Quarterly Newsletter 

August

Membership Dues Career Opportunities Donations Annual Conference Info. July 2023 TFPA Newsletter Contact Us: ​P.O. Box 341  ​College Station, TX 77841 979-218-4943 cindy@tfpa.org al@tfpa.org Visit Us  Notes From Our President Howdy,   Howdy! Welcome to the summer edition of our TFPA newsletter.  Were you one of the 100 people who attended the annual meeting? If so, thank you for attending and to all our sponsors who help keep the cost of the meeting down and goes towards our scholarship fund. If you did not attend, please consider joining us next year in Southlake, Tx May 15-17. A summary of the event is included later in this newsletter.    To find out what is happening within our organization and for contact information, our website is being updated regularly. Please check it out at www.tfpa.org.  Our next event is the annual dove hunt on Oct. 7. Registration will be on our website and emails will be sent out soon.  If you have ideas for the TFPA please let me know. ...   All the best,  Janet Adams, President. Important Announcements   2024 TFPA Annual Conference: May 15 - 17 @ the Hilton Dallas - Southlake, TX Hotel Website Please reach out to cindy@tfpa.org with any questions or concerns View More TFPA Updates Upcoming Events 2024 TFPA Annual Conference: May 15th - May 17th Southlake, TX @ The Hilton Dallas Southlake Registration packets will be sent out closer to the annual meeting View More Mark your calendars for the annual dove hunt on Oct. 7 near Jourdanton, Tx. Details will be on the website soon This event supports the Combat Marine Outdoors. To see the video from last year's dove hunt, please use the link below. Dove Hunt Video TFPA Board Member Meeting August 11th College Station, TX Legislative The new board was decided upon at this past conference. Please see your new board members below. To see further contact information, please go to the website. Executive Director Dr. Al B. Wagner, Jr.  Department of Horticultural Sciences Texas A & M University   a-wagner@tamu.edu President Vice President Janet Adams Red River Commodities   ​Janzer98@hotmail.com Katie Lee National Food and Beverage   klee@national-foods.com Treasurer Secretary James Bowie Supply One   jlbowie@supplyone.com Noah Bass Best Maid Products Inc.   noahb@bestmaidproducts.com Directors Ashley Seelig Fischer & Weiser Specialty Foods   Ashley.seelig@jelly.com Randy Coffman 5C Custom Logistics   ship@5ccustomlogistics.com Seth Danna Salad Soulmates Inc.   seth@leosoriginals.com Dave Darling OFI   dave.darling@ofi.com Branndon Frail Versacor ​branndon.frail@versacor.com Lex Handler United Salt Corp.   lhander@unitedsalt.com Stacy Lewis New Mexico Green Chile Co.   stacy@greenchileco.com Scholarships The Scholarship Committee congratulated the 2023 recipients of the TFPA scholarships.  Interview recipient thank you letters Scholarship Summary Donations Texas A&M University - $45,000 Juan Pablo Arevalo Allison Brenner Moni Fadamiro Hannah "James:" Jeffrey My Le Andrew Maust Jacob Mitchell Mallory Morelli Alisha Patterson Noeli Pineda Abbey Pollok Jessika Schulze Texas Tech University - $20,000 Madeline Hansard Jeany Mendoza Mackenzi Miller Claire (Teterus) Sowers Allison Till Finance TFPA Scholarship has given more than $900,000 to Texas A&M and Texas Tech students since 2006 2022 Combat Marine Outdoors total - $10,000 Link for payments below (membership dues, new member payments, scholarship donations, and Combat Marine Outdoors donations) Payments Membership Information Please encourage and recruit new members. There is now a snapshot video of who we are as an organization on the homepage of our website.  If you have a current job or internship opening you would like featured on the website. Please submit them here.        Members Other Updates The Internship Committee  ATTN:  Food Manufactures – Are you needing summer interns for special projects this summer? Audit support, QA Responsibilities, Product Development assistance.   ATTN: Students – Are you seeking an internship this summer?  Potential employer vetting, exercise Food Science & Technology Skills, gain experience, earn a paycheck all the while building your resume.  TFPA is here to assist in connecting companies with qualified interns seeking internships.  If so please contact:  Stacy Lewis NM Green Chile Co. Certified Woman Owned Business 505-503-0996 575-748-3600  fax stacy@greenchileco.com www.greenchileco.com Go Green with Green Chile!       And/Or Lex Hander United Salt Corporation – Territory Manager C:  972.839.1413 E: LHANDER@UNITEDSALT.COM The website has been completed re-vamped and updated. Please be sure to go and explore the new additions and updates. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to info@tfpa.org. TFPA Website Associative Members  Attached is a flyer to help promote TFPA to potential processor members. Please share with processors as you see fit. We have also added a recruiting video to the website. Click here to watch.  