I talk with buyers every day who are debating how to choose the right oil supplier — and their job depends on it. Of course, oils are usually not the only product that they are debating, but but the analysis process looks pretty similar no matter what ingredients you’re responsible for sourcing.

In the vendor search process, you have to uncover a lot of information and answer a lot of questions for yourself. In this article, we’ll address each of the questions below and explain how each vendors’ answer could affect your final choice.

Should you use Olive Pomace Oil or should you use Sunflower Oil (or even safflower for that matter)? These are some of the important oil comparisons that procurement teams and R&D departments have to do as food manufacturers.

And if you’re a home chef? We’ll you probably equally debate this standing in the aisle of your grocery store. Whether you’re a home chef or if you are in industrial food manufacturing, we’ll look at the pros and cons of these two oils for each industry.

For easy comparisons’ sake, I’m going to look at sunflower grouped together with it’s counterpart, safflower oil. Sunflower oil has historically been more available and popular over the last 30 years, but in today’s natural food market, safflower oil is becoming equally used and in demand. For that reason, I think it’s only fair to compare using Olive Pomace Oil to using Sunflower OR Safflower Oil.

“RBD” is a term that you will hear commonly used when people are talking about oils of many different types. But what does it mean?

RBD is an acronym, which stands for Refined, Bleached and Deodorized. This acronym describes how the oil is processed, and whether it is a refined or unrefined product. It is used to describe a myriad of oils from canola to soy to olive to sunflower to grapeseed and more. However, the refining process is probably very different than you may be picturing, so I’ll tell you a little bit more about it.

This article was originally posted on Berkeley Wellness. They addresses many questions concerning canola oil and the many questions surrounding it that are so common in the whole foods industry. We get lots of questions like this, so this article should help to clarify!

 Canola oil has been called both the “world’s healthiest cooking oil” and a “poison.” Obviously there is much misunderstanding and misinformation out there about it. The oil comes from a specially bred variety of rapeseed, a yellow-flowering plant in the Brassicaceae (cabbage) family, developed by Canadian scientists in the 1970s.

Why would anyone choose to use Olive Pomace Oil over the higher quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil — or over any other oil, for that matter?

I’ve gotten this question enough in my time working with manufacturers, that I thought I would explain all of the exact reasons. We’re going to review the reasons specifically pertaining to the manufacturing realm — because they are very different than the reasons you might choose to use certain oils in your home kitchen or even in a restaurant.

If you walk down the oil aisle of any grocery store, you are bound to find a plethora of different coconut oils – it's one of the most popular oils in today's natural food market.

Looking for an update on the olive oil harvest that’s happening this winter?

Whether you’re preparing to book olive oil contracts for the next year, looking at price predictions or wondering where the olive oil market is going to go in the near future, this update is for you.

Last year, I ran a half marathon. But I didn’t just go out and do it. I made a 16 week plan of the runs that I was going to do every day, and how I was going to build up to my 13.1 mile finish.

Professional goals are no different than personal goals like these, but professional goal setting often falls by the wayside. It’s important do strategic goal setting, both for your job and for your department -- especially if you manage other people.

Your professional goals also need a plan-- a course of action, or a list of small daily steps you’re going to take to help accomplish these goals. Here’s how to plan for improvement in 2015.

In honor of the last blog post of 2016, these are the top 10 articles of the last year.  The blog posts below are listed by popularity, from most to least.  Learn about olive oil grades and calculations, along with sunflower oil, coconut oil and goal-setting advice for purchasing teams.

This article will be an update on the olive oil market, as you may have contracts that you are considering locking in for 2017.  This will be most pertinant to any buyers who contract their olive oil throughout the year (and in turn use the volumes that allows them to do so).

The timeframe that you will officially secure these contracts is often dependent on the status of the olive oil market, so it’s helpful to keep up-to-date throughout November and December as you are doing your planning and booking.

Good graphic designers are key for any B2C company who’s selling their food products on a retail store shelf. Packaging design can be one of the major reasons that new customers give your product a try in the first place, so it’s worth putting your branding in the hand of someone who knows their stuff.

The process of getting your products Non-GMO Project Verified from start to finish can be lengthy and tedious — most people in our industry, however, would still assert that it’s well worth it.

Right now, there is a huge demand for this seal; there are currently 2,600 brands with more than 34,000 products verified. That said, the process that the Non-GMO Project outlines on their website often takes longer than many brands would expect. There is also a “pre-verfication" process that has to be completed internally in your company before you can fully decide to move forward to get this QA seal.

Are you looking for a new job? Or perhaps looking for the perfect new employee to add to your team?

If you’re looking for someone specifically with food industry experience (or you’re looking for your next food industry job), I’ve compiled a list of 10 food and beverage recruiters who can help you find the perfect match.

This article was originally published by our friends at Alchemy Systems on their blog, The Feed, and was written by Lone Jespersen.  

Did you know that 46% fewer mistakes are made in companies that have a strong culture of quality*? One of the ways that leaders tap this potential is through their focus on building employee trust. The biggest impact on culture strength is employee trust, for example, on average as many as 63% of employees trust their leaders**, however, up to 83% of employees trust their leaders when it is earned through credible and trustworthy recognition of employee performance. So, as leaders, how do we drive fewer mistakes in food safety through employee trust? I suggest three simple reminders that you can apply today.

Many now believe that the non-GMO trend “tipping point” has been passed, with major brands like General Mills, Post, Hersey’s, Unilever, Campbell’s, Chobani, Hellmann’s and Pepsi all releasing non-GMO versions of some of their products.

“We are now at the tipping point and with this major momentum the shift to non-GMO food is only going to gain more speed”, says Todd Larsen, executive co-director of Green America.