Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

NOVEMBER 2011 |

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BU S I N E S S AN D TECH NOLOGY SOLUTION S FOR COLD CHAI N PROFE S S IONALS

! E M O C Y E H T HERE

O T S E ONATCH W 12 IN 20

M EA LS & EN TR EE S JANE’S DOUGH FOODS SN A CK S & A PP ET IZ ER S CJ FOODS M EAT & PO U LT RY COLUMBUS FOODS BA KE RY BOULART INC. FR U IT & V EG ETA BL E INVENTURE FOODS INC. D A IR Y CIAO BELLA GELATO CO.

OPERATIONS INSIDE JANE’S DOUGH

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Touching Everyday Life

™

NOVEMBER 2011

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|

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VIEWPOINT COLD FOOD SAFETY

Clean sweep Want to improve cold plant food safety? Step up sanitation efforts, says one expert.

12 COLD SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS

24 O T S E N O ATCH W 12 IN 20

38 REFRIGERATED & FROZEN FOODS (R&FF) REFRIGERATED & FROZEN FOODS is a supplement to FOOD ENGINEERING. REFRIGERATED & FROZEN FOODS is published seven times annually, by BNP Media II, L.L.C., 2401 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084-3333.

Potato partners Warehouse, transportation partners help ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston cut cost, time in servicing foodservice customers.

14 COLD PARTNERS IN PROGRESS

Uplifting savings solution Yale Material Handling helps McCain Foods reduce, eliminate lift truck batteries, battery chargers.

16 COLD ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Here comes the sun Cold food plants, warehouses can reap solar savings in the right situations.

19 COLD TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE

Highlight on new cutting, slicing and coating equipment; as well as other supplies for refrigerated and frozen food plants and warehouses.

24 COVER FEATURE

Ones to watch: Here they come! Refrigerated & Frozen Foods profiles fast-growth food processors in each of six categories. 26 Meat & Poultry 28 Snack & Appetizer 30 Dairy 32 Bakery 34 Fruit & Vegetable 36 Meal & Entree

38 COLD PLANT OPERATIONS

On the cutting edge Jane’s Dough Foods pushes frozen pizza quality, productivity.

Telephone: (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2011, by BNP Media II, L.L.C. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. Send address changes to: FOOD ENGINEERING, P.O. Box 2146, Skokie, IL 60076. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. GST account: 131263923. Send returns (Canada) to Bleuchip International, P.O.Box 25542, London, ON, N6C 6B2. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to REFRIGERATED & FROZEN FOODS, P.O. Box 1080, Skokie, IL 60076. For single copies or back issues: contact Ann Kalb at [email protected].

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Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

ON THE COVER: Jane's Dough Foods, Columbus, Ohio, produces 45 different topped frozen pizzas for retail, foodservice accounts.

Photo courtesy Jane's Dough Foods www.RFFmag.com

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VIEWPOINT BY BOB GARRISON • [email protected]

VOL. 22, NO. 6

Words to grow by

PATRICK YOUNG Publisher

(610) 436-4220, ext. 8520 [email protected]

EDITORIAL BOB GARRISON Editor-In-Chief

T

rue confessions. I’ve watched AgroFarma Inc. for the past few years and I thought this year’s “Ones to Watch” feature might include the Norwich, N.Y., maker of Chobani Greek yogurt. After all, AgroFarma is only six years old and Chobani is just four years old. Then I read Forbes’ September interview with AgroFarma founder Hamdi Ulukaya and learned AgroFarma already boasts annual sales of about $700 million. Wow. At that size, the company already is more than one to watch. It’s perfect for my future (fictitious) story: “Ones to Greatly Admire.” Then again, I realize I’m not the only one awed by such achievement. Heck, it certainly caught the eye of author Christopher Steiner, a former Forbes writer turned tech entrepreneur. He observed, “In a scant four years, Hamdi Ulukaya has built something that even Silicon Valley types should covet: a $700 million business that’s profitable, dominant and growing at a furious clip. “…Groupon, the fast growing company ever, got to $700 million faster, but, as any snarky tech pundit will tell you, the Chicago deals site isn’t yet operating in the black. Chobani, by most indications and according to Ulukaya, is firmly profitable.” Steiner included excerpts from his talk with Ulukaya, a former Turkish dairy farmer (cheese and yogurt) who came to the States in 1995 to learn English and study business. Hamdi said he

