2023 Technical Meeting Highlights

The Association for Dressings and Sauces (ADS) hosted its 2023 Technical Meeting bringing together over 240 attendees with sessions focused on education, collaboration and ideation in the dressings and sauces arena. 

The Meeting was held at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 30 – May 2, and included a wealth of timely industry information and numerous networking opportunities.  The session agenda offered insights on packaging sustainability, emulsion stability, plant-based sauces, cybersecurity, food regulatory updates, avian influenza, commercializing new products and more.  This year the program included a culinary workshop.

Also featured at the Technical Meeting was the much-anticipated Information Open House (IOH), ADS’ annual informal tabletop exhibit designed for Manufacturers and Suppliers to meet and review a multitude of products, services and needs. The New Products and Services Presentations (NPSP) were also held during the 2023 Technical Meeting.  These presentations, held every other year, allow suppliers to showcase their new product or service innovations for the dressing and sauce industry.

Meeting attendees also had the opportunity to vote for the 2023 Dressing and Sauce of the Year.  Look for the winner to be revealed in October during the ADS 2023 Annual Business Forum in Naples, Florida, October 8 – 10.

As always, we couldn’t have done it without ADS members who devoted their time and expertise to the program.  A special “thanks” goes out to them!

ADS offers a sincere “thank you” to all our Technical Meeting Sponsors

Diamond
Admix, Inc. (Room Key Access Cards)
Emerald
Amcor Flexibles North America (Sunday Evening Welcome Dinner)
Statco-DSI Process Systems (Tuesday Evening Closing Dinner)
Ruby
Garner Foods (Meet ‘n Greet Reception)
ProXES, Inc. (Sunday Evening Welcome Reception)
IFF (Tuesday Evening Closing Reception)
Sapphire
Axiflow Technologies (Tuesday Coffee Break)
Bluegrass Ingredients (Lanyards)
Central States Industrial (Tuesday Morning Breakfast)
Chesapeake Spice Company (Monday Coffee Break)
IMA Dairy & Food USA (Monday Morning Breakfast)

Monday, May 1: Sessions

Monday’s session opened with Dorrie Francis of Litehouse, Inc., and ADS’ Executive Technical Board Chair, who welcomed attendees to Salt Lake City and provided an overview of ADS initiatives and efforts of the many working ADS committees.

The winner of the ADS 2023 Technical Service Award was presented to Colm Swan, Technical Application Manager, IMCD US Food and Nutrition (pictured)  In addition to being the Chair of the Technical Committee, Colm is also on ADS’ Executive Technical Board. To learn more about Colm, click HERE.

Lee Silber of Positive-Lee Speaking provided an energetic presentation on “Next Person Up.” Next up, Brian Sylvester of Covington & Burling and ADS legal counsel presented the “Food Regulatory Update” followed by a presentation on “Cybersecurity and Ransomware” by Derek Christensen of Litehouse, Inc.

Monday afternoon attendees participated in the “New Products and Services Presentation” moderated by Suzanne Mailman of Golden State Foods. The four presentations voted by attendees of the New Products and Services Presentations to be the most relevant to the dressings and sauces industry were:  Avena Foods – Avena Best Pulse Visco Enhancer; IMCD US Food and Nutrition – CAVAMAX W6 Alpha Dextrin; Central States Industrial – Paperless Process Recorder; and Serac Inc. – Ultra Clean Filling for Rigid Dressing & Sauce Packaging.  These products will be showcased on the Consumer site of the ADS website for four months.

Tuesday, May 2: Sessions

The first presentation on Tuesday morning was “Avian Influenza Strikes Again” given by Dr. Jada Thompson of the University of Arkansas.  Next, Dr. Fred Breidt of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, North Carolina State University presented “Buffering Capacity and Salad Dressing Research.” Brad Sims of Madison Chemical Company presented “Sanitation: Protecting Our Family and Friends.” Next, “Challenges with Extending Production Run Time” was presented by May Yeow of Ventura Foods.  The final presentation of the morning was “Natural Stabilizers” with Steven Gumeny, Beneo Inc. and Wanda Jurlina, IMCD US Food and Nutrition.

