RON CARDWELL: RTI / THE GREAT SEED OIL DEBATE
RON CARDWELL: RTI / THE GREAT SEED OIL DEBATE  
Podcast: Fell Into Food Podcast
Published On: Mon May 04 2026
Description: Ron Cardwell, Director of Commodity Strategy at Restaurant Technologies (RTI), runs point on cooking oil for the company that pioneered automated oil management — the closed-loop system that delivers fresh oil and pulls used oil out of more than 40,000 restaurants. We get into the seed oil debate, allergen myths, beef tallow's comeback, and what actually happens to the used oil in your fryer.Ron's nickname is "The Oil Nerd." He earned it. He started in soybean processing out of college, fell in love with how oil touches every corner of food and energy, and has been deep in commodity strategy ever since. RTI moves more than 700 million pounds of fresh oil into restaurants every year and pulls hundreds of millions of pounds of used oil back out — and almost all of it ends up as renewable diesel, biodiesel, or sustainable aviation fuel.We dig into how operators should actually think about oil — flavor, function, and price, in that order, not the other way around. Why "buy the cheapest" is a trap that costs you more in turnover and bad food. The seed oil vs. beef tallow debate — what's signal and what's noise, what the real trade-offs are on flavor, supply, and price when you switch. The allergen question that comes up at every front-of-house every week — and why a fully refined and deodorized oil doesn't carry the allergen at all (Ron settles this one on tape). What pourable beef tallow actually is and why it exists. Why high-oleic crop breeding is changing what "stable frying oil" even means. The full-circle history — beef tallow → saturated fat fear → trans fats → seed oil blends → consumers asking for tallow back. And the part of Ron's job he loves most: turning used fryer oil into renewable diesel at roughly 20% the carbon intensity of conventional diesel.Socials and Links:Website: www.rti-inc.comRTI 2025 Impact Report: https://www.rti-inc.com/blog/restaurant-technologies-recycled-more-than-390-million-lbs-of-uco-in-2025/Ron Cardwell Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronald-cardwell-21a7531a6/CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS00:00 — Intro and welcome: Ron Cardwell, Director of Commodity Strategy at Restaurant Technologies01:31 — How Ron earned the nickname "The Oil Nerd"02:44 — Why oil is one of three core nutrition components — and the most functional03:49 — What "Director of Commodity Strategy" actually means day-to-day05:09 — Quick recap of RTI's closed-loop oil system (referencing Ep 17 with Diana)05:24 — The most dangerous job in a kitchen — and why bulk delivery eliminates it07:12 — Jeff's experience as a former RTI customer08:32 — RTI's 2025 Impact Report — released Earth Day, recycling stats09:36 — Choosing oil: the three variables operators actually need to weigh11:24 — The trap of buying the cheapest oil12:13 — Flavor profiles by oil type — neutral vs. flavored oils14:39 — The allergen question — settled on tape16:15 — How operators (and customers) can verify allergen status — the supplier statement18:32 — The seed oil vs. beef tallow debate — what's signal, what's noise21:03 — Switching to tallow — flavor, supply, and price reality24:58 — Why beef tallow is a byproduct, not a planned crop — supply ceiling27:13 — Beef tallow handling — the solid block, the cleanup, the pourable version29:23 — Glass vs. plastic and why dark storage matters more than the bottle30:30 — Sustainability: where the used oil actually goes32:58 — Where the oil category goes next — high-oleic, crop breeding, consumer demand35:59 — The full circle: tallow → saturated fat fear → trans fats → blends → tallow comeback37:20 — The one thing every operator should change Monday morning37:55 — How to actually monitor oil quality day-to-day — smell, taste, look38:55 — Where to find Ron and RTI — NRA Show, rti-inc.com39:35 — Wrap upListen to the full episode and more! It would mean the world to me if you could leave a 5 star review on your listening platform to help grow and expand the Podcast.YouTube - https://lnkd.in/gQM3S5mr Spotify - https://lnkd.in/g_5kFXieApple Podcast - https://apple.co/41RoTm4Pandora - https://lnkd.in/gS-wu_YJYouTube: https://youtube.com/@FellIntoFoodLinkedin: linkedin.com/company/fell-into-foodInstagram: http://instagram.com/fell_into_foodFacebook: https://facebook.com/fellintofoodFellintoFood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy