Hello! I’m Michael Costa, the new editor-in-chief at Food Engineering. I’m thrilled to take over the reins of this storied brand (now in our 95th year) and hopefully meet you at upcoming tradeshows, events, plant tours and more, so I can get a first-hand look at how you and your company contribute to this thriving, multi-faceted and ever-evolving industry.

My background is in food and beverage, but down the supply chain in foodservice, where I worked in a commercial kitchen, and was the editor of a B2B magazine aimed at those working in the volume foodservice industry. For the past two years, I was the editor-in-chief of Food Engineering’s sister publication, Refrigerated & Frozen Foods—which, if you’re a subscriber to Food Engineering, you also receive R&FF.

At R&FF, the focus is on cold foods production and the supply chain that stores and delivers those temperature-controlled goods to their destinations. Food Engineering is another step deeper into the processing and manufacturing of all foods (not just cold ones) and in this issue, we’ll take a closer look at one of the fastest-growing segments in the food industry: pet food.

Our cover story goes inside the new Petsource by Scoular plant in Nebraska, where state-of-the-art processing equipment—including freeze-dry chambers for ingredients—help the company meet specific formula demands from customers.

Speaking of pet food ingredients, we also check in with industry experts about how the use of upcycled and “ugly” (i.e., aesthetically blemished) produce and animal organs can help fight food waste by incorporating those items into pet food formulas.

As usual, there’s a lot more in this issue of Food Engineering beyond pet food processing to help your operations stay ahead in these challenging times. If there’s a specific topic you’d like us to explore further for a future issue or podcast, feel free to reach out to me at costam@bnpmedia.com.