MeatingPod
MeatingPod is the podcast of Meatingplace, the premier magazine and news source for the meat and poultry processing industry. Each week, our award-winning editorial teams put you in the room as we interview industry thought leaders in business, plant operations, marketing, science and technology on the topics that matter to our community. Tune in on Mondays and get the inside track on the people and processes that power the protein supply.
Episodes
245 episodes
Ep. 242: Chairman of the (charcuterie) board
Jeff “Trip” Tripician has played in nearly every sandbox in the meat industry: Conventional animal proteins to claims-based brands, the meat industry’s bleeding edge of technology — cultivated meat — to, most recently, a step back in time as CE...
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32:49
Ep 241: High-flying discussions meet on-the-ground execution
Sustainability in the meat supply chain is everybody’s business, and everybody needs to do their part to move the industry forward in this regard. Coordinating the efforts of every link in the domestic poultry chain, from feed to final sale, is...
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27:20
Ep: 240 — So what exactly is regenerative agriculture?
Regenerative agriculture is more than just a lot of syllables. The term is tossed around more and more often along the food supply chain, but what does that really look like on a day to day basis, for food producers and processors.Dieste...
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31:13
Ep. 239: The 12-months-a-year turkey
It’s the time of year when turkey is, understandably, top of mind, but of course turkey protein has worked its way into our year-round diets, in the form of turkey burgers, deli slices, turkey bacon and the like. So the issues facing the turkey...
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23:58
Ep. 238: Editors' roundtable — Beef exports in perspective
Domestic beef prices are certainly a headache, but the U.S. beef supply chain is losing ground in global markets, as well. The culprits are a combination of supply-and-demand economics — and politics. And in the 21st century, other countries, l...
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34:09
Ep. 237: How to play the long capex game
Planning ahead properly for major capital investments faces many barriers, from day-to-day challenges that make it hard to focus on long-term horizons to the shiny new technologies rolled out at trade shows that promise labor savings and soarin...
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41:52
Ep. 236: 2026 in global poultry — up, down and sideways
If chicken processors feel like the rope in a game of tug-of-war, they have good reason. Prices are historically high, but that may not last. Trade disputes are a big unknown for poultry exports. And colder weather in the Northern Hemisphere al...
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19:11
Ep. 235: The 21st century meat plant
As storied as the history of the meat business is in the United States, the “old ways” are falling by the wayside now. They are being replaced by technology and training. Meanwhile, the meat industry’s workforce also is seeing upheaval. While t...
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27:49
Ep. 234: Turkey’s wild ride
The economics of the turkey market are changing. HPAI and other diseases have tightened supplies but prices are down. And decades-long annual sales cycles seem to have been permanently altered by the pandemic’s effects on social gatherings — bu...
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27:26
Ep. 233: How to move from 'passion' to 'business'
It seems a time comes when a meatcutter or rancher wants to take their passion for feeding their communities to a new level, and start up a processing plant. Most of them will need the advice and guidance of someone like David Zarling. The food...
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34:08
Ep. 232: Out with the Birdbath Water
Every pound a broiler chick puts on up to market distribution uses a gallon of water. Multiply that by the nearly 10 billion birds produced in the U.S. each year — predominantly in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states — and that’s a small lake...
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32:59
Ep. 231: Trust sells
Most U.S. companies have stopped talking about their DEI initiatives, corporate social responsibility and sustainability efforts. Nevertheless, sustainability, in particular, remains a vital part of food companies’ relationships with their cust...
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32:55
Ep. 230: See it differently — Kim Stackhouse-Lawson on beef supply chain sustainability now
Processors’ efforts to understand and meet the array of 21st century standards for “sustainability” may feel overwhelming, but Colorado State Animal Science Prof. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson boils it down: The foundation of sustainability is simply e...
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30:34
Ep 229: Stats to story: How Archer turns data into shelf space
Meat snacks and sticks, particularly in the better-for-you market space, are soaring in popularity, but not all brands are benefitting the same way. Archer has reached aggressively across distribution channels with statistics that not only tell...
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32:07
Ep. 228: Moving targets — How Glenn Valley Foods managed the aftermath of a devastating ICE raid
Would your plant — or your company — survive the overnight disappearance of more than half of your operations workforce? Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha did, after an ICE raid in June. In a conversation with Meatingplace Editor-in-chief Tom Johnsto...
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33:20
Ep. 227: A legal game of chicken, Part 2
What goes into the decision to fight — or settle — accusations of price-fixing and collusion? The calculation is different for each company, but the fallout of the antitrust cases filed against meat and poultry processors still rains on the ind...
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19:53
Ep. 226: A legal game of chicken, Part 1
For nearly a decade, processors of all types of meat have been hauled into court on allegations of price-fixing and other types of collusion. The legalities are complex — and expensive. Most companies are choosing to settle before the case g...
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17:45
Ep. 225: Whither pork in 2025?
Pork is enjoying a moment in the sun, after a bumpy post-pandemic ride. Affordable feed and expensive beef are fueling demand for the red meat, even as upheaval around tariffs and the offsetting changes in the value of the US dollar work to sow...
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20:31
Ep. 224: On the ground with AAMP
The annual convention of the American Assn. of Meat Processors tends to be more of a friends-and-family-type gathering than most other meat industry meetings, but the issues tackled over those days are as large as any processor faces. In this e...
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28:25
Ep. 223: Wrap it up — Packaging is the fastest way to land a sustainability message
Consumers often say they would buy more meat and poultry if they knew it was more sustainable. At the same time, nearly as many shoppers say they don’t know exactly what steps protein companies have taken to improve sustainability.One of...
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30:42
Ep. 222: AI, HPAI, UPFs and salmonella — The poultry business at mid-year
It’s mid-2025, and the poultry complex has had a tough first half. But, the next months look brighter, as Dr. Ashley Peterson notes in today’s MeatingPod episode.The senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Nati...
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28:33
Ep. 221: Consumers embrace meat again — but don’t fall too much in love
Good old-fashioned meat from livestock is enjoying renewed popularity, a shift in the zeitgeist fueled by consumers’ demand for simpler, more natural, and less- or unprocessed food products. Add to that a social backlash against plant-based mea...
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25:42
Ep. 220: Its mid-2025 — Do you know where your alt-meats are?
After a white-knuckle first half of the year, the meat alternatives sector stares down the rest of calendar 2025 from a position of retail weakness. Sales trends that seemed poised to turn positive again at the end of last year, didn’t mater...
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29:36
Ep 219: Five things we learned at IFFA 2025
Every three years the shiniest and newest technologies in meat processing are put on display in Frankfurt at the IFFA trade show. Meatingplace has been in attendance for decades, and this year, managing editor Peter Ricci did the honors....
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37:32
Ep 218: Hang Glide — New tech for the toughest job in the plant
Picking up 5 or 10-pound weights at the gym doesn’t seem like such a heavy lift, but most people only do it for a few minutes at a time. Try lifting those weights for an entire workday, 130 times a minute. The job of rehanging carcasses on shac...
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31:18