Kinsa Group Blog

According to a recent article by The Washington Post, the Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act has generated plenty of lobbyist activity.  Since the bill was introduced at the beginning of last year, at least 221 industry organizations have hired 77 lobbying shops to represent their interests.

Spurred by a series of nationwide food recalls and outbreaks of food-borne illness, the food safety bill would give the FDA considerably more authority over the industry in order to reduce outbreaks of food-borne illness.

Smaller, more specialized firms with insider knowledge of the FDA and the Agricultural Department were in high demand to lobby on the overhaul.  In fact, some industry organizations and corporations hired multiple lobbying firms to represent their interests – because the stakes are so high.

And their work is not done.  Lawmakers are now quibbling over the constitutionality of Senate language that imposes fees on companies for recalled food.  The procedural glitch could ultimately force the Senate to vote on a new version of the bill during the current lame-duck session – and potentially push the legislation to the next Congress.

The Kinsa Group – Food & Beverage Recruiting and Industry Experts

At Kinsa, food and beverage industry recruiting and assessment is all we do.  With over 25 years of experience, we understand your industry and we know how to deliver the top-tier professionals your company needs to succeed.  What can we do for you?

‘Tis the season to give gifts once again.  And if you’re like most people, this year you’ll be sticking to a budget.  But don’t let spending limits cramp your gift-giving style.  You can still buy some pretty great presents for under $20, if you put your thinking cap on. 

So if you can’t bear to purchase another boring necktie or nasty fruitcake, never fear.  Break out of the gift box with these creative ideas that won’t break the bank.

For the wine lover

• Bottle of wine and pair of decorative or seasonal wineglasses
• Guidebook for pairing wine with food
• Set of decorative wineglass charms

For the outdoorsman

• Camping chair
• Heavy duty flashlight and batteries
• Insulated soft-side lunch cooler

For the gardener

• Planter for window or porch rail
• High-end gardening gloves
• Canvas gardening tool organizer

For the cook

• Assortment of gourmet spices
• Specialty cookbook
• Salt and pepper mills

For the new home owner

• Serving dish that complements kitchen décor
• Coffee table book related to something he enjoys
• Coordinating set of picture frames

For the book lover

• Decorative book mark, personal reading light and batteries
• Bestseller about a topic near and dear to the recipient’s heart
• Cozy microfleece throw blanket

For the chauffeur (translation: any mom with kids)

• Car organizer
• Car wash and vacuum coupon
• Safety hammer to break auto glass and cut seatbelt

For the cheese lover

• Cheese grater and a block of favorite cheese (be sure to include a “cheesy” sentiment like: “To a GRATE friend!”)
• High-end cheese slicer
• A block of favorite cheese, box of gourmet crackers, bunch of grapes and cheese knife in an inexpensive basket

For the homebody

• Extra large and fluffy bath towel
• Indoor/outdoor electric thermometer
• Current issues of 3 favorite magazines tied with a decorative bow

For the technology lover

• LED Binary clock
• Cordless optical notebook mouse (choose a fun color)
• Digital scrapbook software

Happy holiday shopping from Kinsa Group, specializing in recruiting and assessment for the food & beverage industry for over 25 years.

Grant Thornton LLP recently collaborated with Food Processing magazine to study food processing branding trends.  Their survey of 114 companies examines where food and beverage manufacturers are distributing their goods, how they differentiate themselves, and which emerging trends are having the biggest impact on their businesses.  Here are a few of the study’s key findings:

Balanced marketing strategies.  To thrive in a rapidly evolving food landscape, food and beverage manufacturers’ product and branding strategies must be both targeted and flexible – focused enough to differentiate themselves, yet nimble enough to adapt to changing conditions.

Organic and natural labeling.  Products labeled with either of these terms have recently enjoyed a huge surge in popularity.  And although the labels “organic” and “natural” may be synonymous to some consumers, the industry’s approach to applying these labels is well differentiated.  While more than 78% of food and beverage manufacturers label at least some of their products as “natural,” over half (55%) offer no products labeled as “organic.”

