Spring 2009 - Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center

f a p c
Adding Value to Oklahoma Spring 2009
RECIPES for SUCCESS
2 Cups Service 1 Cup Convenience
1 Tsp Value 2 Tbsp Variety
The ingredients restaurants are using
to flourish in a recession - page 12
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center Oklahoma State University
Spring 2009 1

Adding Value to Oklahoma Volume 4 Issue 1
news
From the Director 3
Graduate students awarded at FAPC Research Symposium 4
By Stacy Patton, FAPC Communications Graduate Assistant
FAPC Basic Training graduate bottles Oklahoma’s “deVine” history 6
By Mandy Gross, FAPC Manager of Communications Services
industry perspective
Market for U.S. cotton shifts 8
By Jay Cowart, Plains Cotton Cooperative Association
foundation focus
Unitherm supports food safety through equipment donation 9
By Chuck Willoughby, FAPC Business & Marketing Relations Manager
fuels of the future
Methanol as a feedstock and transportation fuel 10
By Nurhan Dunford, FAPC Oil/Oilseed Chemist
business & marketing
Recipes for success 12
By Corey Stone, Business & Marketing Strategist
Recession proof 14
By Corey Stone, Business & Marketing Strategist
pathogen patrol
Another outbreak in peanut butter 16
By Peter Muriana, FAPC Food Microbiologist
from the test kitchen
Sweet expectations 18
By Darren Scott, FAPC Sensory Specialist
food processing
Finding your product niche 20
By David Moe, FAPC Pilot Plant Manager
quality management
Using the basic quality tools 22
By Jason Young, FAPC Quality Management Specialist
FAPC Director
J. Roy Escoubas
Managing Editor
Graphic Designer
Mandy Gross
Editor
Stacy Patton
Writers
Jay Cowart, Nurhan Dunford, Roy
Escoubas, Mandy Gross,
David Moe, Peter Muriana,
Stacy Patton, Darren Scott,
Corey Stone, Chuck Willoughby,
and Jason Young
Adding Value to Oklahoma Spring 2009
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center Oklahoma State University
About the cover...
Amidst reports of recession, businesses
must compete for consumers’
constricted cash. This may be a recipe
for disaster for some industries, but
restaurants keep serving up sweet success.
This is why consumers continue
to leave the cooking to the chefs.
Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990, and other federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on
the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability,
or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This
includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and
educational services.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and
June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Robert E. Whitson, Director of Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service,
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma. This publication is
printed and issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the
Vice President, Dean, and Director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences
and Natural Resources and has been prepared and distributed at a cost
of $2346.96 for 700 copies. 0309
2 fapc.biz
f a p c
RECIPES for SUCCESS
2 Cups Service 1 Cup Convenience
1 Tsp Value 2 Tbsp Variety
The ingredients restaurants are using
to flourish in a recession - page 12

news
By Roy Escoubas
FAPC Director
roy.escoubas@okstate.edu
In the last fapc.biz magazine, it was said the food industry in the United
States is in constant change. The fact is everything around us is in constant
change. It seems, however, in these recent times, the changes occur more
quickly with more force and with more impact. Things that have occurred
during a number of years are now causing immediate changes. Following are
thoughts on these changes.
Food safety issues
In a January 2009 research report
published by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Economic Research Service,
a 20-year trend study showed
U.S. livestock production has changed
or shifted since 1987 to a highly industrialized
and specialized business
model with broiler operations becoming
60 percent larger, fed-cattle operations
becoming 100 percent larger,
dairy operations becoming 240 percent
larger, and hog operations becoming
2,000 percent larger. Other information
has shown that all agricultural,
food manufacturing, food service, and
food retail enterprises have changed
(grown in scale), and these changes
in size and scale have been driven in
FOOD SAFETY ISSUES
large part by economics and efficiencies
of scale where, in the final analysis,
the costs of food to consumers are
improved.
When a food safety interruption
in the current market is discovered,
consumers’ health and safety are af-
fected, and because of the scale of the
production and distribution base, large
segments of the American population
also are affected. In the process of
addressing and solving food safety issues,
the consumer base tends to lose
confidence in the food industry and
is loosing confidence in the government’s
ability to assure food safety.
Recently, Salmonella contamination
in peanuts and peanut products
has spread to almost every state. The
Food and Drug Administration’s effec-
From the Director
tiveness has been called into question
once more, and this event may result
in changes that could affect a major
change in FDA and USDA structure
and function. Regardless of what happens
at the agencies, changes in food
safety compliance regulations will
result and will affect the day-to-day
safety compliance in all agricultural
and food industry production and processing
facilities.
Environmental issues
Changes continue to develop with
regard to food industry operations
and their impact on the environment.
Green sourcing and the minimization
of natural resources with a focus on
renewable resources for manufacturing
are in the forefront. A recent environmental
topic relates to carbon dioxide
regulation, the carbon footprint analysis,
and carbon credit value assessments,
and these will have an impact
on Oklahoma.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Operations costs
The economic downturn has
forced changes by food manufacturers
to reassess the costs of operations.
Non-essential components of businesses
are again being trimmed away.
It has been a general industry rule-ofthumb
through the years that non-essential
components of the business, or
those components of the business that
do not directly generate sales revenue,
are closed when business profitability
is compromised.
OPERATIONS COSTS
Work force
Finally, an article was published
recently in BusinessWeek,
titled “Here Come The Millennials.”
It seems that not only do the
agricultural and food industries face
changes in production, processing,
new ingredients, new food safety issues,
food safety compliance, new
consumer and economic pressures,
and greater pressure from globalization,
but also agricultural and food
industries must face a diverse and
demanding labor force and a set of
college graduating idealists and selffocused
new young leaders. These
graduating “Millennials” are said
to be strong-willed and passionate,
they like personal attention, they
care about the world, and they expect
success. This idealism mixed
with a desire to work may be a good
thing for the food industry. However,
traditional managers must be
prepared for a change in how these
new “recruits” are mentored.
WORK FORCE
Adjusting to change
These amazing demands on the
food and agribusiness industries
force us to be the best that we can
be. A recent article in Supply Chain
Management Review emphasized
that a healthy and creative partnership
with our stakeholders is fostered
by a close business relationship,
a willingness to discuss issues
quickly and thoroughly, an attention
to communicate thoroughly, an emphasis
on flexibility, and a desire to
create a learning environment at every
opportunity.
You are a valued stakeholder of
the FAPC. Let us assist you as you
compete in this market of change.
Call our business and marketing specialists
today.
ADJUSTING TO CHANGE
Spring 2009 3