soon followed his dad’s advice (Make better cheese than what’s available) to process and supply feta for New York specialty shops. Then came the opportunity to buy a former Kraft yogurt plant in New Berlin, N.Y. Steiner asked Hamdi for advice about starting and growing a successful business. Here are Hamdi’s responses in Forbes: No. 1: “Keep your product simple. Know what you do and do it better than anybody.” No. 2: “Invest in your core. For us, that’s our yogurt plant. We have the biggest, best plant in the United States, maybe the world. We’ve invested $220 million in taking that plant from a capacity of 50,000 cases to 1.4 million. It’s the backbone of what we do and we treat it that way.” No. 3: “When you market your business, know that you can’t fool anyone. There is too much information available to anybody who wants it. Be real. People can tell – or easily find out – if you’re not (authentic).” No. 4: “Focus on profit. I run my business like a mom-andpop store. Cash is everything. Without it, you can’t increase production and it’s hard to be innovative.” No. 5: “Lead as an example. If you make yogurt, go to the plant. Work with your people; if you want people to work on Sunday, be there next to them.”

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Cold Food Safety

Clean sweep

Thorough equipment teardown a must during sanitation. Recent RFA meeting also profiled suppliers’ new cleaning chemicals.

Editor’s note: Refrigerated & Frozen Foods talks with Martin Mitchell, technical director for the Refrigerated Foods Association (RFA), which held its annual fall technical symposium in Minneapolis. Mitchell also is the managing director of Certified Laboratories Inc. with offices in California and New York.

Photo courtesy of Refrigerated Foods Association

Want to improve your cold plant food safety? Step up sanitation efforts, says one expert.

R&FF: Foodborne illness was in the news this summer. What’s caught your attention? Martin Mitchell: We now realize that almost any food group generates food safety concerns. It’s difficult to know where to begin with examples. As we speak, cantaloupe has a top spot in the news. Who knows what to say? Leafy greens and other produce, meat and poultry items receive a great deal of attention – but also peanut butter and eggs? These headlines simply tell us we must re-double efforts to ensure proper refrigerated food manufacturing practices.

and clean equipment. We emphasize proper cleaning and the liberal use of sanitizers. You see foot dips and floor foamers everywhere. Processors should constantly monitor these areas as part of a well designed environmental sampling program. Proper equipment construction and maintenance also are important. All too often, I don’t think equipment suppliers properly demonstrate the proper “tear down” of equipment. Thorough training helps sanitation crews do their jobs properly. Product formulation also is critical. We recommend processors use antimicrobial ingredients, sorbates and benzoates, vinegars and other acidic ingredients. The current trend for “all natural” is a concern. If we move away from traditional preservative systems, we may not provide the storage protection we have developed and successfully relied on for maintaining a safe refrigerated food supply.

R&FF: What are the most important food safety steps for a cold food plant? Mitchell: Let’s start with sanitation. Quite a few refrigerated food processors do not have a microbial kill step, so we must rely on other factors to control food safety concerns. Sanitation is important in that regard. We must have clean facilities

R&FF: Your reference to “storage protection” and “food supply” makes us think about thermal abuse in the cold chain. That’s important too, right? Mitchell: Refrigeration control is extremely critical. After all, we are the “refrigerated foods industry.” We know spoilage occurs if products are not processed and transported under

8

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

refrigerated conditions. More customers and manufacturers are using temperature tracing instruments to document temperature abuse in the shipping and distribution chain. Unfortunately, retailers don’t always maintain the cold chain as they should.