Product distribution.  Food and beverage manufacturers are distributing their products far and wide, with over 85% making at least some products available nationally.  Not surprisingly, large manufacturers (annual revenues > $100 million) are more likely than smaller ones to distribute products internationally (97% vs. 60%).

Private label / store brands.  The recent recession, coupled with a significant increase in product quality, has prompted consumers to try private-label products as a cost-saving measure.  As a result, many major retail chains (74%) have adopted a private-label strategy.

Products and competition for shelf space.  Rampant product proliferation has made determining which products to carry more difficult than ever.  Still, food and beverage companies continue to expand their lineups, with 75% of manufacturers increasing their number of SKUs over the past three years.

For a comprehensive review of survey findings, follow this link to Fast Facts on Food Processing.

For over 25 years, the Kinsa Group has delivered the high performing food & beverage industry professionals your company needs to compete in today’s competitive and rapidly changing marketplace.  Simply put, food and beverage recruiting and assessment is all we do.  Contact us today to find out how our unique food & beverage industry specialization can help you capitalize on these emerging trends.

Food safety is everyone’s responsibility.

And according to a recent telephone survey by the not-for-profit health and safety group NSF International, many American consumers could benefit from some additional education on the subject. 

Here are a few key findings from the survey, which was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 respondents:

• In general, people are doing either too much or too little when it comes to safe food handling and preparation.  For example, 78% of respondents knew the right way to safely defrost meat and poultry, while only 20% bother to use a meat thermometer to verify adequate cooking temperatures.
• A full 90% of consumers wash their hands after handling raw meat or poultry, but roughly 20% aren’t using soap and warm water – the most effective combination – to do so.
• Few respondents (31%) are aware that they can safely refreeze foods that were thawed in the refrigerator.
• Over half (60%) of consumers surveyed consistently re-wash pre-packaged fruits and vegetables – even produce that is in a sealed container and labeled as prewashed.
• Food safety habits vary significantly among income levels, education levels and age groups.

Why?  According to Cheryl Luptowski, Home Safety Expert for NSF International, “Many of the food safety practices we learn at home when we’re young are carried with us through life and passed to the next generation.”  Luptowski further states, “Learning, understanding and changing food safety behavior through simple everyday practices will make a substantial difference in reducing the incidence of foodborne illness in America.”

Want to learn more?

Follow this link for more food safety survey results, as well as NSF International’s recommendations for basic food safety practices.

The Kinsa Group:  In Step with Food & Beverage Issues and Trends

As leading recruiters for the food and beverage industry, the Kinsa Group stays on top of issues, like food safety, that impact your business.  Contact us today to learn how we can deliver the highly qualified professional and senior- to executive-level management candidates through our unique food & beverage recruiting process.

At Kinsa Group, we realize how critical it is for you to stay on top of the latest trends, newest products, and most recent scientific innovations affecting the food and beverage industry. 

To make it easier for you to learn about relevant industry events, here are a few links to comprehensive 2010 calendars:

1. Meatingplace.com’s 2010 Event Calendar and 2011 Event Calendar provide links to dozens of food industry-specific conferences, expos, training workshops and forums.  Accessing these calendars requires signing up for free membership to meatingplace.com.
2. The American Beverage Association provides a directory of 2010 meetings and conferences specifically for beverage industry professionals.
3. BNP Media has several comprehensive calendars of events that include links to global trade shows, summits and expos for the food, beverage, and packaging industries:

            Master Calendar of Events

            Snackfood & Wholesale Bakery Calendar of Events

            Beverage Industry Calendar of Events

            Food & Beverage Packaging Calendar of Events

 Kinsa Group - National Recruiters for the Food & Beverage Industry

Kinsa specializes in recruiting professionals, executives and senior-level managers for the food and beverage industry.  Our promise is to deliver the talent who most optimally fit your company’s philosophy and culture.  By focusing on the best interests of both parties – and by drawing on food industry experience and assessment expertise – we are able to offer the best hiring solutions.  Contact us today.

