RFA Fall Symposium

RFA Symposiums are offered annually in the fall in areas across the U.S. They provide informative presentations and discussion sessions on important business and marketing issues and food safety and regulatory topics affecting the refrigerated foods manufacturers and suppliers.  They also include site visits and tours to companies and organizations of interest to our membership. 

  

2024 Fall Symposium - September 16 - 18, 2024
Memphis, Tennessee

 

Our 2024 Symposium was held in Memphis, TN, and was attended by 55 RFA members from across North America. Many thanks to our Planning Committee for putting this event together! Highlights included tours of Chemstation, Niagara Water, Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), BBQ Allstars, Newly Weds Foods, Stratas Foods’ Research, Development, and Innovation Center, and Brim’s Snacks. We also enjoyed a presentation on Chicken Meat Quality by Dr. Wes Schilling of Mississippi State University, along with our annual Technical Forum, led by RFA's Technical Director, Doug Marshall.

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2023 Fall Symposium - September 11 - 13, 2023
St. Louis, Missouri

 

It was a pleasure to travel again as a group!  Our 2023 Symposium was held in St. Louis, MO and was attended by 55 RFA members from all around North America.  Many thanks to our Planning Committee for putting this together for us!  Highlights from this year's event included tours at United Fruit & Produce Company; Deli Star Corporation's Food Discovery Center; Companion Bakery; Volpi; Eurofins EAG; and Dierbergs Central Kitchen. We also enjoyed a presentation on Traceability by Angela Fields of FDA and our annual Technical Forum, lead by RFA's Technical Director, Doug Marshall.

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2019 Symposium - September 23 - 25, 2019
New Brunswick, NJ

 

Our 2019 Symposium was held in New Brunswick, NJ and was attended by 55 RFA members from all around North America.  Many thanks to our Technical and Industry Development Committees for putting this together for us!  A special thank you to David Horowitz of DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences and Robert Colvin of Certified Laboratories for organizing the tours.  Highlights from this year's event included a tour of Rutgers University's Institute for Food, Nutrition & Health, and the Rutgers Food Innovation Center;  a tour and taste-testing at Aquamar; a visit to Michael Foods/Jersey Pride's hard cooked egg facility; and a unique tour of the NY/NJ Port in Staten Island.  We also enjoyed a presentation on home delivery for food products by Dr. Bill Hallman of Rutgers University and our annual Technical Forum, lead by RFA's Technical Director, Martin Mitchell.
 
 

 

2018 Symposium - September 24 - 26, 2018

Columbus, Ohio

 

Our 2018 Symposium was held in Columbus, Ohio and was attended by 55 RFA members from all around North America.  Many thanks to our Technical and Industry Development Committees for putting this together for us!  Highlights from this year's event included a tour of Ohio State University's Department of Food Science & Technology, including their Pilot Plant, Food Perception & Liking Laboratory, Food Industries Center and Meat Science Teaching Lab;  visits to Kroger Bakery and Coalescence; a presentation at Mettler Toledo; an in-depth tour at Nestle Quality Assurance Center; and a tour and happy hour at Grote Company.  We also enjoyed a presentation on trends by Dr. Valente Alvarez of OSU and our annual Technical Forum, lead by RFA's Technical Committee Chair, Dr. Bill Schwartz.

 

 

 2017 RFA Fall Symposium - September 25 - 27, 2017

Kansas City, Missouri

 

Our 2017 Symposium was held in Kansas City, Missouri and was attended by 65 RFA members from all around North America.  Many thanks to our Technical and Industry Development Committees, and in particular John Wyatt and the team at DuPont Nutrition & Health.  This was our best attended Symposium in recent history!  Highlights from this year's event included a tour of DuPont Nutrition & Health, including their Emulsifier Production Facility and Application & Development Labs;  visits to Kansas State University and Johnson County Community College School of Culinary Arts; a presentation at Labconco Corporation; and tours at Ensight, Weber, Inc. and Multivac.  We also enjoyed presentations by Roxi Beck of The Center for Food Integrity and RFA's Technical Director Martin Mitchell's Technical & Regulatory Update.  

 

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 2016 RFA Fall Symposium - September 19 - 21, 2016

New Orleans, Louisiana

 

Our 2016 Symposium was held in New Orleans, Louisiana and was attended by nearly 50 RFA members from across the country.  Many thanks to our Technical and Industry Development Committees, under the direction of Chairs Bill Schwartz, Marty Mitchell, Wes Thaller and John Bowles. What a wonderful time we had in New Orleans!  Highlights of this year's event included a tour of Intralox and Commercial Food Sanitation; a visit to Eurofins Laboratories; a fun and educational visit to the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, along with a food demonstration;  and wonderful tours of MMI Culinary and USDA's Southern Research Center. The event also included presentations by Ken McMillin on food industry research at LSU, Kevin Voison on the Louisiana seafood industry and Jay Campbell on retail trends.
  