R&FF: How does RFA help members address food safety issues? Mitchell: RFA’s technical committee hosts monthly conference calls where company representatives openly discuss food safety issues and share best industry practices. These conference calls are important. Depending on topics of interest, they lead us to develop webinars and they guide speaker selections for RFA’s annual meeting. One of the most popular sessions at the 2010 annual meeting was a presentation – with a lengthy question-andanswer time – about facility sanitation and equipment design. More recently, our 2011 RFA Symposium (September in Minneapolis) provided presentations and tours focused on sanitation and related food safety issues. Our attendees had an opportunity to see chemical suppliers’ latest compounds and related equipment for proper plant sanitation. Guest speakers demonstrated quick ATP evaluations to assure proper cleaning. They also 4 showed us micro testing programs prowww.RFFmag.com

Cold Food Safety

cessors can use to make faster decisions about plant sanitation and cleanliness.

r&FF: What’s something new you’ve learned about food safety? Mitchell: We’ve recognized that not all dry ingredients are pathogen free. Refrigerated processors know it’s important to review ingredient sources and select materials from suppliers that take food safety measures. Recent recalls teach us that it’s critical to buy spices and other dry ingredients that have received some microbiological treatment step to reduce potential contamination. We recommend that RFA members pay more attention to spice and dry ingredient handling areas. Although Salmonella may not grow there, dry ingredients can harbor this and other bacteria.

www.rFFmag.com

r&FF: What food safety advances would you most like to see in 2012? Mitchell: We understand there is no simple solution to a broad array of food safety issues. Microorganisms are everywhere – including areas in which we didn’t believe them to be of concern. Refrigerated food processors must use every means to assure food safety. As an industry, we need to encourage antimicrobial treatment applications. At the top of the list would be acceptance of irradiation as a standard practice. The technology is proven. U.S. regulators need to recognize that we must use this technology to get ahead of the continuing evolution of pathogenic organisms. We also need to develop a better relationship between regulators and the industry. Politics and regulations

cannot control microorganisms in our food and in our plants. However, we need government and industry to work together to resolve issues – not simply attempt to regulate them. There’s also a consumer and customer element. Consumers should take steps to help protect themselves. Bad habits in the kitchen can results in cross contamination from raw to prepared foods. Restaurants and foodservice operations know and understand proper food preparation controls. However, they also need to constantly reinforce temperature control and sanitation – their own versions of Good Manufacturing Practices – with staff members. No one in the industry wants to prepare and serve harmful products. We all must work together to increase the food safety awareness for everyone.

refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011 9

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APRIL 22-25, 2012 Sanibel Harbour Marriott, Fort Myers, Florida

2012 PROGRAM •

Save the Date — Register by December 31 and Save $400!

FOOD AUTOMATION & MANUFACTURING CONFERENCE AND EXPO is the industry’s only event presenting real-world solutions on automation, processing and packaging innovation, sustainability and food safety topics for Operations, Engineering and Manufacturing Executives. Join us in 2012!

▼ Sunday, April 22

10:00 – 10:30 a.m.

Refreshment Break

12:30 p.m.

10:30 – 11:15 a.m

Golf Tournament

Engineering Keynote: Manufacturing Innovation for Today’s Leaders

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Welcome Reception

Dave Haft, Senior Vice President, Sustainability, Productivity and Quality, Frito-Lay Fundamental change is occurring in how food is processed and raw materials are handled as food safety requirements become more stringent. This speaker will discuss how engineering and operations professionals can deliver manufacturing innovation and OEE while controlling capital equipment expenditures.

▼ Monday, April 23 7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Registration

11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

8:00 – 8:10 a.m.

Welcome

Creating a No-Compromise Operations & Manufacturing Culture

Patrick Young, Publisher, Food Engineering

Neil Ducoff, Founder and CEO, Strategies

8:10 – 8:30 a.m.

When compromise seeps in, it hinders growth, momentum and energy. Allow it to go unchecked, and even very achievable goals can turn into pipe dreams. This speaker will show you how to turn missed opportunities into manufacturing home-runs. No-compromise leadership is a commitment to a higher standard that guides a business culture to extraordinary achievement.

Opening Remarks: The State of Food Manufacturing Joyce Fassl, Editor in Chief, Food Engineering

Theme for Day One: Addressing Manufacturing’s Current Critical Challenges 8:30 – 9:15 a.m.

