From faster answers to better decisions: What’s next for Neogen

For a food producer, getting a test result is one step in a much larger process. Someone needs to interpret it, connect it with other information and decide what happens next. Product may be waiting for release. A production team may be waiting for direction.

Those everyday decisions help explain where Neogen is focusing its business: reliable testing closer to production, simpler workflows and more connected information.

At our recent Investor Day, Neogen’s leadership team shared how we’re aligning our strategy, innovation, customer relationships and operations around those needs, while building the foundation for sustained growth.

A clear framework for progress

CEO Mike Nassif has outlined a deliberate three-year framework underway at Neogen: stabilization in FY26, acceleration in FY27 and expansion in FY28.

The focus now is on applying the fundamentals established in FY26 at greater scale and with better efficiency. Looking ahead to FY28, we expect investments in innovation and operational improvement to contribute to performance as we work to expand our markets, margins and differentiation.

Progress through that framework must be earned. Each phase requires measurable evidence that the business is ready for the next.

Connecting the pieces of food safety

For Dr. Tammi Ranalli, SVP & General Manager of Food Safety, a central opportunity is helping customers connect more of their food safety programs.

A production facility may use separate providers and systems for pathogen testing, allergen testing, environmental monitoring, sample collection and digital records. Bringing that information together takes time and effort, particularly when teams need to make a decision quickly.

As testing moves closer to the production line, the relationship between a result and the surrounding workflow becomes increasingly important. Neogen’s broad portfolio and expertise create opportunities to help customers connect those pieces, supported by a partner who understands their operation.

That relationship often starts with one test. Consistent performance and technical support build the trust needed to address the next challenge.

Building an innovation pipeline around practical questions

How soon can a customer get a useful answer? How much preparation does a sample require? How many steps must an operator complete?

These questions shape the innovation pipeline led by Chief Scientific Officer Jeremy Yarwood. Neogen combines internal capabilities, strategic partnerships and co-development to pursue technologies that can improve testing, simplify workflows and make information available sooner.

The collaboration with Hinalea Imaging is one example. Together, we’re  working on hyperspectral imaging solutions for food safety and quality inspection. The technology captures information across many wavelengths of light, creating opportunities to identify differences a conventional camera might miss.

Turning that capability into a useful inspection solution requires rigorous work: understanding what those differences mean, validating performance and determining how to optimize the technology for production conditions.

Neogen brings 40 years of food safety expertise to that process. Across the innovation pipeline, the goal is to translate scientific possibilities into a sustained cadence of differentiated solutions that address meaningful customer needs.

Turning capabilities into consistent customer support

Joe Freels’ commercial priorities center on putting Neogen’s capabilities to work where they can have the greatest impact.

That means working more closely with strategic accounts, bringing proven solutions into markets where Neogen has room to grow and expanding digital channels to reach and support more customers.

Execution depends on understanding each customer’s needs and following through. A broad portfolio becomes more valuable when the commercial team can connect the right expertise and solutions to a specific challenge.

The early indicators are encouraging. Sustained profitable growth and consistent execution will remain the measures of success.

Preparing to deliver at scale

Innovation also depends on the ability to manufacture and supply a product reliably.

Jim Walter’s operations team is focused on manufacturability, sourcing, quality, capacity and cost in the early stages of the product development process. Addressing those questions before the final stages of product development can reduce launch risk and support a faster path to market.

Our new Petrifilm manufacturing facility illustrates the breadth of that preparation. Milestones crossed to date include fully validated production equipment, achievement of ISO and AFNOR requirements, and testing of more than 75,000 plates, including full third-party validation of one of the more complex SKUs. Together, these demonstrate the preparedness of the facility, equipment, and quality systems as we approach the beginning of the transition of manufacturing into our facility.

That operational foundation supports both the products customers rely on today and the innovations Neogen expects to develop for the future.

Across these efforts, the work is connected: understand the customer’s challenge, develop a useful solution, make it reliably and support it consistently. Delivering on each step is how Neogen intends to earn customer trust and build sustainable, category-leading growth.