Moderated by Dr. Ritu Mishra of The Clorox Company, Tuesday afternoon offered attendees the “Culinary Workshop” and included the following presentations:  “The Future of Taste” by Mitin Rathod of Sensient Flavors and Extracts; “Tips and Tricks of an Ideation Session” by Sandy Bichsel of T. Marzetti Company; “Business Challenges of Commercializing New Products” by Tom McGirty of T. Marzetti Company and Allen Sass of Wisconsin Spice, Inc. This workshop walked attendees through the various phases of commercializing a new product with an actual new product for attendees to taste from Faison Fine Foods, a fictional company created by the workshop speakers in honor of ADS’ VP of Regulatory & Technical Affairs, who is retiring.  

ADS Closing Reception

Attendees concluded their time in Salt Lake City by saying their farewells at Squatters Pub Brewery for the ADS closing reception and dinner. Members were entertained by a DJ with a few members also opting to dance. It was a fun evening of camaraderie and laughter.

ADS Committees at Work

The ADS Board of Directors, the Executive Technical Board and a number of working committees also met in Salt Lake City to review priorities, determine new projects and evaluate issues of importance to the industry.  Meetings held were:  Membership Advisory Council, Packaging Committee, Quality Assurance Committee and Technical Committee.  More details follow in order of their appearance on the program:

April 29
Packaging Committee
The Packaging Committee was open to all attendees.  Additionally, the Committee heard Elizabeth Ernst of Sunoco Products Company present the topic, “Packaging Sustainability in a Dynamic Landscape.”   

April 30
Technical Committee
The Technical Committee undertakes research projects with a focus on ingredients, finished products, methods, equipment, and instrumentation to advance the knowledge of the dressings and sauces industry.  Among other business, three presentations were made during the meeting: 

• “An Evaluation of Clean Label EDTA Alternatives in Emulsified Dressings” presented by Jayant Kamicheril of Kemin Food Technologies and Alexa Vaughn of Chesapeake Spice Company
• “Where to Start When Predicting Emulsion Stability” presented by Christopher Zhang of  Ingredion Incorporated 
• “Plant-Based Sauces” presented by Steven Gumeny of Beneo Inc.

Quality Assurance Committee
The Quality Assurance Committee (QAC) reviews new instrumentation and analyses for dressings and sauces and ensures that the ADS technical manuals – Quality Assurance Guidelines (QAG) Manual and the Methods and Procedures Manual (MAPMAN) – remain current and progressive.

The Committee heard from Shannon Conrad of Bruker Optics on “FT-NIR Benchtop and In-Line Applications in the Mayonnaise and Sauce Industries.”  The Committee also reviewed several sections of ADS’ manuals. 

Membership Advisory Council
The Membership Advisory Council met and reviewed ongoing prospecting efforts to bring new members into ADS as well as to retain current members.  

Executive Technical Board (ETB)
The ETB works with staff to direct and supervise the ADS Technical Program, which ensures that Association members remain proactive on technical issues affecting the industry.  The ETB, along with the Research Subcommittee reviewed the status of the following projects:  USDA Buffering Capacity Study and the Risk Assessment Study, which is nearing completion. 

Look for additional committee updates in upcoming issues of ADS’ Heads Up! newsletter. 

ADS Retirements

Patricia Faison, ADS’ VP of Regulatory & Technical Affairs and Suzanne Mailman of Golden State Foods (GSF) announced their retirements.  Pat has been with ADS for 21 years, leading ADS’ technical programs over her tenure.  Suzanne has been with GSF for 26.5 years and has been attending ADS meetings since 2000.  She has been an active member of ADS’ technical program since 2008, most recently serving on ADS’ Executive Technical Board.

Both Pat and Suzanne have contributed greatly to the success of ADS’ technical program.  They both will be missed greatly.

Welcome Rosalee Del campo

Rosalee Del campo was welcomed as ADS’ new Director of Regulatory and Technical Affairs.  Rosalee holds a degree in industrial microbiology with a minor in food science from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and has a background in food manufacturing.  Rosalee also recently completed a master’s degree in international economics and consulting from Northeastern University.

Future Meetings

Be sure to mark your calendar now for the following upcoming ADS meetings:

2024 Technical Meeting
May 5 – 7, 2024
Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark
St. Louis, MO