Imagine frozen meals where your products are evenly and attractively coated with sauce or herbs. Imagine virtually unlimited potential to develop new products and line extensions based on different combinations of ingredients. Imagine giving consumers exact portion control and meals that look more appealing. In short, imagine being at the start of a revolution in creating better individually quick frozen meals that let you stay ahead of your competition. Welcome to the Freshline® tumbler freezer.

Click here to learn more.

Flip through any food trade journal, and you’ll see the negative effects of unprecedented cost increases facing the food processor today. As energy and raw material costs continue to spiral upward, it’s becoming harder and harder for food producers to pass along cost-increases to the consumer.

Looking for a way to weather these rising costs? Click here to read more.

For accurate forecasting and planning, it helps to understand the movement of key food industry indices. The graphs below were compiled by Air Products economists to illustrate key food product commodity pricing for North America.

Spot Price
Source: Corn, US Department of Agriculture, Market News;
Sugar, Commodity Research Bureau; Cocoa, Wall Street Journal
Click here to view the graph.

Producer Price Index
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Click here to view the graph.

Price Paid to the Farmer
Source: US Department of Agriculture "Agriculture Prices"
Click here to view the graph.

Q	What should I consider when choosing a modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) solution provider?
A	The right solution provider is a key to bringing your products to market faster.
The right solution provider is a key to bringing your products to market faster. Air Products’ Freshline® MAP solutions offer more than high-quality, foodgrade gases—they provide an integrated approach that includes equipment, engineering, laboratory, on-site trials, and food-related technologies to help make MAP implementation easier for customers. Freshline MAP is designed around the interactions of your product with the optimized atmosphere, film and packaging equipment to help deliver the highest-quality product possible to you and your customers. And our dedicated technical team provides guidelines on shelf life based on over 20 years of experience to help your MAP system operate at maximum efficiency. Freshline MAP reflects Air Products’ continuing commitment to the food industry, providing a single point of reference for customers. For more information on Freshline MAP solutions, call 800-654-4567, code 511. While supplies last, we’ll send you a Rand McNally road atlas to help keep you moving in the right direction. Hear Ryan Bowen's answer: >  play audio    >  download    >  subscribe    >  itunes For more information on podcasts, visit our information page.

You can request more information on any of the documents referenced in this issue by calling us at 800-654-4567, code 568, or by sending an email to gigmrktg@airproducts.com.