If you think you know of associates who would be interested in joining The TFPA Recruiting Members Conference Update Highlights from the 2023 TFPA Annual Conference  May 17 - May 19 Janet Adams, President  The recently concluded Annual Conference brought together a diverse array of experts, leaders, and enthusiasts from around our great state of Texas. The event was held over three days, in beautiful downtown Galveston.      The Presenters discussed topics covering the fact versus fiction of the transportation and logistics industry, food packaging supply chain challenges and sustainability, professional sales advice, legislative update, trending functional food ingredients, and employment law updates. The slides from the presentations can be found on our website at www.tfpa.org.    The keynote speaker, Vicki Kloeris, gave an entertaining presentation highlighting the challenges of space food formulation. Her book titled Space Bites: Reflections of a NASA Food Scientist takes readers through the many memorable moments of her career as she worked on both the Shuttle and International Space Station food systems. It's available on Amazon.      The conference fostered networking opportunities, allowing participants to forge valuable connections with industry peers, potential partners, and suppliers. The Opening Reception's Table Tops showcased some of our newest members, and their product offerings. This is the 2nd year these Table Top exhibits were offered and again they were a success for both our mission and our members.     As the event drew to a close on the last night, the live auction was a huge success with many new bidders, interesting and valuable items donated to auction, and happy winners. Over $55,000 was raised for future Food Science Scholarships. Dr. Echeverry, Assistant Professor at Texas Tech,  attended with several of the Texas Tech scholarship recipients. After the event he wrote "I just wanted to send a quick note to express our gratitude for the support that you have provided to the Food Science Students at Texas Tech...they weren’t expecting such camaraderie in their first professional meeting they attended."     This conference armed participants with new knowledge, connections, and inspiration. The meeting time was beneficial for the Board of Directors and served as a springboard for transformative action in the food industry's quest to provide safe, nutritious, and sustainable food for all. We invite you to join us at next year's annual meeting May 15-17 in Southlake, Texas. Details are forthcoming and we encourage you to visit our website at www.tfpa.org.    Attached below is our TFPA Association logo. We encourage all members to promote us and your membership by embedding this logo into your email signature.   TFPA Logo Industry Update Articles: What's for 'launch'? Space food reaching new heights NASA and Texas A&M collaboration light years beyond ‘cubes and tubes’ of yesterday   Read More Here USDA Greenlights Cell-cultured Meat from UPSIDE Foods, GOOD Meat for Sale in US Read More Here Proposed ‘Office of Food Safety Reassessment’ would target chemicals that entered food supply through GRAS process Read More Here Trucking legislation that could ease supply chain challenges advances in House Read More Here Contact Us 979-218-4943 cindy@tfpa.org al@tfpa.org info@tfpa.org P.O. Box 341 College Station, TX 77841

April

Membership Dues Career Opportunities Donations Annual Conference Info. 4/1/2023 TFPA Newsletter Contact Us: ​P.O. Box 341  ​College Station, TX 77841 979-218-4943 cindy@tfpa.org al@tfpa.org Visit Us  Notes From Our President Howdy,   Springtime means warmer weather, beautiful wildflowers, and of course the TFPA Annual Meeting. A time when we all can gather to catch up, meet new people, and learn. I’m looking forward to being at the beautiful Tremont Hotel in Galveston.  This year we have a great list of topics: Packaging trends, Functional Food Ingredients, Legislative/Regulatory Updates. And back by popular demand: Table Top Exhibits. Sign up, they’re going fast! Remember to register for the conference by May 1. Hope to see you there. All the best, Ashley Seelig, President TFPA.   All the best,  Ashley Seelig, President.     Important Announcements   2023 TFPA Annual Conference: Registration packets have been emailed out. If you did not receive one, please use the button below. We look forward to seeing you! Please reach out to cindy@tfpa.org with any questions or concerns View More TFPA Updates Upcoming Events 2023 TFPA Annual Conference: May 17th - May 19th Galveston, TX @ The Tremont Registration packets have been emailed out. If you did not receive one, please use the button below. View More Mark your calendars for the annual dove hunt on Oct. 7 near Jourdanton, Tx. The Combat Marine Outdoors, whom we support during the annual dove hunt, expect to bring 2 auction items for the banquet and  one they expect to be a hunt. Scholarships The Scholarship Committee conducted interviews and decided upon the recipients. Interviews were conducted at Texas A&M University and Texas Tech.  