Graduate students awarded
at FAPC Research Symposium
T
he Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural
Products Center and the
Institute of Food Technologists-
Oklahoma Section held a Research
Symposium in conjunction with Oklahoma
State University Research Week.
The symposium featured a combination
of oral and poster presentations,
with student presenters in both
categories competing for $250 prizes,
said Peter Muriana, FAPC food microbiologist
and chair of the symposium.
“I lobbied hard for the Research
Symposium early on, drawing from
the positive experience I had as a graduate
student where we put on a similar
type of event,” Muriana said. “I am
glad that it has been received well
by all the faculty and students who
take the time to participate. I always
thought it benefited students in helping
to provide another opportunity to present
and discuss their research.”
Kalpana Kushwaha, an OSU doctoral
student in food science, took the
prize with her oral presentation, titled
“In vitro and In vivo virulence analysis
of strong and weakly adherent strains
of Listeria monocytogenes.”
“It’s an honor for me to be recognized
with best oral presentation for
my research work at the FAPC/IFT-
OK Research Symposium, and my sincere
thanks to Dr. Muriana for giving
me an opportunity to work with him,”
Kushwaha said.
Likewise, OSU food science doctoral
student Dinesh Babu won the
poster division with his presentation,
titled “Rapid and sensitive detection
of aflatoxins in animal feeds, cereal
grains, and food products using immunomagnetic
bead-based recovery and
real-time PCR assay.”
“Working with Dr. Muriana itself
is a rewarding experience, and being
recognized with the best poster presentation
for our research work during
the FAPC Research Symposium is an
added bonus,” Babu said. “Thanks to
FAPC/IFT-OK and sponsors for creating
this opportunity to OSU students.”
In addition to highlighting food
and agricultural product research
conducted by the FAPC and OSU,
the symposium included a keynote
address by Michael Davidson, food
microbiology professor and head of
the Department of Food Science and
Technology at the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville. Davidson addressed
the issues of natural antimicrobials in
the food industry.
The FAPC was delighted that Davidson
could be the keynote speaker,
Muriana said.
“Not only is he a noted expert in
the field of food antimicrobials, but
also it was nice to bring in someone
that was so impressed with our facilities
and in a position to possibly guide
students in our direction as well,”
Muriana said. “Dr. Davidson said he
also benefited from his visit in that he
picked up a lot of ideas on extension
activities, and he would like to come
back with some administrators to visit
our operation again in the near future.”
The event also included a tour of
the FAPC facilities, including demonstrations
in the wet processing room,
enology laboratory, and microbiology
laboratory.
“Several of the participants commented
that they enjoyed the tour,”
said Chuck Willoughby, FAPC manager
of business and marketing relations.
“This was a great way to really show a
few examples of research and development
activities at the FAPC, beyond
the oral and poster presentations.”
Sponsors of the FAPC/IFT-OK
Research Symposium included 3-M
Microbiology, PetSci, and Unitherm
Food Systems.
“I lobbied hard for the Research Symposium early on, drawing
from the positive experience I had as a graduate student
where we put on a similar type of event. I am glad that it has
been received well by all the faculty and students who take
the time to participate. I always thought it benefited students
in helping to provide another opportunity to present and discuss
their research.”
Peter Muriana, FAPC Food Microbiologist
4 fapc.biz

Michael Davidson from the University of
Tennessee, Knoxville, addresses the issue of
natural antimicrobials in the food industry.
news
By Stacy Patton
FAPC Communications Graduate Assistant
stacy.patton@okstate.edu
Chuck Willoughby, FAPC business
and marketing relations manager,
presents Kalpana Kushwaha, OSU
doctoral student in food science,
a certificate and check for $250
for taking top honors in the oral
presentations.
Chuck Willoughby, FAPC business
and marketing relations manager,
presents Dinesh Babu, OSU
food science doctoral student, a
certificate and check for $250 for
winning first place in the poster
presentations.
Spring 2009 5

FAPC Basic Training graduate bottles
Oklahoma’s “deVine” History
B
ottling a little of Oklahoma
history is a dream come true
for Max McDermott of Alva,
Oklahoma.
In 2003, the McDermott Living
Trust purchased the natural water
spring, commonly known by travelers
as the “Artesian Well on Highway 11.”
Drilled in 1954, the main well is located
just north of the Great Salt Plains
National Wildlife Refuge, which is
just north of the original township of
Vining, Oklahoma.
“The well has been available to
the public at no charge,” McDermott
said. “People from all across the world
have stopped to drink this thirstquenching
water, and many locals fill
their jugs and haul this water as their
primary drinking water source.”
Soon after purchasing the well,
McDermott enrolled in Basic Training
for Food Business Entrepreneurs, a
one-day class offered by the Robert
M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products
Center at Oklahoma State University,
to learn what was needed to open his
own bottled-water business.
McDermott heard about the course
through the process of gaining the water
rights with the State of Oklahoma
and coming in contact with many of
the state agencies.
“Just as I expected, the course was
highly beneficial to our business plan,
and I was pleased to gain knowledge
pertaining to manufacturing,” Mc-
Dermott said. “Our No. 1 goal was to
build our own manufacturing plant and
bottle our water at the source. By taking
this course, I was fortunate to have
an idea of the events to come.”
During Basic Training, McDermott
learned about business planning,
marketing, good manufacturing practices
and many other topics. McDermott’s
first step following Basic Training
was to work on the business plan.
Chuck Willoughby, FAPC business
and marketing relations manager, reviewed
his plan and provided feedback.
“Max’s plan was very well written
and organized, and one thing he emphasized
in the plan was the popularity
and history of the well,” Willoughby
said. “This provided a point of differentiation
compared to other
spring waters; the
local consumers as well as many travelers
are likely to have an emotional
appeal to the water – a relational experience.
I liked his idea for the brand
name deVine, too – tying in the name
of the local township and scripture.”
Willoughby and his business and
marketing team then provided a market
study for the bottled-water industry
that McDermott could incorporate into
his business plan.
Other assistance provided by
the FAPC included an evaluation
of used bot-
6 fapc.biz

tling equipment by Tim Bowser, FAPC
food process engineer. Unfortunately,
suitable used equipment was scarce
and the equipment McDermott had access
to was substandard or over priced
or had mismatched capacities.
“Max was a great client to work
with; his enthusiasm was contagious,”
Bowser said. “I only wish suitable
equipment had been available at the
time.”
After nearly giving up, McDermott’s
entrepreneurial spirit prevailed,
and he was able to locate bottling
equipment.
Because deVine water is bottled at
the source, environmental displeasures
cannot contaminate the taste nor content
of the water throughout the bottling
process, McDermott said.
“Using only two very effective
forms of disinfection, ozonation, and
ultraviolet light, it is to our advantage
and the consumers’ advantage
that we are not
required to use chlorine,” he said.
“These, among many more, are all of
the reasons deVine Natural Artesian
Water truly is a taste of heaven on
earth.”
McDermott identified his motto as
“I am the Vine, You are the Branches”
from the scripture John 15:5. The
name, deVine, was derived from the
location and the McDermott family’s
Christian values.
“Like the ‘True Vine’ in God’s
word (John 15:5), this Natural Artesian
Water source is the vine and we,
deVine LLC, are the branches,” Mc-
Dermott said. “We in ourselves do not
have the ability to produce this divine
gift from nature, but our company is
delighted to be the instrument through
which it goes forth.”
McDermott began his bottling
company in a licensed clean room that
he built at his residence north of Alva,
with a small filling line purchased in
San Antonio, Texas.
He soon realized the water business
was going to grow beyond his
small facility, so McDer-
news
By Mandy Gross
FAPC Manager of Communications Services
mandy.gross@okstate.edu
mott looked into finding a co-packer.
Caldwell Bottling Inc. in Caldwell,
Kansas, was already set up to bottle
spring water.
In 2006, McDermott purchased a
5000-gallon food-grade stainless steel
tanker and started hauling the water
to Caldwell to be bottled, and on June
7, 2007, he purchased the contents of
Caldwell Bottling Inc. He continued to
lease the building and bottle the water
in Caldwell, while his new bottling
plant was being built from February to
July 2008.
“We are excited about the natural
bottled-water industry and everything
it has to offer,” McDermott said.
“Since the completion of our new facility,
we have grown tremendously.”
McDermott has continued his 3-
and 5-gallon services in most of northwest
Oklahoma, while also servicing
routes in Kansas. His products include
3- and 5- gallon bottles for home or
office delivery; H/C water dispensers;
many water accessories; 12-, 16.9- and
20-ounce PET bottles; and the newest
addition 750-milliliter glass bottles.
Although deVine water is available
for purchase at many locations
and online at www.devinewater.com/,
the main well by the highway still
offers free access as a means of
service to local and area travelers.
This concept is the foundation of the
deVine slogan, “The water is still free
... All we charge for is the bottle and
delivery.”
Like many of the entrepreneurs
FAPC works with, McDermott has that
persistent, never give-up attitude, Willoughby
said.
“We were delighted to learn that
Max never gave up on his dream,” he
said. “Working with Max and folks
like him inspire us to live out our mission
– to add value to Oklahoma!”
Spring 2009 7