According to projections made by the non-partisan Pew Research Center, Hispanics will comprise approximately 29% of the U.S. population by 2050. 

The question is, how will your organization capture its share of this rapidly-growing market?

Over the past few years, research from a number of different organizations, including the Unilever Corporation a TNS study entitled the Hispanic Shopper 360, has critically examined Hispanic shopping behavior.  While the exact statistics vary from study to study, the research as a whole has identified a number of differences in the way Hispanic individuals shop. 

Here are a few recommendations from this research to help food and beverage companies reach this market segment:

• Put your products where they shop.  Hispanic shoppers frequent a wider variety of channels than the total population, and are much less likely than the general market to shop at supercenters.  Convenience stores are especially popular with Hispanic males.
• Use Spanish in your labelling and advertising.  Research has shown that the majority of advertising/labeling Hispanic shoppers notice is in Spanish or bilingual.  In addition, Hispanics show increased brand loyalty to manufacturers who use Spanish in their advertising.
• Key-in on their concern for health and wellness.  Heart disease, children’s health and diabetes rank among Hispanic’s top concerns.  They look for food and beverage products with the phrases such as “100% ,” “fresh,” ”real” and “healthy.”
• Think out of the box.  Hispanics are much more leisurely than the average shopper.  They are considerably more aware of and open to in-store tactics to drive purchases.  Consider novel ways you could use packaging and/or in-store displays to attract the Hispanic shopper’s attention as he browses.  Work with retail partners to brainstorm branding opportunities that encourage browsing and spending more time at retail.

From Brand Managers to Strategic Marketing Consultants, the Kinsa Group can recruit and assess the food & beverage industry professionals your company needs to capitalize on market changes.  Visit our website to learn more.

Ever feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information coming at you each day?

With the barrage of data pouring in from newspapers, TV, the internet, social media, RSS feeds, e-mails, voicemails and good-old-fashioned face-to-face meetings, finding the critical information you need amidst all the “white noise” can be exhausting.

Take the BLS Monthly Employment Situation, for example.  It contains monthly employment estimates for over 1,000 industries from its Current Employment Statistics program.  However, the changes in these overall employment levels tend to be delayed in the monthly labor reports – making it a lagging indicator of economic trends.

Sound like a lot of white noise?

Not entirely.  Temporary help employment numbers, which are part of the monthly BLS report, are generally considered to be a coincident indicator for overall employment.  This means that changes in temporary help employment tend to forecast subsequent changes in overall employment and coincide with changes in economic activity.  Why?  Many companies, including food and beverage industry firms, use temporary staffing as a means to quickly adjust their operations to meet fluctuating demands for their products and services.

Here’s how to stay on top of employment trends with temporary help data in the BLS report:

1. Go to the BLS Current Employment Statistics home page.
2. Then select either the HTML or PDF version of the “Employment Situation Summary.”
3. Data for temporary help services can be found in Table B-1 (page 30 of the report’s PDF version).

The BLS CES can also help you key in on highly specific industry employment numbers.  Custom data views are available for various food and beverage industry segments (food packaging, food and beverage distribution, food and beverage manufacturing, food and beverage processing, etc.) based on NAICS codes:

1. Follow this link to Create Customized Tables.
2. Select the data you wish to view, the industry super sector, and the industry.  For quick access to food and beverage industry NAICS codes, visit NAICScodes.com.
3. Select either “Seasonally Adjusted” or “Not Seasonally Adjusted” or both (Seasonally adjusted data will remove any changes in employment related to normal seasonal hiring or layoffs, thereby recording current trends or irregularities.).
4. Select “Get Data” to retrieve the selected information.

Kinsa Group is poised to help you manage your specialized food and beverage recruitment needs as the economy slowly improves.  Serving companies throughout the United States for over 25 years, we can deliver the highly qualified professional and senior-to-executive level management candidates through our unique food & beverage recruiting process.

