Issue 1, July 2020

Hi

The food and beverage industry is under increasing pressure - margins are getting tighter, consumers more savvy and demanding, we're being told to produce more, be more efficient, use less energy, emit less carbon, be more accurate...be smarter. Can you relate?

All this 'stuff' but we still only have 24 hours in a day, a five day working week and 45 or so working weeks in a year to make it happen. But it doesn't have to be hard. Sometimes all you need is that little seed of an idea to bring about change.

That's why I've started F&B Sound Bites. 10 minute interviews (or around about) that give you direct access to some of the best in the business. Professionals I'm fortunate enough to work within and outside Beca who, together, have hundreds of years of experience on all range of food and beverage industry challenges (and beyond). People like Rhys Davies, in Episode 2, who has worked on a third of all of Australia's eastern seaboard refrigeration projects. In upcoming episodes I'll speak with guests who are at the cutting edge of industry transformation ideas and implementation, and I'll also speak to people who have absolutely nothing to do with the food and beverage industry, but who are doing exciting stuff I know you'll be interested in.

In each issue we introduce three topics, except for this one where we have squeezed in a fourth around cyber security, because timely and relevant topics of interest to you is what this podcast is all about.

But who am I to you? Some of you I may have had the good fortune to work with, but many of you have probably never heard of me. So if you can spare five minutes, please listen to Episode 1 to find out why I'm passionate about the Food and Beverage industry, and why I think F&B Sound Bites will be worth your time.

Until the next issue of F&B Sound Bites, I hope you find value in our first batch. If you can't wait until our next distribution, you can follow us on Soundcloud to listen to episodes as we load them.

Hamish

Find and connect with me on LinkedIn

All good things come in...four?

Ep 1: Who is Hamish McCook anyway?

Meet your podcast host, Hamish McCook, and find out why this will be one of the best ways to spend 10 minutes of your time learning as we cover hot topics, trends and challenges for those working behind the scenes to support human survival in the twenty first century.

5 min

Ep 2: Are you taking your cold storage seriously?

For many businesses, cold storage is the invisible but beating heart of your operation. But despite this, it doesn't always get the attention it deserves. We speak with cold storage expert, Rhys Davies, to better understand this white box and learn what you can do to improve it to meet growing demand and reduce rising costs.

13 min

Ep 3: Is your supply chain working for you?

As the world shutdown in response to the pandemic - the food and beverage supply chain wasn't immune to its impact. Despite being deemed an essential service, the demand planning cycle wasn't reliable anymore. We speak with Alistair Lane, international food and beverage supply chain specialist and Director of Value Chain Connected Ltd about improving supply chain resilience.

11 min

Ep 4: The virtual virus - what can you do to protect your business?

We haven't just been fighting a virus in the real world, but also in the virtual world. The recent cyber attacks have made many a little nervous about how secure their digital systems really are. We speak with Jonathan Stirling, our Security Consulting team lead, on this topic. He'll ease your concerns with some of his 13 practical tips to help keep your business safe.

13 min

Topic ideas and feedback

We want to make sure F&B Sound Bites satisfies your content appetite (not sorry about the pun). So if you have a minute, we would love to hear from you in this short feedback form.

If you want to know more about any of the topics covered? Reply to this email with who you want to speak with and we'll put you in touch.

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