The National Provisioner

10/31/2025

PJ Connor, Hormel Foods group vice president of retail sales, announces his upcoming retirement.

Natosha Walsh, a 26-year company veteran and vice president of retail sales – West, will succeed Connor upon his retirement. A seasoned sales executive, Walsh brings extensive experience across sales, trade management, category management, supply chain and brand management.

Learn more about the succession planning in the comments below 👇

10/31/2025

🥩 US meat trade groups see export growth potential in Southeast Asia trade agreement

While US beef producers haven’t all been the biggest fans of President Trump’s ag trade policy decisions, meat industry trade associations welcomed the Trump Administration’s announcement of reciprocal trade deals with Cambodia and Malaysia.

Learn more in the comments below 👇


📷: Pixabay

10/31/2025

Is your flexible packaging innovation shaping the future? 🌟 From sustainability improvements to enhanced convenience or shelf life, the Steve Fairfield Memorial Award recognizes top advances in flexible packaging. Submit by Jan 31, 2026!

📅 Winner presents May 29, 2026 at Global Pouch Forum.

Submit here: https://www.packagingstrategies.com/steve-fairfield-memorial-innovation-award

10/30/2025

Meat snack company Chomps is expanding its manufacturing capabilities with the establishment of a new facility in Beatrice, Neb.

This new facility, developed in collaboration with co-manufacturing partner Landmark Snacks, is projected to boost annual production capacity by 15%. The facility is expected to create 150 new jobs for the community and will prioritize work with local contractors

Learn more in the comments below 👇


📷: Chomps

10/30/2025

🐄 As cattle markets consolidate, importance of risk management rises

Estimates from the Livestock Market Information Center peg cow-calf returns for individual, unhedged producers at a little over $900 per cow. These paper profits create excitement but also fear when the market starts to turn.

Producers could use risk-management tools to protect these margins, but invariably that means more selling activity, which again creates problems when there is so much uncertainty about future government policy.

Learn more in our monthly Beef Market Update: https://brnw.ch/21wX4dC


📷: pen_ash/Pixabay

10/29/2025

North Country Smokehouse is bringing a new offering to the charcuterie aisle: Organic Uncured Genoa Salami, handcrafted in collaboration with Italian cured meats company Citterio.

Learn more 👉 https://brnw.ch/21wX2sa

North Country Smokehouse introduces a new addition to the charcuterie aisle: Organic Uncured Genoa Salami, handcrafted in collaboration with Italian cured meats company Citterio.

10/29/2025

Seafood continues to hold its own in the marketplace, buoyed by consumer demand for health, sustainability and value.

Circana data from 2024 shows that seafood sourced from Alaska outpaced the overall seafood category, with volume growth of 5.4% year-over-year.

Learn more about Alaska's seafood industry in our State of the Seafood Industry 2025 report. https://brnw.ch/21wX1UN

Seafood continues to hold its own in the marketplace— buoyed by consumer demand for health, sustainability, and value.

10/28/2025

This summer, the Meat Industry Hall of Fame welcomed Barb Masters, D.V.M., Tyson Foods vice president for regulatory policy, food and agriculture, into the Class of 2024.

In this article, Barb Masters discusses her induction into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame, exploring how the recognition has impacted her on both a personal and professional level.

Read the full article here 👉 https://brnw.ch/21wX0n1

10/28/2025

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture seek to develop a uniform definition of "ultra-processed foods," the National Chicken Council is making its stance known: FDA and USDA should bolster existing frameworks and consumer education as science evolves, instead of pursuing a classification system at all.

NCC urges the use of a uniform, science-based approach to characterizing foods — one that prioritizes nutritional composition and ingredient function over the number of processing steps or ingredients.

Learn more 👉 https://brnw.ch/21wWZU0

As the FDA and USDA move to develop a uniform definition of ultra-processed foods, NCC contends that the agencies should bolster existing frameworks and consumer education as science evolves, instead of pursuing a classification system at all.

10/27/2025

🔥🍯 Hot honey is all the rage right now.

While sweet and spicy, or "swicy," flavors have been dominating the marketplace, hot honey is capturing particularly strong attention.

In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Smithfield Foods to explore the inspiration for and development process behind its new Smithfield Mike's Hot Honey Bacon innovation.

🥓 Read the full interview here: https://brnw.ch/21wWYsu

Smithfield Foods shares insights on the inspiration and development process for its new Smithfield Mike's Hot Honey Bacon innovation.

10/27/2025

Recall alerts 🚨

Two separate recalls went out this weekend due to metal contamination concerns.

LSI Inc. recalled more than 2.2 million pounds of a ready-to-eat Korean barbecue pork jerky product, while Hormel Foods is recalling more than 4.8 million pounds of foodservice ready-to-eat frozen chicken products.

Recalls went out after each establishment received multiple complaints about metal in the meat and poultry products, respectively. Each producer determined that the metal originated from the conveyor belt used in production.

Read more about the LSI Inc. recall here: https://brnw.ch/21wWY9J

Learn about the Hormel Foods recall here: https://brnw.ch/21wWY9K

10/26/2025

The US turkey industry in 2025 has been defined by resilience and progress.

Though the turkey industry has faced hardship this year, 2025 overall has been a year of progress, partnership and perseverance – qualities that will continue to define the industry as it heads into 2026 and beyond.

Learn more in our State of the Turkey Industry 2025 report. 👉 https://brnw.ch/21wWWLT

Highly pathogenic avian influenza remains the biggest challenge facing the turkey industry.