This fall, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) will jointly publish new Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  The guidelines are revised every five years by a panel of scientific experts and serve as the basis for federal food and nutrition programs.  Additionally, they are considered “authoritative advice” for Americans on dietary habits that will promote good health and reduce the risk of major chronic diseases.

So what will the guidelines likely recommend?

• Reduced salt consumption.  Linked to hypertension, heart disease and other health problems, salt has become a primary governmental target in recent years.  Although most major food companies have already substantially lowered sodium in their product lines, the question is still at the back of my mind - will the feds begin to actually ration this ingredient?
• Reduced use of sweeteners.  Ingredients like high fructose corn syrup have been linked to now-epidemic obesity in our population.  Our government is waging war on these sweeteners.  In 2009, President Obama alluded to soda taxes as one way to battle obesity – essentially making soda the “new tobacco.”  California and Washington already have huge “sin taxes” on soft drinks.  And even though over half of Americans oppose them, several other states have put these taxes on the legislative table.  What’s next?
• New label regulations and advertising bans.  The people have spoken, and they want change.  In a recent survey by Food Minds, 86% of respondents were in favor of the overhaul on food and front-of-label packaging that lists calories and beneficial nutrients.  Nearly three quarters of respondents support government-sponsored educational program to help Americans understand the difference between “good” foods and ” bad” foods.  Additionally, over half of the respondents would support the government banning of advertising “unhealthy” foods to children.

Bottom line, our government is attempting to play an increasingly larger role in determining what we put in our bodies.  Individual choice and responsibility are under fire.  And, unfortunately, the food industry – despite best efforts to provide safe, nutritious food at affordable prices – is under tremendous pressure to do even more.

Kinsa Group can help you prepare for the changes coming to the food & beverage industry.  As recruiters specializing in the food & beverage industry, we can provide quick access to the top Research and Development specialists your organization needs.

The results are in for FoodProcessing.com’s Fourth Annual Salary & Job Satisfaction Survey of over 1,600 professionals in the food and beverage industry. 

Here are some of the survey’s key findings:

• The average pay in the food & beverage industry declined by 6.3% over the past 12 months to $93,537 – the lowest average since the survey started in 2007.
• With the exception of Plant Operations, every job category tracked showed a drop in salary.
• Marketing and Sales people faced a 19% pay cut, dropping from a six-figure salary in 2009 to $84,726.
• 60% of respondents said they get a raise every year, down from 65% in 2009.
• Average hours worked per week went up 23 minutes from last year to 47.5 hours.

The survey results also contain plenty of respondent comments – both positive and negative – which describe professionals’ overall level of job satisfaction.

To find out more about salary trends in the food and beverage processing industry, or to locate the ideal candidate for an opening in your organization, contact Kinsa Group today.

Today’s food supply chains are undeniably complex.  And in recent years, factors such as manufacturing efficiency improvements, increased product diversity and sheer volume have contributed to an increased risk for large scale food safety incidents, which can reach across countries and even continental boundaries.

I recently read a fantastic whitepaper entitled “Ensuring Food Safety and Brand Protection Through Supply Chain Traceability” which covers, among other things, the importance of developing an automated approach to traceability to ensure food safety. 

Here are a few of the whitepaper’s guidelines for food processors to implement effective product traceability practices:

• define and apply consistent product and process standards across facilties and departments;
• document all supply chain activities that involve the handling, processing and storage of food products, ingredients, packaging, processing equipment, etc.;
• implement a system that facilitates transparent, rapid and complete ”source to sale” auditability;
• consistently collect activity reporting information, and be able to quickly retrieve quality information after-the-fact for up to two years after a product is sold;
• create processes that fit well with existing supply chain business operations.

When it comes to ensuring the success of your food safety and traceability initiatives, having the right professionals on your team can make all the difference.  Kinsa is here to help.  We can deliver the talented food and beverage professionals your business needs.  Contact us today.