Across the United States, industrial food producers are grappling with a new generation of production challenges, ones that extend far beyond traditional questions of flavor or cost. The real issues now lie in scalability, consistency, and speed. As the food supply chain evolves under pressure from labor shortages, shifting regulatory standards, and increasingly fragmented consumer expectations, manufacturers are being forced to rethink how they source, prepare, and deliver core ingredients.
In recent years, food production has become more technologically dependent, yet many of the systems supporting high-volume kitchens and manufacturing facilities remain outdated or overburdened. The results are visible in delayed product launches, inconsistent quality across locations, and significant food waste caused by formulation errors or inefficiencies. A report by ReFED estimated that manufacturing-related food loss accounts for nearly 18 million tons of waste annually, much of it occurring in early production stages.
At the same time, the U.S. workforce powering these systems is under strain. The food sector is expected to face a shortage of more than 2 million skilled workers in the coming years, particularly in technical and operational roles. This shortfall does not simply slow output, it compromises safety, inflates costs, and makes it harder for companies to meet the growing demand for specialized offerings such as allergen-free, plant-based, or culturally specific foods.
Against this backdrop, a new company is preparing to enter the field with an integrated solution. Nextbite Foods LLC, set to launch operations in Florida, intends to bridge the gap between modern food needs and the infrastructure required to meet them. The company will focus on producing industrial-grade, ready-to-use food components such as sauces, fillings, and breading systems, engineered to reduce labor dependence and support high-efficiency output.
Behind the venture is Ms. Pasqual, a Brazilian business leader with a career built at the intersection of architecture, food production, and executive management. She has led companies in both the engineering and food sectors, including a successful Brazilian frozen bread brand and a firm specializing in industrial kitchen design. Her multidisciplinary experience has shaped her view of food production not just as a supply issue, but as a systems problem requiring technical and operational precision.
What distinguishes Nextbite Foods is not only the technical quality of its food bases, but also the infrastructure built around them. The company plans to work directly with manufacturers, co-packers, and institutional kitchens to integrate its products into existing workflows. Services will include formulation collaboration, process mapping, and technical support, enabling clients to streamline production without investing in costly research and development departments or specialized engineering teams.
This model is especially relevant for institutional clients such as hospitals and schools, which face acute labor and budget constraints. According to USDA data, more than 30 million students receive meals through public school systems each day, yet many districts struggle with consistency due to staff shortages and fragmented supply chains. Similarly, in the healthcare sector, the demand for safe, scalable, and nutritionally balanced food is growing rapidly, but few suppliers provide the kind of integrated, ready-to-use components required for stable output.
By positioning itself as both a supplier and a technical partner, Nextbite Foods aims to elevate operational standards across multiple food-producing segments. The company also intends to collaborate with academic institutions and research centers to develop new formulations, particularly those focused on nutritional optimization, allergen management, and shelf-stable innovation. These partnerships will help smaller producers who lack the in-house resources to test or scale new products.
Strategically headquartered in Miami, Nextbite Foods will benefit from Florida’s expanding role in the national food logistics network. The state’s position as a transportation hub, along with its concentration of healthcare and institutional food clients, provides the company a strong foundation for scale.
The potential ripple effects of this model are significant. By delivering customizable, standardized inputs that can be easily integrated into diverse systems, Nextbite Foods is not only addressing inefficiencies, it is also restoring resilience to a sector deeply impacted by labor volatility, supply disruptions, and the constant pressure to innovate.
For Pasqual, the journey to this point has been shaped by more than market data. Her experience designing commercial kitchens and managing large-scale food operations has given her an inside view of how small disruptions can create systemic failures. That is what drives her to build smarter frameworks, not just smarter products.
“We are not here to replace people, we are here to make their work more effective and less vulnerable to setbacks,” Pasqual said. “That is how you build long-term strength in an industry that touches every American life.”
In a sector where time, quality, and consistency are all under siege, Nextbite Foods represents a shift toward intelligent, adaptable food manufacturing, where innovation is matched with practical support and growth becomes both sustainable and scalable.
