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COVID-19 didn’t just reshape public health — it reshaped how people buy, prepare, and consume protein. As restaurants closed and in-store meat counters scaled back, consumers turned to packaged proteins, sparking a major shift toward case-ready poultry products. And that shift stuck. By 2022, case-ready packaging had become the dominant format across all meat categories,…
The U.S. snack bar market is booming. Sprinting toward a projected 21% retail growth in 2025, consumers crave convenience, flavor, variety, and functional benefits according to bakery industry experts. With that surge comes a tidal wave of innovation — allowing for 15 to 20 new snack bar brands to emerge monthly, particularly across direct-to-consumer (DTC)…
There’s something comforting about that first bite of a fresh croissant, donut, bagel, or bun. Soft, warm, indulgent—just as it should be. But what you may not realize is that less than a day earlier, that same product was baked, packaged, FROZEN, shipped, and stocked. It only tastes like it was made in-house. Most consumers…
In our PREVIOUS ARTICLE, we defined key challenges to integrating automation for bakery producers. Now the question is: “What is the right way to implement automation for highest throughput, optimized system efficiency, and best return on investment (ROI)?” The key to successful, scalable automation begins with a complete assessment of your production line – product…
We’ve always been told not to feed our pets from the table. Yet, as more pet owners see their four-legged friends as family members, the line between the premium food we eat and what we feed our pets continues to blur. So how will pet food packaging adapt to this shift? This “humanization” of pets…
The global bakery and confection market hit $953.54 billion in 2024 and is set to exceed $1 trillion in 2025. North America accounts for $100.85 billion, with 5.24% projected annual growth through 2030. So why aren’t bakers and confectioners celebrating? Despite success, U.S. manufacturing faces 2.1 million unfilled jobs—53,500 in the bakery sector alone. Retirements,…
The packaging industry is changing fast. Labor shortages, rising costs, and growing demand for efficiency are forcing manufacturers to rethink operations. By 2030, the global manufacturing sector will face an 8-million-worker shortage, making automation a necessity. Meanwhile, the global packaging automation market is projected to hit $86.72 billion by 2025, signaling a major shift. For…
Cabinplant & Harpak-ULMA partner to streamline processing, cut giveaway, and boost efficiency with automated, case-ready seafood packaging:
The need to reduce costs and increase yield in processing and packaging is nothing new. In today’s expanding food market, however, fierce competition and lack of predictability require producers to proactively build greater flexibility, connectivity, and efficiency into their systems, not reactively. Time is unerringly money, and the fastest speed to market without sacrificing quality…
It’s safe to say Americans have a healthy obsession with cheese. Our love for cheese has sliced out a significant portion of the national consumer food market – with the average customer consuming more than 40 lbs. of the stuff per year and adding to a current cheese market valuation of $34.4 billion. Fittingly, modern…
