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Cold-Chain Management

Forklift lifting boxes

Cold chain management is the control and maintenance of storage temperatures to prevent product deterioration and bacteria growth, as well as to prolong shelf-life. It is the management of the real-time series of events that occur from seed to fork. This includes harvest point to transportation (refrigerated trucks), transportation to production or shipping facilities, production/shipping facilities to distribution warehouses, distribution warehouses to foodservice operators’ coolers, and finally storage inside foodservice operators’ coolers until time of plating.

Diners are increasingly hyper-focused on high-protein and plant-based foods. Alongside all of the new-fangled, lab-based, cell-cultured options out there is the humble bean. A staple food for millenia, beans are being re-examined as a healthy, versatile ingredient worthy of menu inclusion.

  • Retro and heirloom recipes—like Southern succotash, French cassoulet, and Cajun red beans and rice—fit the bill for those in search of authenticity.
  • Most world cuisines incorporate some type of bean in their classic dishes. Think feijoada in Brazil, black beans and rice with plantains in Puerto Rico, and garbanzo beans in Israel. Modern interpretations of these recipes are packed with produce and herbs.
  • The creamy texture of mung beans is proving an ideal substitute for those that are eliminating soy from their diets.