Hygiene used to sit in the “necessary evil” column of the P&L — something you did at the end of a shift, after the real work of production was done. That mindset is changing fast. As manufacturers face tighter regulations, rising sustainability expectations, and heightened sensitivity to recalls and safety incidents, hygiene is emerging as a strategic lever: one that directly shapes uptime, brand trust, and long-term resilience.
Few people see that shift more clearly than Davide Gagliardo, Business Development Manager, Industrial Vacuums, at Nilfisk. Working with food and beverage plants across North America, he sits at the intersection of quality, safety, and operations — where combustible dust, allergen control, and worker protection aren’t abstract risks, but daily realities.
In this conversation from EATS, Davide explores how that evolution is playing out on the production floor: from dry collection that cuts water and detergent use, to smarter containment that minimizes contamination risk, to ergonomic, operator-friendly tools that people actually want to use.
Q. What kinds of conversations are you most excited to have this year at EATS, and what trends are shaping how manufacturers think about hygiene?
Davide Gagliardo: I’m excited to talk about combustible dust, allergen containment, and better practices in hygiene in general. As we go through speaking today, we’ll talk a little bit more about hygiene and how we look at it. It’s slightly different than how other people look at it.
Q. Do you think manufacturers are beginning to see hygiene as a competitive advantage rather than a regulatory task?
DG: For a long time, hygiene was considered something that slowed down production, or just a barrier to cross. Now people are realizing there’s value in it: less waste, less cleanup time, and less manpower if you have a hygienic process at the beginning.
Q. How are leading manufacturers reframing hygiene as part of their core business strategy?
DG: I think a long time ago, departments like QA and health and safety weren’t really taken too seriously. Now they have many more teeth in the process. Their concerns are raised and brought to the forefront, and if they need to stop production because something isn’t safe or hygienic, that’s taken a lot more seriously now.
Companies are starting to realize that the people who are really the experts in hygiene and quality assurance need to be listened to, and they’re getting more of an opportunity to have their voice heard, which is something I like to see.
Q. Is that shift being driven by internal culture, customer demands, or regulation?
DG: I think the major driver is fear of recall, fear of a contaminated product, and bad press. The pull-through benefit is what we talked about earlier: less waste, more efficiency, and less opportunity to contaminate your product if you have a more hygienic system.
Q. Nilfisk has been innovating in industrial cleaning for more than a century. What are some of the biggest advances you’ve seen in recent years, whether that’s automation, ergonomics, or sustainability?
DG: All of them have moved forward.
From an automation standpoint, an example might be pneumatic conveyance — transferring flour, grain, barley, rice through pneumatics instead of scooping or dumping it. That puts your product in a hygienic closed system sooner. Rather than scooping it or dumping it out of a barrel, it’s now in a closed system much earlier, so the climate and humidity in the facility aren’t affecting it. That’s one aspect. Plus, automating the transfer of grain is certainly better, and you can repurpose that manpower.
On the sustainability side, dry vacuuming of powders — when you’re cleaning down equipment and getting that material out first — is going to equate to less water used and less detergent going into the system. It’s a great way to be “green” and use less water. Facilities now are being monitored in some spaces for how much wastewater they produce. If you can dry vacuum, you’re collecting that material safely, usually with a HEPA filter at the end so it’s not getting back out. You’re keeping workers safer from breathing it in and using less water to clean.
In terms of hygiene, when we’re talking about cleaning those pieces of equipment, we have food-grade accessories we use that are safe and compliant. We like industries where there needs to be documentation, because all our equipment is very well documented.
Q. How do those innovations actually change what day-to-day operations look like on the plant floor?
DG: All of that together changes how production floors look. There’s less debris on the floor, less waste, and the areas that are supposed to be really hygienic are expanding. A little more thought up front is going to make it a better process overall and not as much of a barrier to overcome down the road if you start thinking about hygiene at the very beginning of creating a new production line.
Q. Can you tell us about hygiene’s major role in managing risk — from allergen control to combustible dust to general worker safety?
DG: I’m glad you brought up combustible dust, because there are grain silos that can explode, and there are sugar factories that have combustible incidents all over the country. People still don’t really take combustible dust seriously.
The first concern is loss of life. Then there’s loss of property, loss of product, lawsuits, and potentially crippling regulations from the government. At Nilfisk, at our booth, we’ve been trying to talk to everybody about combustible dust. If you’re not sure that your dust has been tested, we can very quickly educate you — or anybody in the vacuum business can — on the dangers of combustible dust, what it means, and where to look. That’s one thing we’re very concerned about.
Vacuuming — if you have the right filtration — is going to make the environment safer for your employees. Having good exhaust filtration, whether it be HEPA or ULPA, is going to improve the air quality. In some cases, it can make it cleaner than the air outside, because we’re filtering it.
