foodpro 2026: Brendan Joyce, Highgate on knife sharpening, safer gloves and lighter packaging

FoodPro 2026, Melbourne: Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry speaks with Brendan Joyce at Highgate Group on Stand S28. Can a sharper knife protect a worker's body and pay for itself? Joyce demonstrates the German-made Knecht E50R automatic knife sharpener, which he says cuts the grip force needed from around 6 kg over an 8-hour shift to under 1 kg, reducing RSI and musculoskeletal injuries while lifting yield, at roughly 32 seconds a knife and 870 knives a shift. He argues the yield gain alone can pay back the machine in under 18 months. He also runs through Highgate's Wilcoflex self-tensioning chain-mail gloves, which build the tensioner into the glove and remove loose plastic that could end up in the meat, and Bone Shield, an Australian-made product that targets the sharp bone area so processors can use a thinner bag, cut packaging costs by up to 45% and extend shelf life. Food & Drink Business is Australia's leading trade media platform for the food and beverage manufacturing sector. Subscribe: http://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.a... Follow us at: http://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au   / food-&-drink-business