BASF is into just about everything, including wine. We toured the compnay’s Weinfachgeschaft, which handles about a million bottles of wine a year – about 2,000 different labels. Most are German wines, but they also handle a nice selection from around Europe and some other countries as well. BASF even has its own private label wines. So, this was part …
Willkommen to Germany
Hello from Germany. I am here in a cute little hotel in Speyer, feeling much better today after feeling pretty horrible last night. A long, delayed trip got me here just as everyone was ready to leave on the first leg of BASF visit, so I barely had time to change before heading out to see the BASF welcome center …
Off to Deutschland
While Laura is heading back from Chicagoland, I am heading off to Deutschland – Germany, that is. Just getting in the mood. I mean, who calls it Deutschland anyway, except the people who live there? The trip is a ag media tour of BASF with about six other American ag journalists. We will be flying in to Frankfort and visiting …
ID/INFO Expo ’07
Traceability is the main theme at the National Institute for Animal Agriculture ID/INFO EXPO in Kansas City this year and the recent outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the UK has made it very timely. One of the most interesting presentations was by Ray Brown, a dairy producer from Cheshire, England. Ray spoke on the impact of FMD …
EPIC at NAMA Boot Camp
“Marketing at Top Speed” was the lesson presented to agrimarketers at the NAMA Boot Camp Thursday in Kansas City by Ethanol Promotion and Information Council Executive Director Tom Slunecka. He educated the participants to become “ethanol evangelists” because of the important role ethanol is playing today in the entire agricultural industry. EPIC is one of ZimmComm’s dearest clients (we love …
Consumers Love Beef Tender
Would you pay $345.95 for four 12 oz. strip steaks – raw steaks, mind you, not cooked. That’s the price on-line for “Kobe-style” strip steaks, as marketed by Allen Brothers – a company some Rush Limbaugh listeners might recognize. That compares to $159.95 for the same quantity of U.S. Prime, dry-aged strip steaks – or just $104.95 for U.S. Prime, …
Sensory Panel Testing
Individual booths, red lights to mask colors, positive pressure ventilation to keep out unwanted smells and pass-through sample presentation doors – that’s the environment where trained sensory panelists do their work at the ISU Sensory Evaluation Unit. So, basically this is what you see, sitting in your little booth, waiting for samples to come through the little door. You cleanse …
Sensory Evaluation 101
How difficult could it be to figure out whether a piece of meat is tough or tender, dry or juicy, flavorful or not? A group of ag journalists found out this week as guests of Elanco Animal Health to a Sensory Evaluation Briefing at Iowa State University. Basically, we all got a crash course in how to be “sensory panelists.” …
Perception is Reality
When it comes to testing food, it’s all the senses that count, not just taste. “That’s because there’s only about four things we can taste,” says Dr. Ken Prusa with Iowa State University. “Sweet, salty, sour and bitter.” Which makes taste alone a pretty limited factor in the total experience of how we perceive a food. In fact, we use …
Designing Meat Quality Trials
Designing trials for a new animal health product to evaluate meat quality is expensive and complicated, according to Dr. Floyd McKeith with the University of Illinois Department of Animal Sciences. He was one of the speakers at a workshop for ag editors this week in Ames, Iowa sponsored by Elanco Animal Health. According to Dr. McKeith, some of the factors …