industry perspective
By Jay Cowart
Plains Cotton Cooperative Association
jay.cowart@pcca.com
Market for U.S. cotton shifts
Most U.S. cotton now consumed overseas
Changing world dynamics have
forced U.S. cotton producers
to sell the bulk of their
cotton in the global market, resulting
in more U.S. cotton being consumed
outside the country. The diminishing
use of cotton in the United States is a
direct result of a struggling U.S. textile
industry, leaving cotton producers in
search of a market for their crops.
The decline of the U.S. textile
industry was not an overnight occurrence.
In fact, the downturn began in
1997 with a dramatic increase in governmental
intervention in the textile
and apparel export sectors in China
and other Asian nations. The trade
policies set in motion at that time have
continually allowed these governments
to, among other things, devalue their
currency, provide export subsidies, offer
free financing, and set artificially
low prices for textile and apparel
products, thereby crushing free-market
competition.
The U.S. textile industry has found
it difficult to compete with foreign
textile imports under these trade conditions.
More than 500 textile facilities
in the United States have been forced
to close including more than 30 textile
plants during the last 12 months,
according to data compiled by the
National Council of Textile Organizations.
Literally, hundreds of thousands
of U.S. textile workers have lost their
jobs during the last 12 years.
Weaker Asian currencies have allowed
textile and apparel companies
to offer products in this country at
prices so low that it has fundamentally
changed the buying pattern of many
U.S. retailers and garment manufacturers,
and more garments are sourced
out of Asia than ever before. This
scenario, coupled with downward spiraling
consumer spending during the
current global recession, makes it even
more difficult for the few surviving
U.S. textile mills.
As a result of fewer textile facilities
operating in the United States, the
domestic consumption of cotton has
plummeted. In 1998, National Cotton
Council data showed U.S. textile mills
were consuming cotton at a seasonally
adjusted annualized rate of 11.35
million bales per year. By 2008, an
annualized rate of only 4.61 million
bales of U.S. cotton were consumed
within the United States. The amount
of cotton is expected to decline further
as U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
most recent supply and demand report
pegged domestic mill use at just 3.9
million bales in 2009.
Despite falling domestic cotton
use, the United States remains one of
the top three cotton producing countries
in the world, as American cotton
farmers will produce more than
13 million bales in 2009. In order to
secure buyers for their cotton, U.S.
producers have been forced to export
the majority of their crop. The amount
of cotton exports continue to grow as
more than 13 million bales of cotton
were exported in 2008, while only 7.5
million bales were sold abroad just 10
years before. A record-breaking 17.5
million bales of U.S. cotton were exported
in 2006.
The stream of cotton flowing out
of the United States is expected to
continue while U.S. textile mills see
no quick resolution to their immediate
plight. Far from ideal, many in the industry
see the irony of the situation.
“As a result of the strong dollar
policies of the 1990s, the third largest
cotton producing nation must export
cotton halfway around the world to be
turned into apparel that is then shipped
back to the United States to be worn
by the world’s most efficient cotton
producers,” a cotton analyst said.
8 fapc.biz

foundation focus
By Chuck Willoughby
FAPC Business & Marketing Relations Manager
chuck.willoughby@okstate.edu
Unitherm supports food safety through
EQUIPMENT DONATION
Foundation Focus serves to support
and enhance the programs
that carry out the mission of the
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural
Products Center through donations of
individual and industry partners to the
Product Innovation Fund.
Recently, David Howard, chief
executive officer of Unitherm Food
Systems, provided a fully automated,
walk-through boot wash system, valued
at approximately $20,000, as a
gift-in-kind to support food safety
research and day-to-day food safety
activities of the FAPC’s meat processing
pilot plant.
“We at Unitherm are pleased
to be able to enhance
the real-
world experience the center offers,”
Howard said. “The FAPC and its staff
are world leaders in food safety; they
have pioneered in pathogen control
and HACCP plans across the country.”
The FAPC’s pilot plant facilities
are designed with the needs of
the Oklahoma food and agricultural
products processing industry in mind.
Some of the services offered by the pilot
plant facilities include training and
demonstration; process system development
and evaluation; new product
development; equipment evaluation;
evaluation of functional product ingredients;
technology
transfer; thermal process
evaluation; and
consumer market
testing.
This state-ofthe-art
equipment
has photo eye
sensors to activate
the system
when a person
enters. Meteredsanitizer
mixes
with water
and is applied
to
the boot
while brushes scrub the entire boot, including
the sole, removing any debris
on the boot.
“The added cleaning ability this
automated boot wash system provides
will make our sanitation programs better,
which means safer meat products
coming out of our plant,” said Kyle
Flynn, FAPC meat processing manager.
“Many of FAPC’s meat industry
clients look to FAPC as a role model
in industry food safety practices,”
Flynn said. “Microbial testing of the
machine’s effectiveness is also being
planned.”
To date, the Product Innovation
Fund has received nearly $500,000
in contributions from the Oklahoma
value-added industry and from private
individuals. Future fapc.biz issues will
feature other research and technical
projects and programs supported by
the FAPC Foundation Funds.
To learn more about the Product
Innovation Fund and how you can
plant seeds of success, visit www.
fapc.biz/fund/. For more information,
please contact Chuck Willoughby,
manager for business and marketing
relations, by calling 405-744-6071 or
by e-mailing chuck.willoughby@okstate.edu.
Chuck Willoughby (left), FAPC business and
marketing relations manager, and Kyle Flynn
(right), FAPC meat plant manager, stand next
to the boot wash donated by Unitherm Food
Systems.
Spring 2009 9

Great emphasis has been put
on lignocellulosic material
and starch-based ethanol as
the alternative fuel of the future, which
will lead to independence from foreign
oil. Nevertheless, the transportation
fuel industry’s long-term sustainability
can be achieved only if all the domestically
available resources are evaluated
carefully and risks are mitigated
by diversifying the alternative fuel
portfolio for the future.
There are many lessons to be
learned from the demonstration of
methanol as a transportation
fuel in the 1980s and 1990s. The economic
crises in the 1970s led federal
and state officials to encourage the introduction
of alternative fuel vehicles.
At that time, use of coal-derived methanol
was seen as a promising transportation
fuel because of the ample coal
reserves and advantages of methanol
as a fuel. By the late 1970s, the California
Energy Commission was testing
dedicated, methanol-fueled vehicles.
Yet, the use of methanol as a transpor-
The energy experts agree there is no
dence. There are a number of feedst
be evaluated. Methanol has a prove
a significant part of the future energy
tation fuel died out by the late 1990s.
The lessons learned from the active
demonstration of methanol as a
transportation fuel are discussed in an
article titled “Methanol Transportation
Fuels: A Look Back and a Look Forward”
by Gregory A. Dolan, Methanol
Institute vice president for communications
and policy. 1
In the article Dolan states, “From
these demonstration efforts, we
learned there are no technical barriers
to building methanol-fueled vehicles.”
Nevertheless, the lack of strong
support from the automobile manufacturers
discouraged the expansion of
methanol-fueled vehicles. Given the
current status of science and technology
in the U.S., in most cases, technical
issues can be resolved within
a reasonable time frame. Economic,
political, and social issues are the most
challenging hurdles to be overcome
for the establishment of an alternative
fuel transportation system.
Because ancient Egyptians first
obtained it by condensing gases
from burning wood, methanol is
also known as wood alcohol. In
1823, Robert Boyle isolated pure
methanol. He called it “spirit of
box” because he produced it by
distilling liquid obtained from
burning boxwood.
Methanol is the simplest and light-
10 fapc.biz