Please click link below to view recipients thank you letters to our organization.  Interview recipient thank you letters Scholarship Summary Donations Legislative No updates at this time. Finance 2022 Scholarships total - $65,000 2022 Combat Marine Outdoors total - $10,000 Link for payments below (membership dues, new member payments, scholarship donations, and Combat Marine Outdoors donations) Payments Membership Information Please encourage and recruit new members. There is now a snapshot video of who we are as an organization on the homepage of our website.  If you have a current job or internship opening you would like featured on the website. Please submit them here.  Members Other Updates The Internship Committee  ATTN:  Food Manufactures – Are you needing summer interns for special projects this summer? Audit support, QA Responsibilities, Product Development assistance.   ATTN: Students – Are you seeking an internship this summer?  Potential employer vetting, exercise Food Science & Technology Skills, gain experience, earn a paycheck all the while building your resume.  TFPA is here to assist in connecting companies with qualified interns seeking internships.  If so please contact:  Stacy Lewis NM Green Chile Co. Certified Woman Owned Business 505-503-0996 575-748-3600  fax stacy@greenchileco.com www.greenchileco.com Go Green with Green Chile! Lex Hander United Salt Corporation – Territory Manager C:  972.839.1413 E: LHANDER@UNITEDSALT.COM The website has been completed re-vamped and updated. Please be sure to go and explore the new additions and updates. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to info@tfpa.org. TFPA Website Associative Members  Attached is a flyer to help promote TFPA to potential processor members. Please share with processors as you see fit. We have also added a recruiting video to the website. Click here to watch.  If you think you know of associates who would be interested in joining The TFPA Recruiting Members Industry Update Read Full Article Here A&M FSTC Processing Line  March 29, 2023 Texas A&M Food Science & Technology Department High – Acid Hot – Fill Processing Line in jeopardy   In mid- February of 2023, TFPA board members were alerted to an urgent request by the TX A&M FSTC to support them in salvaging a pilot program involving a small scale processing line for hot fill acidified foods. This line was designed by CRB engineering, with the intention of teaching high impact learning activities to students, and service to industry stakeholders. The line was installed in 2020, but due to the impact of the Covid pandemic, had largely gone unused and was in need of repairs to become operational. Essentially, a line that was installed at a cost of well over $1.2 million dollars was in jeopardy of being lost over repair costs in the $10,000 to $15,000 range.     In an effort to mitigate these costs and get the line up and running quickly, Best Maid Products was able to dispatch a team of 3 employees to diagnose the issues and arrange for repairs.  Stephen Goetz, Taylor Pickering, and Lance Heinen, were able to spend a day and a half diagnosing the line and arranging for some minor repairs, all at little or no cost to Texas A&M.  Many thanks to this team for their quick action and support!  While this was a big win for the department, much work is still needed on behalf of the food processing industry and to provide the best possible, urgently needed hands-on processing education for TAMU students.   Members of the TFPA are well aware of the need for talent in the areas of food science, engineering, operations, marketing, sales, & distribution.  Texas A&M is a key recruiting ground for new talent entering our industry, and we would all prefer to hire students who have some experience working in a manufacturing environment.  Texas A&M FSTC is one of the only top-tier food science programs in the country without pilot-scale processing capabilities.   We have achieved step 1 in getting this line up and running, but we still have much work to do to save this program.  We need TFPA membership assistance in the following areas: Letters of support for this project from Manufacturers, Retailers, & Suppliers Advisory Board support or participation in listening panels specifically related to this line Donations / support from Manufacturers & Suppliers of the following materials / services: 16 oz straight sided jars (83-400 finish) (6pk or 12pk re-ship cases with dividers) 84-400 Gold Metal CT lids Storage of finished goods near College Station Sales & Distribution support (2 – 5 years out)   Thanks in advance to our wonderful community of TFPA members!  I know we will all rally around this project, as it will add much needed training to students that will become the future leaders of our industry.     Contact Us 979-218-4943 cindy@tfpa.org al@tfpa.org info@tfpa.org P.O. Box 341 College Station, TX 77841