On ergonomics, we have certain food manufacturers that want us to make special hoses that are more flexible or softer, or we can taper down and make the hose a little narrower. That way, using it for eight hours a day isn’t a strain on employees. Tying in with combustible dust, we have some carbon fiber overhead cleaning kits to reach up high and clean. In the old days, those kits used to be made of aluminum and they would wear on the employees’ back, shoulders, or arms. Now we can probably go twice as high at a quarter of the weight. We really think about that — we think about the operators. We want the equipment to be easy to use and comfortable, so they actually use it. That’s another aspect of ergonomics for us.
Q. Where do you see the biggest opportunities for manufacturers to strengthen resilience through smarter cleaning programs?
DG: Manufacturers need to take a close look at the traditional pain points in their production processes and identify where those challenges can be reduced or better managed. Too often, hygiene and cleaning are viewed as major hurdles to overcome. Instead, start by asking: Where are the recurring issues? Where do we consistently run into trouble? Then tackle those areas — whether it involves wet or dry collection — step by step.
There’s no single “magic bullet” solution. Building resilience requires a comprehensive approach that looks at the entire manufacturing process. Once you understand your key challenges — whether it’s containment, allergens, or something else — you can start addressing them systematically. You’ll find some fixes are quick wins, while others take more time, but each step strengthens the overall process.
Q. Do you find that companies underestimate the financial or reputational risk of getting hygiene wrong?
DG: Absolutely. Every company that has an explosion is getting hygiene wrong, and you can’t put a price on that — bad press, loss of life, loss of product, contamination, recall, etc.
Q. Sustainability is a recurring theme across EATS. How are cleaning operations evolving to align with sustainability goals — things like water reduction, energy efficiency, or waste minimization?
DG: We’re seeing more customers reach out to us about using vacuums to collect dry material before they wash in place. They’re starting to realize — probably because they’re getting fined or taxed for their wastewater — that vacuuming first is going to remove much more of the material you’re not looking for, and then you need less water to clean.
As I said earlier, that also correlates with detergents. Less detergent in the wastewater line is going to be better for the environment, better for the company, and better from a regulatory standpoint if there’s any monitoring. State and local governments sometimes monitor your wastewater, and that’s one way to improve.
On energy efficiency, some of our larger vacuums can be equipped with variable frequency drives. They can consume less or more energy as demand changes. It might be a 20- or 30-horsepower vacuum, but you may only need five horsepower for a certain application. Instead of running it full bore, you can wind it down and use less electricity. That’s another example of how cleaning operations are aligned with sustainability goals.
Q. Nilfisk has long-standing partnerships across the industry. What does true partnership look like when you’re helping manufacturers maintain high hygiene standards over time?
DG: True partnership, to me, is about being a trusted advisor. That means staying fully informed on evolving regulations and the changing landscape of food manufacturing, then keeping our customers informed as well. We host webinars and summits where we share insights like, “In a few years, this combustible dust rule will change,” or, “For food-contact applications, what used to be acceptable will no longer meet standards.” It’s about giving them the bigger picture before it becomes a challenge.
On the local level, we probably have more boots on the ground than any other vacuum company in the U.S. Our teams don’t just discuss vacuum performance — they dive into the details of our customers’ pain points to offer a solution to the problem. This includes guidance on equipment integration, and how materials should be collected, handled, and disposed of in the process. We focus on making the application as seamless and efficient as possible.
Being a great partner also means backing our products with robust engineering and technical support. Exceptional products combined with hands-on guidance and expertise — that’s what true partnership looks like.
Q. Looking ahead, what do you think will define the next phase of hygiene innovation in food manufacturing?
DG: Probably automation, better data, and AI.
Automation could be conveyance or robotic cleaning. We have vacuums that are robots that can clean.
Data will be about tracking waste, tracking energy consumption, and tracking water waste. Does the line need to be running for 16 hours, or can we run it for 10? What sort of resources do we need for this production line? Is there a way to streamline that? There’s certainly opportunity, I feel, to trim more waste and be more efficient.
When we talk about automation, sometimes people get scared that it means jobs. It doesn’t have to. Those people can be repurposed to do something else. If it took you five hours to clean something and now it takes you two, you can take those people and put them someplace else. You don’t have to get rid of them.
Q. If you could leave leaders with one message about hygiene, what should they be thinking about differently in 2025? How can better hygiene translate into measurable business value?
DG: Leaders should be thinking about combustible dust — and if there’s any uncertainty, they should have their dust tested. This isn’t a sales pitch; there are regulated, authorized agencies that can perform a dust analysis to determine what’s present and whether it poses a risk.
It’s not just about what you’re collecting — it also involves containment, fire suppression, explosion protection, and many other factors. For example, a facility with a modern sprinkler system is in a very different position than a 200-year-old building.
The key message is that managing combustible dust — getting ahead of it and taking ownership — doesn’t cost anything to start learning about. Understanding the risks and addressing them proactively is where the real value begins.
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