Fri, October 15, 2010 11:57 am EST

Stellar Hosts Annual Food & Beverage Roundtable in Orlando

Stellar is a leader in food and beverage processing and distribution innovation.

CONTACT: Allison Korman Shelton at 904-899-9818 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Oct. 15, 2010) -- The Stellar Roundtable is an annual event that brings together a cross-section of food and beverage processing and distribution leaders to discuss relevant topics to the food and beverage industry. Attendees are typically responsible for the engineering, construction and operations oversight of their company's supply chain. This event is limited in attendance to encourage interactive dialog among the participants in a roundtable format.

The full-day session, held on Wednesday, Oct. 13, began with an opening keynote address on the state-of-the-industry overview from Glen Crawford, senior vice president of manufacturing for Schwan's Global Supply. Schwan's Global Supply Chain manages the manufacturing process from the purchase of raw materials to the delivery of finished products. Crawford shared his perspectives on the current and future challenges facing the food and beverage industry.

The focus of this year's Roundtable was on three important subjects: food safety, sustainability and continuous improvement for operational excellence. Subject-matter-expert presentations were followed by moderator-led discussions. Jim Getchell, former vice president of engineering for General Mills served as the moderator for the day's lively discussions.

The day concluded with closing keynote speaker, Denise Holloman, vice president of continuous improvement and manufacturing for General Mills, sharing important concepts that have made General Mills a leading food company.

It was an informative day of interacting with peers from across the food and beverage industry market, and Stellar structured the Roundtable event to allow valuable time to network in a relaxed environment. Stellar hosted a kick-off reception the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 12. After the Roundtable meeting, the group enjoyed dinner together to wrap up the day. Thursday, Oct. 14 was set aside for recreational activities and individualized meetings.

Approximately 55 executives attended the Roundtable from companies such as Nestlé, Heinz, Campbell Soup Company, Columbus Foods, Dean Foods Inc., Deloitte Touche, Dot Foods Inc., General Mills, H-E-B, Henningsen Cold Storage Co., High Liner Foods, Kellogg's, Keystone Foods, Land O' Frost, Pinnacle Foods, Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products, Rich Products, Sara Lee, Schreiber Foods Inc., The Schwan Food Company, and United States Cold Storage.