fuels of the future
By Nurhan Dunford
FAPC Oil/Oilseed Chemist
nurhan.dunford@okstate.edu
TRANSPORTATION FUEL
single solution to energy indepenocks
and technologies that need to
n track record to be considered as
portfolio.
est alcohol. It can be produced from
a wide range of feedstocks such as
natural gas, coal, landfill gas, waste
wood, and fermentation. At first
glance, methanol does not look like a
promising fuel. It has lower energy,
approximately 64,500 Btu/gallon, than
gasoline at 124,800 Btu/gallon and
ethanol at 76,500 Btu/gallon. It is toxic
when ingested and, like ethanol, is
corrosive to tank liners, pipeline seals,
and gaskets.
On the other hand, methanol has
a higher octane rating than gasoline
and burns cleaner. It produces carbon
dioxide but eliminates hazardous
gasoline combustion products such as
carcinogenic benzene and particulate
emissions. The higher ignition point of
methanol than gasoline makes it less
of a fire hazard. Because methanol is
miscible with water, it will dilute and
biodegrade in the case of a spill. Methanol
also is extremely flexible as a fuel
and feedstock. It can be blended into
existing transportation fuels or used
as a neat fuel in light- and heavyduty
vehicles powered by internal
combustion engines. It is the ideal
hydrogen carrier fuel for fuel cell
vehicles.
In an interview published
in Chemical and Engineering
News magazine 2 , Nobel Laureate
George Olah, University
of Southern California professor of
chemistry and director of the Loker
Hydrocarbon Research Institute, said,
“Methanol can be transformed into everything
now made from oil and gas,
and it’s a prime way to store, transport,
and utilize energy.”
Olah is one of the proponents of
methanol as a feedstock and fuel. He
emphasizes, “I am not saying methanol
is the only solution to the world’s
energy problem but we should use ev-
erything that is feasible. But in this big
mix, methanol has a significant role.”
The energy experts agree there is
no single solution to energy independence.
There are a number of feedstocks
and technologies that need to
be evaluated. Methanol has a proven
track record to be considered as a
significant part of the future energy
portfolio.
References:
1 http://www.methanol.org/pdf/
MIPaperforISAF.pdf
2 www.CEN.online.org, December 3, 2007
Spring 2009 11

RECIPES SUCCESS
The ingredients restaurants are
using to flourish in a recession
In tough economic times, consumers
try to trim their budgets.
Disposable income is diverted
to savings, and people identify
those comforts they can do without.
Since most homes still come
equipped with kitchens, eating in
seems like a sure, cost-saving option.
Consider the pure expense of
eating out. Dinner for two for less
than $25 is no longer an option at
full-service restaurants. Even most
fast-casual concepts can command
more than $9 per person.
But if you think premium pricing
during an economic downturn
is a disastrous recipe, think again.
Restaurants are sticking with the
recipe that put the industry where
it is. In these unstable economic
times, success has never tasted so
sweet.
Recession? What recession?
Despite reports of a failing
global economy, restaurant sales
– though down from 2008 – re-
mained stable in January and February,
months that are notoriously bad for the
industry. The steady business comes as
no surprise to the restaurant industry.
The National Restaurant Association
is forecasting modest growth for 2009,
with restaurant sales projected to reach
$566 billion, an increase of 2.5 percent
during the last year.
Fast food concepts are projected to
post the largest increase at 4 percent.
Full-service restaurants are expected to
grow in sales by 1 percent, and taverns
and similar establishments should see
greater than a 2 percent increase.
Still, $10 for a couple of enchiladas,
rice, and beans does not seem like
an option in a bleak economic climate.
Customers regularly pay as much as
four to five times the actual cost of the
food they order at a full-service restaurant.
This seems to defy logic upon
cursory inspection; no meal can be that
good.
Secret ingredients
A more scrutinizing look through
the value-added lens reveals what
consumers are really paying for. The
convenience, specifically the savings
of time and effort, of having a meal
prepared is apparently worth a substantial
premium. Add to this the fact consumers
generally do not have the space
nor expertise to purchase and utilize
the myriad of herbs, spices, and secret
ingredients available to restaurants.
Dawn Sweeney, president and
chief executive officer of the National
Restaurant Association, says consumers
are looking for value, variety,
healthier options, and convenience,
according to the association Web site. 1
Restaurants are a key part of the American
lifestyle. In 2009, the Association
predicts nearly half of consumers’ food
budget will be spent in restaurants.
Restaurants are at the high end
of the value-added spectrum. These
businesses offer to replace a meal at
home, and do so with such speed and
convenience as to warrant an appreciable
premium. The industry is highly
competitive, and competition breeds
innovation. Consider some of the ways
chefs plan to innovate in 2009.
12 fapc.biz

Menu inserts
A recent National Restaurant Association
survey of more than 1,600
professional chefs, who are members
of the American Culinary Federation,
reveals nutrition and philosophy-driven
food choices will be the hottest trends
on restaurant menus in 2009. Local
produce, bite-size desserts, organic
foods, healthful kids’ meals, and new
cuts of meat top the list of more than
200 items in the third annual “What’s
Hot” chef survey. Rounding out the
top 10 trends are vegetable or fruit side
dishes for kids; superfruits, such as
acai; small plates, tapas, mezze, or dim
sum; artisan liquor; and sustainable
seafood. 2
National Restaurant Association
research suggests Americans also
are looking for healthier options and
“greener” restaurants when dining
out. Consumers also are showing an
increased interest in value and convenience.
Interestingly, “health and nutrition”
did not quite break the top 10
trends, coming in at No. 11.
I’ll just have the usual
Despite constant innovation, the
restaurant industry is careful not to
change its already successful core
menu. Certainly, fewer consumer dollars
are available these days.
It is not that people are afraid to
spend, but that they are making fewer
choices when going out to dine.
Well before these new culinary
trends, the restaurant industry captured
its piece of the consumer dollar by providing
a service people were willing to
business & marketing
By Corey Stone
Business & Marketing Strategist
corey.stone@okstate.edu
Fast food concepts are projected to post the largest
increase at 4 percent. Full-service restaurants are expected
to grow in sales by 1 percent and taverns and
similar establishments should see greater than a 2 percent
increase.
pay a premium for. Consumers faced
more time demands, families grew in
size, and technology allowed more
foods to be featured on menus. Do not
expect restaurants to change this aspect
of their business strategy anytime
soon.
With so many two-income homes
and substantial suburban growth, modern
families find it more difficult to
make time to prepare meals at home.
Consumers now demand convenience
when making food choices. Wholesale
clubs like Sam’s market bulk packaging
and prepared family-size meals.
While these retailers take up a portion
of the convenience market, restaurants
continue to dominate it.
Service and convenience are hallmarks
of the restaurant industry. Not
only can a family meal be served more
quickly and with more variety at a
restaurant, but also every member of
the family is free to enjoy each other’s
company. No one is stuck in the kitchen
preparing dinner.
Restaurants also add value to the
experience by providing entertainment.
Servers are generally expected to be
social with customers. Music appropriate
to the genre of the eatery is piped
through digital sound systems. Some
concepts have interactive television to
entertain customers while their food
is prepared.
Eating out is not an unreasonable
decision. The customer may
save up to an hour that would have
been spent cooking and cleaning.
Even if a $3 meal costs $10 at a restaurant,
the customer has only spent
$7 for the entertainment and convenience
received in return.
Many guests are regulars at a
local restaurant. Of course, the restaurateur
wants to do everything he
or she can to bring business back
in. Expect restaurants to strive to
improve customer relations by stepping
up service and being more personal
with customer recognition.
Just desserts
Amidst reports of recession,
businesses must compete for consumers’
constricted cash. This may
be a recipe for disaster for some industries,
but restaurants keep serving
up sweet success. This is why
consumers continue to leave the
cooking to the chefs.
References:
1 www.restaurant.org
2 www.restaurant.org/research/chef_sur-
vey_2008.cfm
Spring 2009 13

