Food Processing - May 2008 - (Page 45)

Pl ant OPer atiOns Ask the Expert Ryan Bowen Food Technology Specialist Q Tyson Vp and country manager Jim rice visits with distributor/wholesaler customers in east china’s largest meat wholesale market in suzhou. What should I consider when choosing a modiﬁed atmosphere packaging (MAP) solution provider? pany’s products still are processed and packed in its Yuba City, Calif., plant. But, as the world’s largest handler of prunes, apricots and other dried tree fruits, the grower-owned cooperative handles production and distribution of more than one-third of the prune market worldwide. Sunsweet directs a global network that provides products under the Sunsweet brand in more than 60 countries, making it a true global brand. “One key tip we employ when dealing with our overseas concerns is to establish good relationships by performing test marketing rather than simply rolling out over large areas,” says McLemore. “We also ‘overcommunicate’ rather than allow issues to get lost in translation.” Another important but oft-overlooked technique McLemore suggests is to do the homework necessary to create and allow for realistic timelines when managing overseas operations. A game of chicken Tyson Foods Inc. (www.tyson.com), Springdale, Ark., understands global in a big way. The protein giant, with plants in 20 countries and an established presence on three continents, produces, processes and sells more than $25 billion poultry, pork and beef products a year. As with many companies, Tyson has a strong foothold in China and a decades-long track record in the rapidly escalating market there. “Compared to other opportunities, any country you could go to – even a substantial business in Eastern Europe or South America – would be nothing more than a ‘rounding error’ compared to China,” says James Rice, vice president and country manager-China for Tyson. Tyson is responsible for a substantial portion of U.S. chicken product exports to China. This includes about enough frozen chicken feet to give one to every man, woman and child in the world’s most populous country. Air Products’ Freshline® MAP solutions offer more than high-quality, foodgrade gases—they provide an integrated approach that includes equipment, engineering, laboratory, on-site trials, and food-related technologies to help make MAP implementation easier for customers. Freshline MAP is designed around the interactions of your product with the optimized atmosphere, ﬁlm and packaging equipment to help deliver the highest-quality product possible to you and your customers. And our dedicated technical team provides guidelines on shelf life based on over 20 years of experience to help your MAP system operate at maximum efﬁciency. Freshline MAP reﬂects Air Products’ continuing commitment to the food industry, providing a single point of reference for customers. For more information on Freshline MAP solutions, call 800-654-4567, code 511. While supplies last, we’ll send you a Rand McNally road atlas to help keep you moving in the right direction. A The right solution provider is a key to bringing your products to market faster. more on The web “four steps to china: one billion hungry customers await you” is the title of a webcast archived on www.foodprocessing.com. This overview of what it takes to establish a food processing operation in the people’s republic of china features Tyson’s Jim rice plus Alex bryant, president of east west Associates; and Jeff olin, managing partner of international tax services for accounting firm grant Thornton LLp. find it in the “cool content” button in our top gray navigation bar or access it directly at www.foodprocessing.com/webcasts/ international_markets/four_steps_to_china.html. www.foodprocessing.com tell me more www.airproducts.com/ food © Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., 2007 (27463) I8 http://www.tyson.com http://www.airproducts.com http://www.foodprocessing.com http://www.foodprocessing.com/webcasts/international_markets/four_steps_to_china.html http://www.airproducts.com/food http://www.foodprocessing.com/webcasts/international_markets/four_steps_to_china.html http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - May 2008

Food Processing - May 2008 Editor’s Plate NewsBites The Trends Rollout Food Biz Kids Product Developer turned Bean Counter The top-selling new products of 2007 The open road Back to the Big Easy Managing the global plant A new column with answers to your plant-fl oor questions New Supplier Products Toops Scoops

Food Processing - May 2008

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