CONTENTS 32 Chef Erik Niel shares how creating Main Street Meats was a long and interesting " slog. " Cover: After beef was the profitable protein in 2021, demand for US meat and poultry is expected to remain strong at home and abroad. Cover illustration: Sosland Publishing / Katelyn Betz 08 COMMENTARY Hiring: 101 10 BUSINESS NOTES 12 WASHINGTON Protecting industry workers 14 COVER STORY The golden years 20 INDUSTRY RESEARCH Cautiously optimistic 26 COMPANY PROFILE Bacon-preneurs 32 RETAIL PROFILE Butcher shop building blocks 38 INGREDIENT ISSUES Cutting back on sodium 46 POULTRY PROCESSING TECH Wings still rule 52 FOOD SAFETY Building barriers 58 PACKAGING SOLUTIONS Tray-packing evolves 64 TOOLS OF THE TRADE Moving the meat 70 SMALL BUSINESS Pennsylvania pride 78 CONFERENCE PREVIEW The AMC is DC bound 4 MEAT+POULTRY | 01.22 | www.meatpoultry.com 80 FROM THE CORRAL 82 GIVING BACK 84 INDUSTRY CALENDAR 85 NAMES IN THE NEWS 86 SHOWCASE 88 CLASSIFIEDS 89 ADVERTISERS 90 THE INSIDERhttp://www.meatpoultry.com