A look at how Oklahoma might not avoid the economic downturn
urrent confidence in
the global market is
not high these days.
Whether it is best characterized
as a recession,
an economic downturn, or an expected
part of the cycle, the climate remains
one of uncertainty. Foreclosures are on
the rise as employment numbers fall.
Evidence of a downturn was available
in early 2008. At that time, some
economists reported a recession had already
begun. People reacted by spending
less, downsizing their personal
lifestyles. Then in April 2008, Forbes
magazine released an interesting list:
America’s Recession-Proof Cities.
According to Forbes, four of the
top 10 cities were in Texas, largely the
result of technology and energy industries.
North Carolina had two cities
and three others were far to the west.
However, the city that ranked highest
is located at the nation’s crossroads.
Forbes magazine listed Oklahoma
City as the United States’ No. 1
recession-proof location, writing the
statement below:
“With falling unemployment, one
of the strongest housing markets in the
country, and strong growth in agriculture,
energy and manufacturing, Oklahoma
City might not have received
the recession memo, and it looks best
positioned of the nation’s metropolitan
areas to ride out the current crisis.
Booming valuations of Oklahoma
City’s largest companies, like Devon
Energy and Chesapeake Energy, suggest
the energy sector is the right place
to be.” 1
At that time, unemployment numbers
were falling in Oklahoma City. Its
metro area boasted one of the country’s
strongest housing markets, fueled
by solid growth in agriculture, energy,
and manufacturing.
Forbes’ focus on the Sooner State
probably did not come as a shock to
some Oklahomans. In January 2008,
Bob Ball, economic research manager
for the Tulsa Metro Chamber, told
the Tulsa World that Tulsa typically
lags behind the rest of nation by nine
months or so in a national recession.
It was, however, the strong price
of oil futures that had Forbes singing
Oklahoma City’s praises. The price of
crude oil was climbing at the time. In
fact, a barrel of crude oil jumped as
high as $135 in June 2008, up from
$87 in early February.
However, by January 2009, oil
prices had fallen below $40 a barrel in
Asia as investors questioned the health
of the United States economy and de-
mand for crude oil. A month later, oil
was less than $35 a barrel.
Many businesses still parlay the
“Oklahoma is recession-proof” sentiment
as an advertising angle. Interestingly,
the real estate industry is a chief
proponent of this mantra. In the meantime,
brand new houses remain unsold
and vacant.
Make no mistake; Oklahoma is
not immune to the effects of recession.
The same economic synergy
running through the inter-industrial
connections of other states is present
in Oklahoma. Business growth has a
multiplier effect on a local economy;
business decline brings a directly opposite
result.
This is best illustrated by looking
at the industry that broke the bubble:
real estate. By mid-2008, rumors were
surfacing regarding the solvency of
Circuit City. The electronics chain
was facing potential bankruptcy, a fate
from which no national electronics
chain has ever recovered.
Circuit City staved off the reports
with hollow assurances and a few store
closings. The electronics chain filed
for bankruptcy in November 2008 and
is now facing the same fate as houseware
retailer Linens ‘n Things liquidation.
Circuit City hired a third party to
14 fapc.biz

Make no mistake; Oklahoma is not immune to the effects of
recession. The same economic synergy running through the
inter-industrial connections of other states is present in Oklahoma.
Business growth has a multiplier effect on a local economy;
business decline brings a directly opposite result.
sell merchandise in the remaining 567
stores, and more than 30,000 people
likely will lose their jobs.
Although electronics may seem
fairly unnecessary for day-to-day life,
the recession’s effect is much broader.
Belk’s and Dillard’s saw less than 75
percent of customers return in 2008.
“FOX Business” predicted in December
2008 that Sears, Kmart, and
Macy’s also might be candidates for
bankruptcy.
Consider the effect on real estate
development. When Circuit City closes
its Oklahoma City locations, the landowner
does not get rent or, at most,
three months from bankruptcy proceedings.
The landlord is an unsecured
creditor, who is waiting in line for
scraps from the bankruptcy table. The
landlord loses a vital income stream.
The community loses tax revenue.
If a corner store like Dillard’s goes
under, other mall stores can pull out
according to their contract. Eventually,
the mall will shut down and jobs will
be lost. Money will disappear from
the local economy; money which was
used on paper to secure home mortgages.
This is why “FOX Business” reported
potential trouble for Macy’s.
Macy’s uses its prestige to contract
for lower rents. The retailer signs covenants
with malls based on a promise
to generate traffic, so the mall offers
to keep rent down. Now that Macy’s is
not bringing in traffic, its retail outlets
face substantial rent hikes.
Retailers are in business to make
money by providing consumable
goods. If consumers do not need the
retailers’ products, the failure of the
business is a natural economic consequence.
Perhaps a more sobering
concern is the solvency of local governments.
Most communities provide access
to utilities for citizens. Utility companies
issue bonds. Bond ratings are tied
to the credit rating of the insurance
company that underwrites the payment
of the bond. Bonds come due under
what might be referred to as a “calamity
clause.” Simply, the bond comes
due if something extraordinary from a
predetermined list happens.
One such calamity is a change in
the bond rating. This effectively means
that when the credit rating agency
drops the rating of the underwriting
insurance company, the bond comes
due. The very real result is the utility
company might not be able to operate.
Unbelievable? Unfortunately, it
is very realistic. As recently as September
2008, radio station WBHM
in Birmingham reported Jefferson
County, Alabama, had already missed
several bond payments for a sewer
project. Local banks were engaged in
emergency meetings to determine how
to bail out the
community.
Oklahoma
was predicted
to survive the
recession be-
business & marketing
By Corey Stone
Business & Marketing Strategist
corey.stone@okstate.edu
cause of strong oil prices. That net has
disappeared, but there are signs of stabilization.
Prices of futures contracts
for later this year suggest investors
expect oil to recover. The March contract
currently trades near $46 a barrel,
while the April contract trades above
$49. Some energy experts feel pricing
will regain strength, and it’s not a
question of if, but when.
In a year’s time, a commodity that
was theoretically priced according to
supply and demand doubled from $69
a barrel to nearly $150, and then, in a
period of just three months, crashed
along with the stock market. “60 Minutes”
correspondent Steve Kroft reported
the cause was complicated and
the theories numerous. Many people
believe it was a speculative bubble,
similar to what caused the housing
crisis, and that it had more to do with
traders and speculators on Wall Street
than with oil company executives or
sheiks in Saudi Arabia.
Oklahomans should remain wary
of inferences that this state is immune
to economic cycles. If oil prices rebound,
the state will at best be insulated
temporarily from the recession’s
effects. It may truly be a good time to
purchase real estate for planned business
growth, but the decision to do so
must be made with caution.
1 The article, written by Joshua Zumbrun, was
published April 29, 2008. It is available
at http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/29/
cities-recession-places-forbeslife-cx_
jz_0429realestate.html
Spring 2009 15

