Running a Small Independent Meat Company w/Kevin Trosclair

On this episode, Francisco sits down with Dr. Melvin Hunt to talk about his legacy and the future of meat color research. Dr. Hunt provides valuable insights and information on meat color stability and the impact of postmortem age on meat color. He also addresses some common misconceptions and  points out how to effectively use a vaccum chamber to optimize the shelf-life and color-life of fresh meat.

In today's episode, we meet with two meat industry leaders whose passion it is to solve the meat waste at the processing and retail level.  To discuss about the current alternatives for preventing fresh meat from ending up in the landfill, we invited Billy Marcus and Shanna Motl from Marcus Technologies. Marcus Technologies created a platform that addresses common challenges in the meat industry, such as facilitating effective buy/sell transactions throughout supply chain.

Why is Networking key these days for the meat industry? To address various questions from our listenership, we met with Isel Tejeda Urenda, a young meat science student and owner of Tejeda Cattle, who has made her way into the industry at a young age. Tejeda talks about her internship experience, at the same time giving us a clear example of the correct way to network which has led her to form a career within the meat industry.

In today's episode, we interview Dr. Barbara Masters and Dr. Mandy Carr Johnson about the history and future of beef safety. Our guests describe their roles in helping ensure food safety and how the Beef Industry Food Safety Council maintains a keen focus on progressing the excellence of beef safety in the United States. Meet our hosts: Dr. Barb Masters is the Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Food and Agriculture at Tyson Foods, Inc., where she provides regulatory vision and support for food safety and quality policies and procedures.  Dr. Mandy Carr Johnson is Senior Executive Director of Science and Product Solutions at National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Dr. Robert Maddock is the Technical Assistance Officer at the American Meat Science Association. Some of the roles of Dr. Maddock are to assist new and expanding meat and poultry businesses with technical information and assistance.  Meat our guest: Rob received his B.S. in Animal Science at NDSU in 1995, a M.S. in muscle biology at NDSU in 1997, and a doctorate in Meat Science at Texas A&M University in 2000. Throughout this episode, Dr. Maddock speaks about the various programs where meat processors can obtain assistance if they are looking to expand their portfolio or open a new facility.