 

 2015 RFA Fall Symposium - September 14 - 16, 2015

Boston, Massachusetts

 Our 2015 Symposium was held in Boston, MA and was attended by nearly 50 RFA members from across the country.  Many thanks to our Technical and Industry Development Committees, under the direction of Chairs Bill Schwartz, Marty Mitchell, Wes Thaller and John Bowles. We would like to extend a special thanks to Robin Beane and Karen Bishop-Carbone for all their hard work in helping plan our trip to Boston! Highlights of this year's event included a tour of Atlantic Capes Fisheries and one of their clam boats; a visit to Ocean Spray Cranberries; and an educational tour of Charm Sciences. The event also included presentations by Chris Flynn, President of Massachusetts Food Association; and Guy Crosby, Ph. D, Science Editor for America's Test Kitchen.

 

Please scroll down for details on our previous Symposiums.

RFA Members can access slide presentations from past RFA Symposiums at anytime in the Member Center.


2014 RFA Fall Symposium - September 22 - 24, 2014

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

 

Our 2014 Symposium was held in Milwaukee, WI and was attended by nearly 50 RFA members from across the country.  Many thanks to our Technical and Industry Development Committees, under the direction of Chairs Bill Schwartz, Marty Mitchell and John Bowles.  Highlights of this year's event included visits to cheese making and processing plants at Henning's Cheese and Thiel Cheese & Ingredients;  an education in high-pressure pasteurization at American Pasteurization Company;  and an enlightening view of dock safety at Rite-Hite Corporation.  The event also included presentations by Adam Borger,  Outreach Program Manager at the Food Research Institute; University of Wisconsin-Madison;  and Brenda Murphy, Director of Producer Communications and Programs for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

 

  

2013 RFA Fall Symposium - September 16 - 18, 2013

San Jose, California

 

The 2013 Fall Symposium was an outstanding event with unique tours and excellent educational presentations giving attendees an exceptional learning experience.  The highlight of this year's event were the visits to produce fields and processing plants in the Salinas Valley.  Attendees had the opportunity to observe harvesting crews and learn about processing procedures during these tours.  Other highlights included visits to Mattson to learn about the latest consumer and product development trends and Tragon for tours and seminars on sensory research.  Networking opportunities were plentiful over the course of the three-day event, from the opening reception and Dine-Around to the Technical roundtable discussions at dinner.  Everyone enjoyed the chance to share and learn from each other.  The 2013 RFA Fall Symposium gave attendees a lot of good take-aways that they can use in their own businesses.  

 

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2012 RFA Fall Symposium & Seafood HACCP Workshop

September 10 - 13, 2012  -  Baltimore, Maryland

In conjunction with this year's Fall Symposium, the RFA hosted a special Seafood HACCP Workshop. The workshop was designed to educate RFA members on the FDA's Seafood HACCP regulations, including the new 4th Edition Hazards Guide. Participants were given the opportunity to receive a Certificate of Course Completion from the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) to demonstrate that they met the training requirement of the FDA Seafood HACCP Regulations. The Fall Symposium included speaker presentations and tours of the Elite Spice manufacturing and distribution facilities and the International Food Safety Training Laboratory at the University of Maryland. Symposium speaker presentations are available for download in the Member's Only section. Look for the October issue of the Chilled News for more pictures and highlights from the event!


2011 RFA Fall Symposium - September 19 - 21, 2011

Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota

The RFA Fall Symposium was an exciting two-day event that combined expert speaker presentations with educational tours to offer attendees a unique learning experience. This year’s event took place in Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 19 - 21. Visits to ECOLAB’s Research & Development & Engineering facility and 3M’s Innovation Center highlighted the 2011 Fall Symposium. Symposium speaker presentations are available for download in the Member's Only section. Look for the October issue of Chilled News for more pictures and highlights of the event!

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 Some of the RFA Fall Symposium attendees in front of the ECOLAB building in Minnesota.

2010 RFA Fall Symposium - September 20-22, 2010

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


The RFA Fall Symposium was an exciting two-day learning experience that combined expert speaker presentations with educational tours. It  took place at the USDA- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC) just outside of Philadelphia, in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania. The program included both Industry Development sessions and Technical/Food Safety sessions interwoven together over the two days. Highlights of the Symposium also included the Monell Chemical Senses Center, the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market and the Philadelphia Port Authority.

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RFA members and USDA researchers in front of the USDA-Agricultural Research Service(ARS) Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC) in Pennsylvania

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