Another outbreak
in peanut butter
This significance of the recent Salmonella
peanut butter outbreak does
not begin with the Peanut Corporation
of America (PCA). It starts two years
earlier in 2007 with an outbreak of
Salmonella (serotype Tennessee) associated
with Peter Pan and Great Value
peanut butter produced by ConAgra’s
Sylvester, Georgia, plant.
2007 ConAgra Salmonella outbreak
This outbreak occurred because,
evidently, moisture/condensation in the
plant was contaminated with Salmonella
Tennessee and somehow got into
the peanut butter. This was the first
outbreak in the United States of Salmonella
associated with peanut butter as a
vehicle and not the typical food associated
with Salmonella outbreaks.
The magnitude was enormous as
peanut butter is widely consumed, and
these brands are among the largest in
the U.S. The outbreak resulted in 627
people getting sick in 47 states.
This recall, however, was limited
to jars of peanut butter. You can imagine
an outbreak of such major brands
that everyone is familiar with would
resonate largely with consumers, especially
since their children are likely the
major household consumers of peanut
butter.
2008 PCA Salmonella outbreak
Fast-forward less than two years
later, in late 2008, with increasing
number of cases starting to implicate
peanut butter … Again. But the story
of Stewart Parnell, president, chief
executive officer, and owner of PCA
is not one of accidental contamination
but of personal avarice and greed.
Parnell worked with his family in
a peanut roasting/blanching operation,
taking a $50,000 business to $30 million
annually, before selling in 1995. In
2000, he bought a peanut plant in Plainview,
Texas, and in 2001, bought the
Blakely, Georgia, operation; the family
also had a plant in Suffolk, Virginia.
Parnell was able to quickly show
profits by buying the cheapest raw
peanuts he could find, running the
business on a bare-bones budget, and
using minimum-wage labor. Sometimes
cheap raw materials are “cheap”
for a reason.
In Parnell’s case, he had several
prior lawsuits for supplying peanuts to
customers that were allegedly contaminated
with aflatoxin, and the products
had to be recalled.
People who knew him would not
buy his peanuts to feed their pigs allegedly
because of aflatoxins. This is
partly where his clients “went wrong.”
It is generally prudent in today’s
climate that clients either need assurances
that the goods they are buying
are legitimate (letter of assurance or
specifications) or they check up on
the products by submitting incoming
ingredients/products for testing (i.e.,
self-audit), or both.
This helps companies to identify
suppliers that are providing sub-standard
or unacceptable products. Large
companies (like McDonald’s) can require
a supplier to run safety programs
that are not even required by law. The
magnitude of the PCA Salmonella outbreak
was so large because more than
one “fail safe” programs failed.
For instance, the current outbreak
also involved running a food business
without proper regulatory registration
(i.e., with the Food and Drug Administration,
FDA). The PCA plant in Texas
was not licensed with the Texas Department
of Agriculture. The inspector
who was responsible listed them as
“licensed” because he was told they
“had submitted for one,” but they
never did, and PCA never got licensed,
although the inspector in subsequent
years kept listing them as “licensed.”
Since they were not actually licensed
to run a food business, the plant was
not known to exist by FDA and was
16 fapc.biz

pathogen patrol
By Peter Muriana
FAPC Food Microbiologist
peter.muriana@okstate.edu
T
The Salmonella outbreak stemming from the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) adds further fuel to the fire
supporting the need for sufficient food safety regulations, which cannot be undermined by greedy individuals.
PCA is a private company in which Stewart Parnell was president, chief executive officer, and owner. As such,
he was able to direct the alleged improper decision-making that would less likely occur in larger companies that have
numerous administrative layers. Someone in a managerial position in a company that manufactures and distributes
food should not have such disregard for customer and consumer health that they, as aleged in the media, knowingly
ship Salmonella-tainted products.
Normal, recurring outbreaks resulting from accidental contaminations have the potential to stir politicians to
initiate new and more stringent regulations because the industry cannot seem to regulate themselves to prevent this
from happening. It is significantly worse when, If as allegedly occurred with PCA, a nationwide outbreak results
from personal greed and malfeasance. It has been interesting to notice that some of the largest corporations in the
United States have called for greater regulatory oversight by the Food & Drug Administration, recognizing that rogue
operators like Parnell have hurt the industry and affected legitimate companies in the peanut butter market.
never inspected, but the plant was operating
for more than 10 years.
The Georgia plant had 12 isolations
of Salmonella during the prior
year, and product sample results that
tested “positive” for Salmonella were
allegedly resubmitted until a “negative”
test result was achieved.
It is understood that Salmonella
that gets into peanut butter can survive
in localized pockets and not necessarily
be evenly distributed throughout
the entire product. Most large, publicly-held
companies know this would
be a “death knell” and would never
resort to such, although a rogue manager
could still attempt such improper
activities.
In PCA’s situation, Parnell was
the person making these decisions ...
There was no one higher to override
him and the decisions he made. One of
the backlashes from this outbreak was
for possible legislation (either state or
federal) requiring companies to share
results of product testing with FDA or
other regulatory body. How this aspect
of the case may eventually resolve
itself is not yet clear and may not get
worked out for some time.
The current PCA outbreak in-
volves peanuts and peanut butter contaminated
with Salmonella serotype
Typhimurium as both product and
ingredient, which has resulted in more
than 691 illnesses in 46 states. What
is most alarming about this outbreak
is the products that have been recalled
are not similar-packaged food items as
in the previous peanut butter outbreak.
These products include more than
3,500 items including peanut butter,
peanut butter crackers, cookies, cake,
pies, brownies, candy and cereal products,
donuts, dressing and seasoning,
dried fruits and vegetables, ice cream,
snack bars, snack mix, pet food, and
pre-package meals. This is one huge
mess involving a lot of companies.
The fact about Salmonella
How does this get so out of hand?
Are peanuts not heated? The answer is
yes; they are roasted at temperatures
sufficient to kill Salmonella.
However, roasting occurs early in
the long process that turns them into
peanut butter, and if they get contaminated
at some point thereafter, there is
nothing to kill the Salmonella. Salmonella
can survive in peanut butter, and
the fat can protect the bacterial cells
during its passage through the acidic
human stomach and, subsequently,
cause infection in the intestinal tract.
In fact, in my food microbiology
laboratory at the FAPC, researchers
are currently testing whether growth in
peanut butter provides heat resistance
properties to Salmonella that may help
them to overcome subsequent thermal
or baking regimens.
Ensuring product quality
In conclusion, this is another example
of why companies need to keep
a close eye on their suppliers. The
largest companies even go so far as
to perform “audits” of their suppliers’
premises to ensure the quality of the
ingredients they receive. In the very
least, they can require “letters of guarantee”
or specifications, require receipt
of independent laboratory results,
require annual visit to the suppliers’
plants, or other means to ensure the
high quality of their suppliers’ products
and ingredients.
Failure to do so is “just not good
business” and can put a company’s
reputation and product safety in someone
else’s hands.
Spring 2009 17

Expectations
Sugar is probably one of the most
common, well-known food ingredients,
which is no surprise
given the long relationship with it. For
the purposes of this article, sugar refers
to sucrose.
According to the Food and Agricultural
Organization of the United
Nations, the current top three countries
responsible for sugar cane production
are, in descending order, Brazil, India,
and China.
It is believed the first species
of sugar cane to be domesticated
was Saccharum officinarum in New
Guinea; however, it also has been suggested
additional species may have
been domesticated at approximately
the same time, in areas such as India
and Indonesia.
The first definitive written record
of sugar production appears in a Hindu
religious document called the Buddhagosa,
or Discourse on Moral Consciousness.
This early sugar was probably not
hard and brittle, but more like taffy in
texture.
It is believed Arabs improved
upon the Indian techniques for cultivating
sugar cane and producing
sugar and, as they expanded westward,
introduced sugar to Europe between
700 and 900 A.D. Again, it is believed
this early sugar was probably not the
equivalent of the white, crystalline
powder known today, but its exact
form is unknown.
Despite being quite commonplace
today, sugar was once reserved for the
very rich and powerful. In fact, the
earliest written document referring
to sugar in England is from the 12th
century and is a record of the royal income
of King Henry II (1154-89).
It is interesting to note that because
of its great expense and rarity,
sugar would have been used exclusively
as a spice or condiment in cooking.
This means sugar would have been
used to change the flavor of a food
without plainly sweetening it.
Before moving on to the present, it
must be mentioned that along with its
sweetness, sugar has had a very bitter
edge. This was best summarized by J.
H. Bernardin de Saint Pierre in volume
one of his book “Voyage to Isle
de France, Isle de Bourbon, The Cape
of Good Hope … With New Observations
on Nature and Mankind by an
Officer of the King” (1773):
“I do not know if coffee and sugar
are essential to the happiness of Europe,
but I know well that these two
products have accounted for the unhappiness
of two great regions of the
world: America has been depopulated
so as to have land on which to plant
them; Africa has been depopulated so
as to have people to cultivate them.”
The modern process of making
sugar is roughly divided into the following
steps. First, the sucrose is
extracted from the plant tissue. Sugar
18 fapc.biz

