FPSA Is Now the Food Production Solutions Association

Food Processing Suppliers Association's Chairman, Brian Perkins, announced a name change for the organization. This is the first time since 2006 that such a big change has happened in the member organization.

FPSA will now be the Food Production Solutions Association, keeping the same acronym, with a new tagline, Leading Innovation in Food Production.

In addition to updating its name and logo, FPSA is also adding new membership categories to create new pathways for collaboration among all members and end-users. That could be in the Executive Exchange & Conference just held, or the Fall Operations Conference we’ll be putting on September 23-25 at the Hilton President Hotel in Kansas City, MO, or other future events.

The last time we had such a shift was in the 2006 merger of FPMA (Food Processing Machinery Association) and IAFIS (International Association of Food Industry Suppliers) that formed FPSA. FPMA was strong in meat, prepared foods and bakery, while IAFIS was stronger in dairy, beverage, and pharmaceuticals.

In a news article, FPSA SVP Andy Drennan said, "Coming together made all the sense in the world and yet change is not easy for most. It would take some time before members and staff adopted a new culture and mission but ultimately there would be tremendous benefits including the creation of our show, the FIT Program, our Councils and Networks, as well as many more. I expect the new FPSA will generate even more new programs that bring value to the industry."

What it really comes down is to creating events, and other products and services that unite food manufacturers with other participants in the value chain, be they OEM’s engineering firms or other service providers, united by a common goal of producing food safely and more efficiently for the good of all.

While FPSA still co-owns the EATS tradeshow (Equipment Automation Technology Show), partnering with Messe Frankfurt allows FPSA to better focus on content development and leverage the expertise of its member companies.