Independent Processor editor Sam Gazdziak talks with Fresh Picks co-founder Irv Cernauskas about how the company is thinking local in order to supply the Chicago-Milwaukee area.

One of the greatest challenges facing the meat and poultry industry is how best to supply safe and nourishing produce as the global population continues to rise.

Longhini Sausage Company has been crafting Italian sausages and other specialty meat products in New Haven, Conn., since 1950. To protect its growing customer base, Longhini began looking for the best metal detection options and turned to Mettler-Toledo Safeline Profile Advantage detectors.

Spare parts inventory must be understood backward, but it must be planned forward.

What is an enforcement action? It is any action that results in an establishment being restricted from production. It includes tagging a product, piece of equipment, room, area or even an entire building. It also includes withholding the marks of inspection and/or withdrawing the assignment of inspection personnel.

The Greatest Gains chart is designed to showcase the companies that have shown the strongest growth over the past year. These are not necessarily the largest companies in the country; several of them did not make the cutoff for the Top 100 Report. However, their successful years deserve to be mentioned as well.

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.

Meat and poultry plants are a conglomeration of perpetually moving parts.

Typically, the Top 100 serves as a good indicator of how the industry has performed, and what the expectations were for the coming year. If the industry is going through strong periods, we will see record sales, acquisitions, expansions and other initiatives.