The profiles of those who attend IFT gatherings also reflect the industry. A North side meeting draws Kraft people; one on the South side pulls in those from Griffith Laboratories. The appearance of a company's R&D executives often signals job insecurity, as people expand networking efforts.
The labor market for those in food science always is a topic of interest. How much of an impact is the economy? Do mergers and consolidations mean a decreased number of jobs? One question posed at last month's meeting theorized that, with the speed of information transfer, new products obtain commercial success more quickly, but product life cycles are shorter.