Seneca Foods, a name synonymous with quality food production and a significant player in the North American food industry, traces its roots back to humble beginnings and a visionary Cornell alumnus. Arthur Wolcott ’49, while a senior at Cornell University, attended an auction seeking a typewriter and instead purchased a bankrupt grape juice plant in Dundee, New York. This unexpected acquisition in 1949 marked the inception of what would become Seneca Foods, a company that has since flourished into a publicly traded powerhouse with a staggering $1.5 billion in revenue today. Crucial to this remarkable journey has been a continuous, synergistic relationship with Cornell University’s food science faculty and experts.
To celebrate and further strengthen this enduring 75-year collaboration, the Seneca Foods Foundation has announced a landmark $10 million gift to the Cornell Food Venture Center (CFVC) at AgriTech. This substantial donation is set to significantly enhance the CFVC’s mission of empowering food producers of all sizes to successfully launch and scale their products in the competitive marketplace.
Benjamin Houlton, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), emphasized the pivotal role of the CFVC, stating, “Since its launch in 1997, the Cornell Food Venture Center has served as a vital catalyst for food and agricultural business development. By connecting entrepreneurs with essential resources, expertise, and cutting-edge innovation, the center has facilitated the successful market entry of over 40,000 food products. This generous gift from the Seneca Foods Foundation marks a significant new chapter in Cornell’s longstanding partnership with Seneca Foods, ensuring that the center’s science-driven approach delivers even greater benefits to our evolving food economy.”
This transformative gift, the largest in AgriTech’s history, is poised to invigorate the food economy within New York State and beyond. It will fuel advancements in food processing and production innovation, provide crucial guidance on regulatory compliance, expand training opportunities, and bolster product stability and safety evaluations for businesses across the food sector.
Christine Smart, the Goichman Family Director of Cornell AgriTech and associate dean in CALS, highlighted the deep-rooted connection this gift represents. “This gift truly solidifies the 75-year partnership between Seneca Foods and Cornell, particularly Cornell AgriTech,” she noted.
The donation will be strategically allocated, with half dedicated to endowing the CFVC and naming its state-of-the-art pilot plant. The remaining half will establish an endowed professorship and director position for the CFVC, ensuring sustained leadership and expertise.
“It guarantees outstanding leadership for the future,” Smart explained. “This will empower companies to refine their processing and packaging methods to ensure both food safety and product quality. The pilot plant’s capacity to facilitate small-scale trials is immensely valuable. It enables companies to effectively test market viability and anticipate food trends by experimenting with diverse approaches and conducting sensory evaluations.”
Food entrepreneurs utilize the Cornell Food Venture Center Pilot Plant to enhance and perfect both novel creations and improved iterations of existing food products.
This timely investment arrives amidst a surge in new consumer packaged goods and a looming regulatory compliance deadline. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is set to mandate enhanced record-keeping and traceability data sharing for numerous food companies to expedite the identification of issues like foodborne illnesses. This necessitates the adoption of new technologies for many in the food industry.
Olga Padilla-Zakour, professor of food processing in the Department of Food Science and the director of the Cornell Food Venture Center, emphasized the gift’s role in ensuring consumer confidence and regulatory adherence. “This kind gift ensures that emerging food products will not only meet consumer expectations but will also be safe and compliant with evolving regulations,” she stated.
Padilla-Zakour elaborated on the spectrum of technologies supported by the CFVC, from traditional thermal processing techniques that ensure food safety and stability to innovative nonthermal methods. These include high-pressure processing to eliminate microorganisms, pulsed electric field technology, and membrane separation technologies like ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, among other advanced techniques.
“This gift provides a permanent foundation for our ongoing support of food entrepreneurs,” Padilla-Zakour concluded.
Paul Palmby, the current president and CEO of Seneca Foods, highlighted the historical synergy between Arthur Wolcott and Cornell. “In the early days of Seneca Foods, Art Wolcott actively collaborated with Cornell to establish crucial processing techniques and best practices that were instrumental to our initial success. The idea of leveraging our foundation to support Cornell has always been in our minds, and Kraig Kayser, CEO from 1993 to 2020, was very supportive of this vision,” Palmby shared. “Having been in the food industry since 1987, I was genuinely impressed when I visited the Cornell Food Venture Center.”
Kraig Kayser, MBA ’84, now serves as chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees, further cementing the Cornell-Seneca Foods connection.
Palmby emphasized the broad impact of the CFVC’s work, extending far beyond Seneca Foods’ specific interests. “The food industry is vast, and we each occupy a specific niche. However, advancements in food safety and quality are driven by scientific progress and collaborative research efforts, like those championed by the Cornell Food Venture Center. This is essential for maintaining the U.S.’s position as having one of the safest food supplies globally.”
“We are constantly seeking the next wave of innovation,” Palmby added, “and the Cornell Food Venture Center at AgriTech is pivotal in driving that forward.”
Michael Wolcott, Seneca Foods’ chief financial officer, underscored the pilot plant’s dual benefit for both emerging entrepreneurs and established companies in testing new product formulations.
“I anticipate that this investment will catalyze new business opportunities within the region, mirroring the transformative impact Cornell had on Seneca Foods 75 years ago,” he concluded, highlighting the enduring legacy and future potential of the Seneca Foods-Cornell partnership.
