by Kevin Payne | May 29, 2018 | Freshness Management
Have you ever noticed how people sometimes keep doing things over and over even though the results keep turning out badly? For me, a good example would be home repairs. Whether trying to replace a faucet, change a light switch or install a security camera, you can count on me to break something, use the wrong part, lose one of the screws, etc. Yet, for years I continued to give it my best shot. This only served to frustrate me, irritate my wife and teach my kids the proper use of profanity. After years of poor outcomes, I finally...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | May 22, 2018 | Freshness Management
When it comes to the freshness of bagged salads, vegetables or meal kits, you need to ask, “What’s in the bag?” Many bagged salads or meal packages will have a “Use By” date but these dates are only guidelines and aren’t reliable or accurate. Why? Not all product harvested on the same day – even from the same field – will have the same freshness or remaining shelf-life. Variations in harvest conditions and processing can cause significant differences in shelf-life meaning the “Use By” date is only an estimate and can vary from the...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | May 15, 2018 | Freshness Management
Have you had the experience where a friend (or child) comes to you in a panic with a problem and asks for your help and immediately jumps to the end of the story? Our typical response is “Wait, let’s start at the beginning” because we require the details of what happened to understand what is causing the problem before we can help them solve it. The problem of shrink or waste in the fresh food supply chain is similar. You need to start at the beginning of the supply chain to understand when and where the cause of shrink – when food...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | May 8, 2018 | Freshness Management, Supply Chain
Have you ever shown up at a busy restaurant just as a table becomes available? Or perhaps you raced to a store to get an item that’s in high demand and discovered that you are the lucky individual to get the last one on the shelf? When these things happen, I say to my wife “Timing is everything!” Timing is everything when it comes to food freshness too. All produce has a definable shelf-life, or “freshness capacity,” which varies based on harvest quality and conditions, and product temperature. The timing becomes critical from the...Continue Reading...
by Kevin Payne | May 1, 2018 | Freshness Management
May is National Salad Month. Sure, it’s not as exciting as the opening of baseball season, but it’s still worth celebrating, whether you prefer Cobb Salad, Caesar Salad or just some simple mixed greens. On average, Americans eat about 30 pounds of lettuce per year – but it’s not always easy to get the recommended amount of leafy greens. As such, bagged salads have become increasingly popular due to the convenience and available varieties. They’re a great option, but unlike uncut lettuce, bagged lettuce doesn’t last as long in your...Continue Reading...
