Frugality: the new norm?
By: Michael Formichella
(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)
With the shrinking dollar, less disposable income and the holidays rapidly approaching, it seems to me that Americans have become more frugal, and that trend is changing the manufacturing landscape.
Manufacturers are having to change their approach to product development. Recently I have spoken with many R&D professionals who say they are busier then they have been in a few years, with tons of new ideas being put forth only to be stopped before they come to fruition. It seems no one wants to make the final call; no one wants to make a wrong move. Obviously no one ever wants to make a bad decision, but it seems no one wants to make any decisions.
Having been in the manufacturing industry for a quite a few years, I have never seen things as tight as they are now. Two years ago the analysts were saying it will be a good two years until we pull out of the economic downturn. But according to what I see around the country and the food pantry my wife helps run, it seems we will be in this mess for some time to come. I am doubtful we will ever return to the way we had done business in the past again.
However, I believe that’s a good thing, looking at the glass half full rather than half empty. I also believe there are many opportunities still to be found in the value-added arenas. We may have less coin but our lives are not simpler; we are all still time starved! We continue try and fill our days with more than we can accomplish, so manufacturers that can deliver a healthy product for a fair return on investment should be able to capture new market shares.
Have you scaled back personally? I know we have.
Safety Zone
By: James Marsden
Mike Satzow and the perfect ham
The holiday season is a good time to contemplate ham. With all of the water added varieties in the market today, most people in the US have either forgotten or never knew how wonderful ham and other processed meats can be.
North Country Smokehouse, located in Claremont, New Hampshire makes the perfect ham. Mike Satzow, the owner of the company set his sights very high and developed not only the perfect ham, but also some of the best bacon and artisanal sausage products produced anywhere in the world. Over the years, he has resisted fads and pressures to cut costs. Instead, he make his products pretty much the same way cured meats were prepared a century ago. The result is a line of traditional processed meat products that is unequaled.
Last year, Mike was awarded the prestigious Richard L. Knowlton Innovation Award. It would require a dedicated blog to even begin to describe the many accomplishments of Dick Knowlton (former President and CEO of Hormel Foods), but you can take my word for the fact that he may be the greatest leader this industry has ever produced.
It is fitting that Mike and his small business won the award named for the President and CEO of one of the countries largest and most successful processed meat companies. He won the award because of his unwavering commitment to improving his community, his company and his industry. But he also won the award because he makes the perfect ham.
I had the privilege of introducing Mike Satzow to Dick Knowlton and thought at the time that despite the differences in their respective companies, the two men share a lot in common. Both are committed to the well being of their communities; both contributed greatly to the success of their businesses; both helped lead the fight for safer meat products; both are examples of absolute integrity.
I have never been to Claremont, New Hampshire. However, I promise you that someday I am going to visit Mike and North Country Smokehouse because I want to learn how he makes his ham, bacon and other products before the art is lost forever.
Industry News – AM
Child nutrition bill clears House, headed to White House
By Dani Friedland on 12/3/2010
The U.S. House of Representatives passed The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act by a vote of 264 to 157 Thursday afternoon. The legislation now goes to President Obama, who could sign the bill into law in the coming days.
The bill, which the Senate unanimously approved in August, reauthorizes federal child nutrition programs through 2015 and institutes the first non-inflationary increase in the school lunch program’s federal reimbursement rate since 1973. (See “Senate passes child nutrition legislation” on Meatingplace, Aug. 6, 2010.) Schools that are certified to be in compliance with regulations will receive an additional six cents per lunch under the new rules.
The act also establishes national nutrition standards for all foods available on school campuses during the school day with the goal of decreasing childhood obesity and promoting student health. One of the new programs would help schools and other entities implement farm to school programs, improving access to local foods, while a pilot program would provide organic food options.
Under the provisions of the new legislation, it would be easier for children to be certified as eligible for school meal programs and recertified as eligible for supplemental nutrition benefits for women, infants and children (WIC).
“This legislation will allow USDA, for the first time in over 30 years, the chance to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “Our national security, economic competitiveness and health and wellness of our children will improve as a result of the action Congress took today.”
“Passage of The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act puts us on a path toward improving the health of the next generation of Americans, providing common-sense solutions to tackling childhood hunger and obesity,” Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who authored the bill, said in a statement. “This bill ensures that our children will receive healthier, more nutritious meals and removes the red tape that prevents so many from participating in nutrition programs. Because of this bill, an additional 29 million meals a year will be served through afterschool programs, touching the lives of millions of Americans who are working hard to make ends meet during tough economic times.
“We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for approving The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act as it contains important policy changes that lay the groundwork for the modernization of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, a long-standing initiative that helps provide healthy, nutritious foods to more than 9 million women and children every year,” The Food Marketing Institute’s President and CEO Leslie Sarasin said in a statement.
Legislation drafted by the House initially supported meatless lunch options, but the Senate bill that the House ultimately passed does not specifically promote them, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “Schools should offer low-fat vegetarian options every day, and Congress and the president should take additional steps to give schools the resources to make that feasible,” PCRM President Neal Barnard said in a statement.
The full text of the bill is available online at
meatingplace.com
