Packforum® Americas’ Foodservice Forum Offers Processors Opportunity to Exchange Ideas, Learn About Trends
ATLANTA (Sept. 23, 2009) – Food processors gathered at Sealed Air’s Packforum® Americas facility last week for the 2009 Foodservice Forum event to learn from industry experts on a number of topics, including emerging trends in food safety, menu development in a down economy, and retort and aseptic packaging.
About 90 people attended the event, held Sept. 16-17. The event highlighted the science behind the foodservice industry, with expert speakers providing attendees with insider viewpoints about current and future foodservice trends and technology.
Among the speakers was Dr. Philip Nelson, a world-renowned professor of food science at Purdue University, who provided the audience with an Aseptic Worldwide Overview. Nelson was honored with the World Food Prize in 2007 for his pioneering work on large-scale aseptic packaging. With aseptic packaging, a product and a package are separately sterilized, then cooled, before the package is filled. Also speaking at the event:
- Ralph Bower, COO of Popeyes, who discussed Trends in Restaurant Operations
- Chef Daryl Shular, Executive Chef at PFG-Milton, AFC culinary competition Team USA member, who spoke on Menu Creation in Tough Economic Times
“This event was a chance for foodservice experts to generate, share and advance ideas about the industry and focus on how trends and technology can help operators to raise the bar,” said Bill Kuecker, marketing director of foodservice for Sealed Air’s Cryovac® Food Solutions. “Everybody is taking a closer look at costs and how they can ensure they are spending as efficiently as possible. The best way to do that is to listen to the experts and look for new ideas that can be easily incorporated into their business model.”
“This event was a chance for foodservice experts to generate, share and advance ideas about the industry and focus on how trends and technology can help operators to raise the bar,” said Bill Kuecker, marketing director of foodservice for Sealed Air’s Cryovac® Food Solutions. “Everybody is taking a closer look at costs and how they can ensure they are spending as efficiently as possible. The best way to do that is to listen to the experts and look for new ideas that can be easily incorporated into their business model.”
Attendees experienced the application of ready meals in a foodservice environment first-hand when they selected their lunch entrée from the facility’s ready meal retail case. The selections were then individually prepared by culinary students in the back-of-house and presented to their table as a restaurant-quality meal in a matter of minutes.
Packforum® Americas opened in Atlanta on Sept. 8, 2008. The facility is a permanent customer forum that brings the food processing, supermarket and foodservice industries together to experience the full global range of Cryovac® food packaging systems, programs and services.
For more information about Sealed Air’s Cryovac® packaging, call 1-800-845-3456 or visit www.cryovacfoodservice.com. To take a virtual tour of Packforum® Americas, visit www.packforumamericas.com.