January

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Membership Dues Career Opportunities Donations Annual Conference Info. 1/1/2023 TFPA Newsletter Contact Us: ​P.O. Box 341  ​College Station, TX 77841 979-218-4943 cindy@tfpa.org al@tfpa.org Visit Us  Notes From Our President Howdy,   As we finish up 2022, I can’t help but look back at the year with gratefulness and relief.  I’m grateful for my family, a job, a wonderful city to raise my family, my health.  I’m relieved that our lives are getting back to normal and excited to put a year behind me and see what the new year brings. I am thankful to be in the food industry and connected with such a great organization of people. Please continue to stay involved with the TFPA and help us support our causes.  I look forward to seeing you all at our next event.    All the best,  Ashley Seelig, President.     Important Announcements   2023 TFPA Annual Conference: May 17th - May 19th Galveston, TX @ The Tremont Registration packet is still in progress View More TFPA Updates Scholarships The Scholarship Committee conducted interviews recently and decided upon the recipients. Interviews were conducted at Texas A&M University and Texas Tech.  Please click link below to view recipients thank you letters to our organization.  Interview recipient thank you letters Scholarship Summary Donations Legislative FDA Announces the Final Rule for Food Traceability Under FSMA Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule on food traceability designed to facilitate faster identification and rapid removal of potentially contaminated food from the market, resulting in fewer foodborne illnesses and/or deaths. Foods subject to the final rule requirements appear on the Food Traceability List (FTL). The FTL includes fresh cut fruits and vegetables, shell eggs, and nut butters, as well as certain fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, ready-to-eat deli salads, cheeses, and seafood products. Read More Finance 2022 Scholarships total - $65,000 2022 Combat Marine Outdoors total - $10,000 Link for payments below (membership dues, new member payments, scholarship donations, and Combat Marine Outdoors donations) Payments Membership Information Please encourage and recruit new members. There is now a snapshot video of who we are as an organization on the homepage of our website.  If you have a current job or internship opening you would like featured on the website. Please submit them here.  Members Other Updates The Internship Committee presented an internship solicitation letter at the LIFT. The letter has been revised to include all undergraduates for participation. Texas A&M had a sizable contingent in attendance at the LIFT and we are hoping this facilitated connections between students with food processing and production companies. We have included the letter as an attachment hopes that our members can have the opportunity to mentor these young professionals. For questions, please contact Lex Hander at lhander@unitedsalt.com or stacy@greenchileco.com. The website has been completed re-vamped and updated. Please be sure to go and explore the new additions and updates. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to info@tfpa.org. Industry Update Read Full Article Here Why Cold Chain Solutions Are a Hot topic for Manufacturers When it comes to perishable products, the supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If there's a break in the chain, the quality of the product and company competitiveness can suffer. That's where cold chain comes in.   According to Allied Market Research, the cold chain logistics market is set to experience rapid growth over the next five years, swelling into a half-trillion-dollar industry by 2026. Cold chain packaging alone will command around $40 billion of that growth.   Cold chain packaging is used in many industries to maintain the desired temperature for their perishable products and help manufacturers adhere to relevant safety regulations and industry standards.   Foods that require cold chain include dairy products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables, confection, and prepared meals. Chemical manufacturers require cold chain solutions for temperature-sensitive products and products that have a short shelf life. Pharmaceutical manufacturers require cold chain for vaccines, blood products, and biologics. What Makes Jam Set Jam making is a highly accurate science. The ability of a jam to set depends on a delicate balance of three factors: sugars, acidity and pectin. Read More Here Contact Us 979-218-4943 cindy@tfpa.org al@tfpa.org info@tfpa.org P.O. Box 341 College Station, TX 77841