Food industry leaders provide valuable insight to OSU’s food processing center
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
A group of food and agricultural leaders is leading the charge to help Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center meet the needs of Oklahoma’s diversified food industry.
“FAPC is fortunate to have an advisory board that is invested in the future of the center,” said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director. “The committee members understand the importance of FAPC and are continuously looking for ways the center can grow and better serve the food and agricultural industries.”
More than 600 companies make up Oklahoma’s food-processing industry, which accounts for almost 2 percent of the state's employment base, according to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Small companies make up the majority of the state’s food industry.
FAPC’s Industry Advisory Committee members, representing food and agricultural leaders around the state, met June 7 at the center to hear project updates and meet with faculty and staff.
“As a state-of-the art food-processing center, FAPC understands the need to stay up-to-date with the trends and progressions of the food industry,” Escoubas said. “The advisory board helps to keep us on track with timely and important issues facing the food and agricultural industries.”
John Patrick Lopez of Lopez Foods in Oklahoma City, Ed Clements of Clements Foods in Oklahoma City and Tommy Kramer (retired) of the Durant Industry Authority in Durant, will continue to serve as the committee chair, vice chair and secretary, respectively.
“FAPC is extremely important to me and to Lopez Foods,” Lopez said. “I’ve enjoyed serving as chair of the committee and working with a talented group of food business leaders.”
During the meeting, FAPC Industry Advisory Committee members heard updates about the food science and food safety academic curriculum, the newly launched Food Safety Professional program, workshop and training updates, sensors in the food industry, facility updates and food packaging.
“FAPC is essential to what we do,” Lopez said. “It’s important to understand how FAPC truly helps Oklahoma businesses.”
In the last 5-year economic impact study on 75 Oklahoma food businesses, FAPC was credited with generating more than $18 million in annual sales revenue. These companies were located in communities across Oklahoma from Guymon to Tahlequah to Ponca City to Ardmore, generating more than 350 jobs in these communities.
Members of the committee are appointed by the governor, the speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, the Senate president pro tempore and the vice president, dean and director of OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, of which FAPC is a part.
In addition to Lopez, Clements and Kramer, other members of the committee include Erica Hering, Ralph’s Packing Co.; Scott Dvorak, Dvorak Farms; Joe Ford, Shawnee Milling Co.; John Griffin, Griffin Foods; David Howard, Howard Industries; Virgil Jurgensmeyer, J-M Farms; Rodger Kerr, Southwest Technology Center; David McLaughlin, retired from AdvancePierre Foods; Philip Payment, Homeland Acquisition Corp.; Paul Schatte, Head Country Food Inc.; Mark Vaughan, Fresh Avenue Partners; and ex-officio Tom Coon, OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
The committee meets twice a year, usually in June and November. The June meeting is held at FAPC, while the November meeting is held off-site at the discretion of the committee.
Story by Mandy Gross