12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Keynote Address: The Age of Transparency Michael J. McCloskey, Founder and CEO, Fair Oaks Farm Public and customer demand for greater transparency in food manufacturing is causing many processors to refocus their outlook regarding social responsibility as well food safety. This speaker will address how embracing transparency with science-based technology can lead to profitability.

Lunch Buffet 12:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Expo

1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Solutions Theater

9:15– 10:00 a.m.

Food Safety Modernization Act: What You Need to Know Now

2:15 –2:45 p.m.

Refreshment Break Stations

Kurt Deibel, Vice President, Quality & Food Safety, HJ Heinz New legislation and resulting enforcement often create questions concerning compliance. This presentation will address the latest trends in food safety management, effective track and trace systems as well as food safety compliance on a global basis.

5:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Expo Reception 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Harbour View Barbeque

GOLD SPONSORS

▼ Tuesday, April 24

▼ Wednesday, April 25

7:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

7:00 – 8:00 a.m.

Registration

Continental Breakfast

7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

8:00 – 8:15 a.m.

Breakfast

Opening Remarks

7:30 – 9:00 a.m.

Expo

Theme for Day Three: Sustainable Plant and Process Practices

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.

8:15 – 9:00 a.m.

Solutions Theater 10:00 – 10:30 a.m.

Refreshment Break Theme for Day Two: Practical Measures for Improving Plant Performance 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Session A: Packaging Technology 10:30 a.m. Robotics vs Continuous Motion Terrence Southern, Senior Engineer, Flexible Automation, Frito-Lay North America, Inc. 11:15 a.m. Best Practices in Machine Safety Michael Thompson, Golden Peanut Company, a division of ADM Session B: Plant & Process Controls 10:30 a.m.. . . Overcoming the Challenges of Legacy Systems Anass Bennani, MIS Director, Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Foods, Inc.

Social Responsibility: Addressing Customer and Consumer Concerns Speaker: Leigh Ann Johnston, CPEA, EHS Training, Communication, & Sustainability Manager, Tyson Foods, Inc. Demonstrating social responsibility is important in being an employer of choice, engaging company critics and effecting improvements in both food and worker safety. Maintaining business-to-business relationships is also a prime motivation. Hear how a leading processor embraces this crucial topic. 9:00 – 9:45 a.m.

Wastewater Treatment Paybacks and Benefits The cost and availability of fresh water is becoming an issue for some facilities, and many regulators are mandating organic load reductions. High levels of suspended and dissolved sugars, protein and fat pose a special challenge for food plants. This speaker will show how to achieve cost-effective wastewater treatment. 9:45 – 10:15

Refreshment Break

11:15 a.m. . . . Best Practices in Automated CIP 10:15 – 11:00 a.m. 12:00 to 1:15 p.m.

Networking Luncheon 1:15 – 2:30 p.m

Ask the Experts Panel: Perfecting Your Continuous Improvement Plan Speakers: Tom Deschler, Vice President, Continuous Improvement, T. Marzetti Company; Tom Lance, Vice President-Operations, The Boston Beer Company; John Mutchler, Executive Vice President, Glanbia USA This special session featuring a panel of food and beverage industry experts will present different viewpoints on various continuous improvement methods such as lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, OEE, KPIs, Kaizen and high performance work teams. These experts will address your top manufacturing challenges.

Improving Your Plant’s Energy Efficiency Energy efficiency and its relation to a product’s carbon footprint are becoming priority concerns for leading food companies. This presentation will cover topics such as energy-efficient lighting, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, boiler optimization and other plant and equipment controls to reduce energy usage. 11:00 – 11:45 a.m.

Leading-Edge Energy Technologies: Assessing the ROI Producing energy from plant waste is an actuality at some food and beverage manufacturing plants. Learn how one innovative food processor is using bio-digester technology to boost its bottom line. 11:45 a.m.

Closing Remarks

2:30 – 3:00 p.m

Refreshment Break

12:00 noon

Conference Adjourns

3:00– 3:45 p.m.