cane and beets are the most important
plant sources for the contemporary industrial
production of sugar. However,
palm, date, and sorghum also can be
used.
If the source is cane, this is accomplished
by roller presses; however,
if the source is beet, this step is accomplished
by countercurrent extraction
with hot water. This results in a
solution with a purity ranging from 84
to 86 percent with retained dry solids
(RDS) of 14 to 16 percent, and remaining
impurities from the plant tissue.
These impurities may be removed
by mechanical screening or separated
by settling and filtering.
The next step is evaporation,
where large volumes of water are removed
from the juice so that an RDS
of 65 to 71 percent is achieved. The
resulting syrup is called “thick juice.”
It then undergoes crystallization in
vacuum pans, where the dissolved
sugar is processed into crystals mixed
with a high-density liquid, or “mother
liquor.” The mother liquor is centrifuged
to remove the crystals from the
liquid phase. The sugar crystals then
are dried by hot air in rotating drums,
cooled, passed through screens to
determine particle size, then sent to
packaging or bulk storage.
Because of consumer demand,
some manufacturers have begun to
utilize raw cane sugar and honey
rather than refined sugar. In the United
States, Deluxe Honeydrop has created
such a line of flavored waters that use
honey for both sweetness and flavor.
However, simply replacing sugar
with an alternate sweetener may not
be easy because sugar often performs
several functions within a food system,
so additional reformulation may be
from the test kitchen
By Darren Scott
FAPC Sensory Specialist
darren.scott@okstate.edu
necessary. When J.M. Smucker introduced
a sugar-free strawberry preserve
sweetened with Splenda, the company
utilized a combination of locust bean
gum and fruit pectin to help maintain
texture in the absence of sugar.
Sugar also has a distinct flavor that
may not easily be matched, depending
upon the food application. Therefore,
a combination of replacement sweeteners
may be required to reach the
equivalent desired flavor.
Sugar continues to be a widely
used and enjoyed sweetener. However,
the intended target market or target
application may limit its use. Being
mindful of these factors will help ensure
a product will meet everyone’s
sweet expectations.
References:
1 Hitting the shelves. Prepared Foods. September 2008.
2 New product trends. Prepared Foods. January 2009.
3 Sweetners: Nutritive. 1998. Eagan Press. Saint Paul, MN. Alexander, R. J.
4 Sweetness and power: The place of sugar in modern history. 1985. Penguin Books. New
York, New York. Mintz, S. W.
5 Http://www.fao.org/es/ess/top/commodity.html?lang=en&item=156&year=2005
Spring 2009 19

Finding your
PRODUCT NICHE
I
n the last article, we looked at the
many faces of the customer and
the importance of having a target
market for a new product or service.
This time, we will dig a little deeper
and look at finding or creating the
niche where a product is most likely to
be a success.
According to the Merriam-
Webster Dictionary, a niche can have
a number of meanings, including “a
place, employment, status, or activity
which a person is best fitted” or “a
specialized market.” InvestorWords.
com defines niche as “a focused, targetable
part of a market.”
In other words, a niche market is
a select group with similar or common
interests. The target market for a product
or service can be narrowed from
the extreme of “being all things to all
people” to a specific group or niche.
The “common interest” defines the
niche, and a business can develop or
adjust product concepts to fit the needs
of a particular niche.
“Everybody wants what they do
not have,” Anonymous.
When I worked for a large food
company, the marketing people always
wanted something they did not have:
“The price of our current product is
too high.” “We need a product to compete
against X.” “Client X will buy
50,000 pounds a week of Y if we can
make it for them.” “Oh, I forgot to tell
you it must be priced lower than the
product it is replacing.” “We need thin
sliced and a re-closable package.”
My job was to fill their needs and
also take some of the excuses away.
The next round was: “Now we have
X, but-----.” It was obvious the target
niche was to sell something to everybody
with the “common interest”
being low price. If you can provide
customers with what they want, but do
not have, then a niche has been discovered.
For a start-up business, success
is more likely if the niche fits your
interest and passion. With passion, the
30-hour-days become tolerable even if
money is slow to follow. Moreover, the
product(s) should fit what the intended
customers want and not necessarily be
based 100 percent on what you want.
Many entrepreneurs who attend the
FAPC Basic Training workshop have
a great passion for the products they
Ask the question “What does my product offer that the
target customer cannot already get?” If you can come
up with points of difference, you just may have found a
niche.
choose to market. However, most direct
their passion toward the product
and not toward a well thought-out plan
defining who or where the market is
for their product. A few define their
niche up front, while others find their
niche by accident, through trial and error,
or never find it at all.
Having a defined niche allows a
business to tailor and develop products
with the unique features desired by
the particular common interest base.
A unique feature may be price, but it
is helpful to tell a good story and have
a product with other features, such as
convenience, healthy, or tastes good.
The “unique” also can serve to differentiate
a product from other similar
products. The business then can stake
out its territory and focus on how to
reach the group or niche. Think of a
niche as filling or creating a space in
the market.
An established company may fill
niches based on current core business
or on plans to enter a new market
that may or may not be related to the
core business. Often times, businesses
choose to stay away from small niches,
with low volume, until it has been
demonstrated as a success for others.
Sometimes a brand evolves into
a niche. For example, Kashi has
moved beyond “Seven Whole Grains
and Sesame” to the slogan and niche
“Join the Kashi Community,” which
markets a broad range of products sup-
20 fapc.biz

