Baking & Snack - March 2023 - 28

BENESTAR BRANDS
On the mezzanine
floor, VFFS systems
weigh product for
retail packaging.
and either schedules production on a dedicated line for
the entire day or runs non-allergen products first. The
new wheat-based puff snack is a first for the company,
and at City of Industry, the wheat snack is being run on
one line throughout its entire production run.
To help employees stay safe and practice food
safety, Benestar Brands uses the Alchemy system to
train on GMPs, allergen control and food defense.
The video-based training tool not only onboards new
employees, but every employee must take a refresher
course on an annual basis.
A payoff in retention
While many manufacturers are struggling to maintain
employees, Benestar Brands is putting the same thought
and intentionality into its workforce as it does operations.
The data around retention has informed how
Benestar approaches this issue.
" Most employees, especially hourly ones, stay or leave
for three reasons: how they're treated by their boss and
their relationship with the people they work with, the
actual work they're doing, or it comes down to pay, " Mr.
Robin said.
28 Baking & Snack March 2023 / www.bakingbusiness.com
Doing the right thing for the environment
Benestar Brands may be guided by its core
values, but sustainability is becoming an
increasingly important part of the company's
operational practices. Not only do customers
and consumers expect manufacturers
to go green where they can, but as Dan
Robin, chief supply chain officer, pointed
out, it's simply the right thing to do.
Benestar Brands acquired the City of
Industry facility in 2019. Benestar immediately
wanted to invest in the building to
improve safety and efficiency, but there
were also sustainability opportunities.
In 2022, Gustavo Silva joined Benestar as
director of operations for the plant. At that
time, the operation's wastewater management
was not in compliance with the city's
regulations. After gathering estimates for
different systems, Mr. Silva decided to go
a more cost-effective route. Rather than
invest in a new system that would cost tens
of thousands of dollars, he added operational
controls to make the facility's wastewater
management program more robust,
managing and monitoring the wastewater
more closely. The new program worked
so well, the city could not believe that the
facility had improved so quickly.
" They were sending inspectors every single
shift because they just couldn't believe
it, " Mr. Silva said. " Our relationship with the
city greatly improved after that. "
Additionally, the company replaced the
plant's boiler with a smaller one - only
50 hp - that operates at higher efficiency,
reducing exhaust and gas usage.
Jose Gomez, chief technology officer,
spent 2022 ensuring that all of the company's
plants had the capability to produce
the 4505 products. Prior to that, only City
of Industry could produce 4505 pork rinds,
products that were being shipped nationwide.
By incorporating the technology
needed in the other US plants - Arlington,
Texas and Portsmouth, Ohio - Benestar
shortened the transfer distance to the customer.
This not only saved on costs but also
gas for distribution.
Similarly in May, the newest facility in
Ohio will take on some tortilla chip production
to increase capacity and shorten
transfers to customers for that product.
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Baking & Snack - March 2023

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