Plant Security Audits: Protecting Your People and Assets Speaker: William L. Ramsey, Director of Corporate Security, McCormick & Company Inc.

The ability to document access-card use, the condition of perimeter defenses and other aspects of safeguards against intentional food contamination will likely be requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act. Learn how to upgrade your security systems in a costeffective manner. 3:45 – 4:30 p.m.

Plant of the Year Award Join us as we honor the 2012 Food Engineering Plant of the Year Award Winner. Each year, only one food or beverage plant in North America earns this award. 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.

Plant of the Year Reception

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Cold Supply Chain & Logistics

Potato partners Warehouse, transportation partners help ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston cut cost, time in servicing foodservice customers. Refrigerated & Frozen Foods talks with Mark Hayden, senior vice president of supply chain for ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston, a leading global frozen potato and appetizers processor with offices in Eagle, Idaho and Tri-Cities, Wash. R&FF: What were a few of your group’s largest supply chain projects during 2011? Mark Hayden: Our biggest project involved expanding our supply chain management from the Northwest to Louisiana to accommodate our new (sweet potato) plant in Delhi, La. We’ve integrated suppliers, carriers, key partners and others into our system to ensure we’re able to supply customers with product – when and where they need it. We also have been aligning operations with the foodservice industry’s GSI initiative. It is an important project for us to support our customers, especially to help them plan for warehouse and shelf space. A third project involves our work with the Frozen Potato Products Institute to formalize a damage protocol for finished goods. ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston and other frozen potato processors have formed a cooperative project with the American Frozen Food Institute. Together, we’re laying out case damage standards to define what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable. The standards will help everyone hold down cost, reduce losses and maintain a competitive edge.

R&FF: How about your biggest achievement in 2011? Hayden: We are most proud of our ability to meet our customers’ expectations and commitments in a constrained economic environment. In some cases, crop production has been tight, transportation capacity constrained and fuel prices have been challenging. However, through it all, we’ve been able to keep everyone happy. R&FF: Please share a few warehousing initiatives. Hayden: We want to help warehouses create slip-sheet efficiency through proper setting and push/pull of slip sheets. By setting consistent standards for all of our internal and external warehouses, we believe we can operate more efficiently and ultimately benefit everyone along the supply chain. R&FF: What are a few of your transportation goals? Hayden: We’re always working on cycle time improvements with our transportation partners. It is an ongoing challenge considering that our production is largely based in the Northwest and our major markets are in eastern popula12

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

Meet Mark Hayden Background: A 28-year frozen potato industry veteran, Hayden leads all ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston supply chain teams – including procurement, forecasting, production planning and inventory deployment, transportation and warehousing and customer service. Hayden has worked for Lamb Weston and ConAgra Foods for 20 years and has managed Lamb Weston’s customer service for nine years. Education / Training: Bachelor’s, Communications and Business, Washington State University Personal: Hayden was a founding member of the GS1 Foodservice Initiative. He currently serves as chairman of the Frozen Potato Products Institute and as vice chairman of the Alliance for Potato Research and Education. Hayden is ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston’s advocate for sustainability involving all internal activities as well as efforts with customers and suppliers. tion centers. The faster we can get product to market and get our [rail]cars back – the better our efficiencies.

R&FF: What a few things on your “to-do” list for 2012? Hayden: Much of it focuses on transportation. As I mentioned, we’re working on cycle time improvements. We’re also working to improve our forecasting to help carriers better manage fleets. We’re also investigating alternative modes of transportation – especially North America and our international customers – to explore additional efficiencies. Through it all, we’ll work to reduce costs and improve service. All the while, we’ll watch our carbon footprint and our world’s limited resources. R&FF: What are a few of your customers’ biggest supply chain concerns? How are you responding? Hayden: One ongoing concern involves balancing and managing working capital and transportation costs. Our constrained economy, fuel surcharges, and fluctuating demand have created issues for everyone. We’ll work to reduce supply chain costs while providing customers an assured inventory. It’s a big challenge. However, by squeezing efficiencies – including better transportation cycling – we’re trying to hold the line on working capital fluctuations and transportation costs. www.RFFmag.com

Cold Partners in Progress

Uplifting savings solution Yale Material Handling helps McCain Foods reduce, eliminate lift truck batteries, battery chargers.

