Whether it’s because they’re battling a health condition, such as diabetes, or simply watching their weight, consumers are looking to avoid sugar. Meanwhile, certain sweetener alternatives have fallen out of public favor (justifiably so, or not).
Sometimes, a team has to think outside the box. Then again, there are times when a customer might ask a company to literally think outside its plant’s capabilities. Such was the case for Sandridge Food Corp., a refrigerated deli salads processor.
Each year, Prepared Foods honors the food and beverage industry’s most ground-breaking innovations, as well as the teamwork behind those products. This year’s awards, sponsored by the American Egg Board, were presented at the Prepared Foods’ New Products Conference in September and recognized a range of products--from entrees to desserts.
Nominations for the 2010 Spirit of Innovation Awards were all excellent examples of the teamwork crucial to innovation, the very concept the awards were created to reward. This year saw major and minor companies alike align to create innovative new products and push the boundaries of innovation.
The nominees for the 2009 Spirit of Innovation ran the gamut, from beverages to snacks, from breakfast items to dessert snacks. The innovative teamwork involved in creating these exemplary products managed to combine unique concepts with the latest trends and the underlying needs of the consumers.
Foodservice operators are challenged to provide tasty new offerings for
their vegetarian patrons, and the winner of the 2007 Spirit of
Innovation Award: Foodservice worked with eateries to introduce a
vegetarian crab-style cake.
Responding to foodservice consumers' demands for a wider selection of natural items, Hormel Foods implemented a new technology to present a natural line of sliced meats and, in the process, displayed the teamwork and innovativeness that were key to its 2006 Spirit of Innovation Award—Foodservice.
After a strong showing in the 2005 Spirit of Innovation Awards, FGF Brands returned in 2006, determined to make its mark and depending upon strong, knowledgeable teams to refine a formulation, scale up and commercialize a product that would require an entirely innovative manufacturing process.
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