COVER STORY Blueprint for success I As M+P's Operations Executive of the Year, Smithfield's Paul Kafer has spent his career learning and teaching BY J O E L C R E WS | j c r e w s @ s o s l a n d.c o m MEAT+ POULTRY | 07.17 | www.meatpoultry.com Photos by Peter Barreras 14 t's understandable that Paul Kafer might be somewhat of a coffee snob. An accomplished and respected engineer in the meat processing industry, he began earning his manufacturing and operational chops about 40 years ago, working with an iconic coffee manufacturer in the Northeast. There, he spent years learning the science behind roasting coffee beans and implemented a process for streamlining the process for General Foods' Maxwell House Coffee brand. Kafer, vice president of engineering for Smithfield Foods, has traveled a winding career path working in various roles in food and beverage industries throughout the country and across the globe. His diverse background as a big-picture thinker has served him well years later as he almost unconsciously is on the lookout for what can be optimized, supplemented and improved. After delving into the meat industry as a plant manager at North Side Foods Corp. in 1997 and working for Smithfield since 1998, the lessons he learned from his previous jobs still serve him well.http://www.meatpoultry.com