BPI receives Black Pearl award
By Dave Dreeszen Journal business editor | Posted: Saturday, July 14, 2007
Dakota Dunes-based Beef Products Inc., one of the world's leading producers of lean beef, has collected a major national award that annual honors a firm for food safety innovations.
The International Association for Food Protection presented its 2007 Black Pearl award to BPI owners Eldon and Regina Roth at the group's annual convention earlier this week in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Lance Hedquist, city administrator in South Sioux City, where BPI operates its flagship plant, congratulated the Roths Friday.
"Anyone who has ever toured the BPI facilities immediately recognized their committment to food safety and quality," Hedquist said.
In addition to BPI's innovative technology that separates lean beef from packinghouse trimmings, the company has developed a "pH enhancement process that decreases the risk of microbial contamination in the final product," the IAFP said in material presented to conference attendees. "The pH enhancement process is recognized for improving food safety and is widely utilized in the best tasting ground beef."
Sponsored by Wilbur Feagan and F&H Food Equipment Co., based in Springfield, Mo., the Black Pearl award was established in 1994 to honor firms that advance food safety and quality through consumer programs, employee relations, educational activities and support of the goals and objectives of the IAFP.
Past winners have included Kraft Foods Inc., Walt Disney World, Darden Restaurants, Jack in the Box and Dupont. BPI is the second consecutive winner from the Midwest, joining last year's honoree Ecolab Inc. of St. Paul, Minn.
Eldon and Regina Roth founded BPI in 1981, and moved the company from Austin, Texas, to Dakota Dunes in 1993.
The privately held firm's four plants in the Midwest and Southwest produced more than 450 million pounds of lean beef in 2006. The company late last year announced a $400 million expansion of its South Sioux complex.
As part of the expansion, the company plans to manufacture a 95 percent lean ground beef product, as well as select-grade steaks with a more flavorful taste than traditional whole-muscle cuts. The flavor enhancements arose out of the company's food safety efforts that remove harmful bacteria from its beef.
"BPI's ever evolving innovative technology makes them an industry leader in a class of their own," Siouxland Initiative President Debi Durham said Friday.
The International Association for Food Protection presented its 2007 Black Pearl award to BPI owners Eldon and Regina Roth at the group's annual convention earlier this week in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Lance Hedquist, city administrator in South Sioux City, where BPI operates its flagship plant, congratulated the Roths Friday.
"Anyone who has ever toured the BPI facilities immediately recognized their committment to food safety and quality," Hedquist said.
In addition to BPI's innovative technology that separates lean beef from packinghouse trimmings, the company has developed a "pH enhancement process that decreases the risk of microbial contamination in the final product," the IAFP said in material presented to conference attendees. "The pH enhancement process is recognized for improving food safety and is widely utilized in the best tasting ground beef."
Sponsored by Wilbur Feagan and F&H Food Equipment Co., based in Springfield, Mo., the Black Pearl award was established in 1994 to honor firms that advance food safety and quality through consumer programs, employee relations, educational activities and support of the goals and objectives of the IAFP.
Past winners have included Kraft Foods Inc., Walt Disney World, Darden Restaurants, Jack in the Box and Dupont. BPI is the second consecutive winner from the Midwest, joining last year's honoree Ecolab Inc. of St. Paul, Minn.
Eldon and Regina Roth founded BPI in 1981, and moved the company from Austin, Texas, to Dakota Dunes in 1993.
The privately held firm's four plants in the Midwest and Southwest produced more than 450 million pounds of lean beef in 2006. The company late last year announced a $400 million expansion of its South Sioux complex.
As part of the expansion, the company plans to manufacture a 95 percent lean ground beef product, as well as select-grade steaks with a more flavorful taste than traditional whole-muscle cuts. The flavor enhancements arose out of the company's food safety efforts that remove harmful bacteria from its beef.
"BPI's ever evolving innovative technology makes them an industry leader in a class of their own," Siouxland Initiative President Debi Durham said Friday.
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