sanitation tools for meat and poultry have familiar names but, more importantly, increased interest.

Organic agriculture — considered by some to be a niche and/or fad some 30 years ago — continues to grow in the United States, and the sheer number of organic products found in retail and foodservice outlets offers anecdotal evidence.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, consumers were purchasing a variety of pre-portioned or portion-controlled meat and poultry products. A shift in lifestyle changes because of the pandemic caused the total poultry and meat portion size category (0- to 6-ounce sizes) to drop 3.8 percent to approximately $654.2 million for the latest 52 weeks ending Feb. 21 in total U.S. multi-outlets, according to IRI Inc., Chicago.

Finding the best packaging for merchandising poultry can be vexing.