food processing
By David Moe
FAPC Pilot Plant Manager
david.moe@okstate.edu
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a niche can have a number of meanings,
including “a place, employment, status, or activity which a person is best fitted”
or “a specialized market.” InvestorWords.com defines niche as “a focused, targetable
part of a market.”
porting an active, healthy lifestyle. Mr.
Clean® has moved from household
cleaners to car care products and premium
car wash facilities. Find a target,
aim to dominate it, and become the
expert or preferred choice.
A niche also can be defined by
special features, services, or delivery
systems, and can consist of one
or more characteristics. It can be a
distribution channel: retail grocery,
specialty retail, convenience store,
foodservice, fund raising, Internet, or
pyramid, to name a few. It may be a
specific demographic: gender, ethnic,
income, location, age, or market segment.
It may be a brand, private label,
meal category, or unique flavor, etc.
Price and value is generally not
niche specific, but are important considerations
across the board. Low selling
price is not always a result of low
cost to produce. A product with some
perceived, or real, extra value can be
sold at a low price or higher price, depending
upon the customers’ perception
of the value received.
“Price is what you pay, value is
what you get,” Warren Buffett once
said.
The right niche will create additional
value for the product. Certain
values, such as convenience, quality,
product safety, healthy, and re-closable
packaging are things expected by
consumers today. Other consumers
may look for green, sustainable, local,
weight control, back to basics with a
twist, as well as natural or organic, to
be standard product features. In addition,
many product differentiating
claims have moved mainstream. Try to
find a product that does not state “all
natural,” “no additives or preservatives,”
“no trans fat,” “100, no, low,
or reduced calories,” “no Trans fat,”
“with omega 3,” or a similar claim.
Consumer expectations make it more
difficult to find a unique niche.
In Oklahoma, farmers markets,
festivals, specialty retailers, and the
Oklahoma Food Cooperative serve
the local food niche. All are potential
options for people interested in where
their food came from. This is a good
place for small, start-up processors
to start and gain market exposure for
their product. Some are very successful,
some drop out, while others move
on to other niches. Several FAPC
clients have started with specialty
food products and have evolved into
producing similar products for others.
They are now in a completely different
niche as co-packers or private label
producers for other people.
An all-beef hot dog can fit in a
variety of niches depending upon the
final target market. The real value
(function/cost) and the total value (real
value plus perceived value) may result
in a final price point spread exceeding
$2 per pound, even though the product
is processed in a similar fashion with
many similar ingredients. The majority
of people will go for the regular beef
hot dog based on price or brand. However,
specific consumer groups will go
for kosher, certified Angus, reduced
fat, natural, organic, no preservatives,
meatless, or other niche options and
gladly pay more.
Pet foods follow similar trends as
human foods and are offered in natural,
organic, health-fortified ingredients,
special diet, gourmet, sold only
by your veterinarian, etc. Although pet
foods must include sufficient nutrients
to sustain the animal, many pet owners
choose to go for the special niche
product versus the basic value product.
Pet food makers are very adept at creating
niches.
One example I noted recently was
Naturally Wild premium dog food,
which was inspired by the wilderness.
It contains venison, salmon, or turkey
and is “the food nature intended.” The
dog may not realize it is being served
something beyond natural, but the
product becomes an experience and a
need for the pet owner.
As a product, beef jerky falls in
the snack foods niche. The big niche is
where the large national brands dominating
the meat snack section fit. They
spend a lot of money in order to fill the
racks in retail grocers and convenience
stores. The small local producers fill
niches where something different is
preferred and each brand appears to
have its own loyal following. In some
cases, the uniqueness may be that the
product is always in short supply.
In summary, a niche may be just a
place in the market, but there are many
companies, large and small, aiming
at the same targets. Ask the question
“What does my product offer that the
target customer cannot already get?” If
you can come up with points of difference,
you just may have found a niche.
Spring 2009 21

USING THE BASIC
Basic Tools, Classic Tools, Quality
Tools, Process Improvement
Tools, Quality Improvement
Tools, and my favorite, The Tools
... Quality professionals and various
quality improvement programs make
reference to the basic quality tools
with a creative twist as if a marketing
plan needs to be designed to convince
organizations to use this simple set of
tools that can have a big impact on the
bottom dollar. If these tools have the
potential for such a big impact, why
do we not use them more?
Quality tools add value to data and
provide the value of information. This
information is necessary for management,
employees, and decision makers
that need to understand, know, and
take process improvement actions.
These tools help turn raw data into
knowledgeable wisdom used to create
the “act” in the Plan-Do-Check-Act
cycle of a living quality system.
Joseph M. Juran states in “Juran’s
Quality Handbook,” “Quality improvement
teams that have mastered these
tools are well prepared for most of the
problems they are likely to face.”
The traditional seven tools are:
flowchart, checklist, Pareto chart,
cause and effect diagram, histogram,
scatter diagram, and control, or run,
chart.
Flow chart
A flow chart is a pictorial representation
that describes a process being
studied or it is used to plan stages
of a project. Flow-charting a process
can be a starting point for every process
improvement project. It helps an
improvement team gain a common
understanding of the process, provides
a common language or reference point
when dealing with a project or process,
is a good way to start the documentation
of a process, and is useful
when examining how various steps of
a process work together.
According to “The Certified
Manager of Quality/Organizational
Excellence Handbook,” “In order, for
improvement efforts to be effective, a
systematic approach must be used to
identify, understand, and address the
opportunities.”
Basic flow chart symbols can
be used when analyzing a process.
For example, rectangles are used to
identify process activity; circles for
continuation nodes; and diamonds are
common decision points, such as yes
or no and accept or reject.
Flow charts commonly have been
used as a first step to identify processes
for the Hazard Analysis and
Critical Control Point (HACCP) food
safety plans. However, there are un-
Continuous Improvement Tools for Beginners (C-IT-BEGIN) workshop
is held quarterly at the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products
Center. Attend the workshop to learn about continuous improvement
tools and how to apply them in food and agricultural processing
operations. Visit www.fapc.biz/continuousimprovement.html.
limited uses of the flow chart, which
most companies have not utilized. Add
value to your operation by creating
flow charts of OSHA safety activities,
or use a flow chart to help visualize
Standard Operating Procedures. A flow
of a procedure also can serve as a visual
guide for training operators.
Checklist sheet
“If it is not written down, it did
not happen!” Where have we heard
this before? Ask your line operator
about the most common problem on
the processing line, and they can tell
you several problems that have occurred,
giving you details about the
most recent issue. Usually, they do not
know the most frequent problem.
The checklist sheet is a simple
tool used to organize observations in
a meaningful manner. Use it to collect
data during a day, week, or product
run to determine the major contributor
to a defect or problem.
In designing a checklist sheet, it
is important to gather necessary data.
Consider equipment, shifts, and suppliers
when creating the checklist
sheet.
Locational or measles charts are
alternate forms of the checklist sheet.
These may use a schematic of the
plant for pest monitoring devices or
microbiological sampling plans. Activity
and incidents then can be documented
on this checklist sheet.
Use the data from a group of
checklist sheets and create a Pareto
chart for analysis.
22 fapc.biz

quality management
By Jason Young
FAPC Quality Management Specialist
jason.young@okstate.edu
QUALITY TOOLS
Pareto chart
The underlying concept of the
Pareto principle is that 80 percent of
non-conformances or variation can be
attributed to approximately 20 percent
of the causes, also recognized as the
80/20 rule.
“This is a tool used to establish
priorities, dividing contributing effects
into the ‘vital few’ and ‘useful many,’”
Juran states in “Juran’s Quality Handbook.”
The Pareto chart is a strong visual
tool to graphically indicate how different
causes or groups of causes contribute
to a nonconformance under investigation.
The chart is generated by
graphing the number of occurrences of
a particular cause in descending order.
The Pareto chart is an excellent
tool used to present data at process
improvement or management meetings
where data logically can be displayed
to the participants. Using this chart
allows the most frequent causes of a
problem to be identified so resources
are appropriately allocated to address
the problem.
Another alternative when using
the Pareto chart is to replace the
frequency on the y-axis with costs.
All root causes do not have the same
financial impact so choosing the cause
with the greatest financial impact
might have the highest economic
return for the process improvement
initiative.
The final four quality tools will be
discussed in the next issue of fapc.biz.
Stay tuned.
Example of Flow Chart
Flow of Metal Detector Reject
Metal Detector
Rejects Product
Hold Product
Start Deviation
Report
Inspect Rejected
Product
Deviation
Report
Documents
Action
Rework
Hold for Product
Approval
Spring 2009 23
Reject
Trash
Example of Pareto Chart
Example of Checklist Sheet
The quality tools were not
put together to be used in
a sequential order, but as
tools that can be used at
any time. These tools can
be used together during
process improvement initiatives
or separately to further
gain more insight into
a problem.

Oklahoma State University
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center
148 FAPC
Stillwater, OK 74078-6055
Robert M. Kerr
148 FAPC, Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078-6055
405-744-6071 • www.fapc.biz
Nonprofit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Stillwater, OK
Permit No. 191
Food & Agricultural
Products Center
f a p c
Adding Value to Oklahoma
24 Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources • Oklahoma State University
fapc.biz