W

ant to reduce lift truck fleet costs? Here’s a story to get charged up about. McCain’s USA’s Appleton, Wis., plant is busy 24 hours a day, five days a week. It processes and ships more than 130 million pounds of frozen appetizers per year. And here are some more numbers. Appleton uses 20 electric lift trucks and three batteries per truck to stay productive not only during each shift – but also between shifts. However, storing as many as 60 batteries on site posed certain environmental and safety hazard risks for employees. And in the midst of so much hustle-bustle activity, McCain officials were not exactly certain whether the facility was optimizing its fleet of electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) lift trucks and motorized walkies. Last but not least, all lift trucks face some tough, challenging operations inside this frozen food facility. Realizing that lift truck electric battery needs were probably costing the operation valuable uptime, McCain Appleton officials turned to Yale Materials Handing in Green Bay, Wis. Yale Materials Handling– (YMH) Green Bay is one of the Midwest’s premier materials handling companies. Founded in 1985, YMH – Green Bay has expanded its locations by adding branches in Stevens Point and Marinette, Wis., to better serve its Wisconsin and Michigan clients. McCain has partnered with YMH – Green Bay since 1990. “Two years ago, we teamed with YMH – Green Bay to help us understand and maximize our lift truck fleet’s capabilities,” says Alfredo Villarreal, McCain Foods’ regional warehouse manager. “They assisted with gathering data to help us better ascertain our needs and make the necessary adjustments for our facility to be as cost effective as possible.” YMH – Green Bay ran time studies to help McCain indentify how long their operators were running their Yale lift trucks on a per-shift basis. The data helped synchronize McCain’s demand – in regard to usage – with a set amount of time equating to a specified number of loads. YMH – Green Bay helped McCain consolidate and eliminate extra equipment based on the number of hours the lift trucks ran. This resulted in cost savings and better facility energy efficiency. After a review of McCain’s battery usage, YMH – Green Bay introduced new “opportunity” battery charging technology. This technology allows operators the opportunity to recharge their battery and top off its charge at any time without having to remove the battery from the lift truck. By using opportunity battery charging, McCain no longer needed operators to charge batteries prior to their shift. With this technology, McCain eliminated 10 battery chargers and reduced the need for three batteries per truck to one battery per truck that lasted throughout the three-shift duration. As a result, McCain consolidated its total batteries from 60 to 20. “YMH – Green Bay allowed us to change the way we charged our 14

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods NOVEMBER 2011

McCain plant went from three lift truck batteries to just one for each truck, eliminated 10 battery chargers and reduced total battery storage.

conventional batteries,” says Villarreal. “By moving to the new cutting-edge technology, our batteries could be charged more often in the truck without damage. The difference between an eight-hour charge time and 15 minutes during an operator’s break affects our bottom line.” Today, the McCain Appleton plant’s lift truck fleet consists of 27 Yale lift trucks. McCain purchased two ICE lift trucks (one GLC40AF and GLP60TG respectively), three ERP040TH, four ERC050VG and nine ESC040FA electric rider lift trucks, one MPE080LE, five MPE060LF and one MPE080LC end riders and two MPW050LE motorized walkies. “YMH – Green Bay saved us money, while increasing our equipment’s productivity,” says Villarreal. “With fewer batteries to maintain and store, our employees are truly able to dedicate their time to getting the job done. In addition, our plant’s safety and energy efficiencies have increased.” McCain USA is a unit of Canada’s McCain Foods Ltd., Florenceville, New Brunswick. A global leader in the frozen food industry, McCain operates 53 worldwide facilities and posts annual sales of more than C$6 billion. Yale Materials Handling Corporation is a leading provider of a full line of high-quality, high-performance lift trucks (forklifts), including electric, gas, LPgas and diesel powered lift trucks; narrow aisle, very narrow aisle and motorized hand trucks. Yale offers comprehensive fleet management services, as well as Yale service, parts, financing and training. – Yale Materials Handling Corp. (800) 233-YALE / www.yale.com www.RFFmag.com

28 y r a ebru F tes! a D the e v Sa

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Cold Energy Management by Chris Walmsley

Photo courtesy of HelioSage

MTC Logistics installed a 737kW solar array on the roof of its new cold storage warehouse at the Port of Baltimore.

here comes the sun Cold food plants, warehouses can reap solar savings in the right situations.

S

olar is becoming an essential part of the U.S. energy portfolio – finding a home on residential rooftops, commercial buildings and even in fields, where solar panels serve as next generation power plants. Not surprisingly, business owners question whether to host or buy the technology. There are many advantages and disadvantages, depending on a company’s business goals, strengths and timing. Speaking of timing, let’s briefly look at why you’re hearing more about solar. Solar is clean. Solar is subsidized. Solar reduces operating costs. Bingo. The bottom line: without a positive impact to the bottom line, solar or any renewable energy source would have a hard time remaining a sustainable business worldwide. Major corporations such as Google and Wal-Mart are going solar to demonstrate corporate responsibility, environmental stewardship and respond to consumer demand. Even so, you would not see as much activity if it did not make sound financial sense. Federal and state politicians are responding to calls to protect U.S. energy security by subsidizing renewable energy sources – such as solar, wind and biofuels. These energy sources don’t rely on foreign controlled raw materials. Meanwhile, various catastrophes – such as BP’s oil spill and leaks at Japan’s

16

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant – only reinforce interest in a more diverse U.S. energy portfolio. For the record, government subsidies for energy are hardly new. Most Americans would be surprised to learn that mature industries such as oil, gas, coal and even nuclear still receive government subsidies. These accounted for more than 70 percent of all federal energy subsidies between 2002 and 2008 as reported by the Environmental Law Institute. In 2008, federal regulators renewed the solar investment tax credit of 30 percent and extended this tax credit for eight years through 2016. This ensures a solid foundation of support for solar. Although not every state is involved, many states also support solar in various ways – from state investment tax credits to renewable portfolio standards for investor-owned utilities that result in Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) markets. For example, recently in Ohio, a megawatt hour of solar energy sold through an SREC exchange for $400. So, imagine the value added to a solar energy system that generates thousands of megawatt hours a year for more than 25 years. And that is on top of the value of the electricity consumed by the system owner or net metered onto the grid. Let’s briefly examine electricity

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods november 2011

costs. Despite a temporary softening of electricity prices in 2009 (as a result of a global recession and the discovery of the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserves) during the previous 40 years, U.S. average commercial electricity prices have increased each year by more than 3.6 percent according to the EIA. Prices also rose in 2010. Conversely, there’s a human factor – the ability to innovate, improve efficiency and drive down cost – making solar technology increasingly more attractive. For example, during the last three years, industry advances halved the average cost to install commercial scale solar system. Imagine a flat roof spanning about 125,000 square feet … covered with solar panels. That’s about one megawatt. That complete project cost has dropped from about $8 million to about $4 million. Solar Energy Industries Association President Rhone Resch recently noted that during 2010 alone, competition drove down solar panel pricing by 30 percent. Solar energy roots first in states where electricity prices are high and/ or state solar subsidies are strongest, states including California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio and others. Grid parity – the unsubsidized cost of solar versus the unsubsidized cost of another form of electricity – is 4 www.RFFmag.com

Cold Energy Management on the horizon and already is there in some states.

Cold plants, warehouses early adopters Not surprisingly, the refrigerated and frozen food sector – including processors and cold storage warehouse operators – are among the first adopters for solar. Building owners have large, flat rooftops and the facilities tend to be “purpose built.” With blast freezers and refrigeration, operators are sophisticated energy buyers and tend to consume tremendous kilowatt hours, especially during peak demand hours when the sun sits highest in the sky. Add creditworthiness and a long-term view of capital assets to the profile of these business owners, and solar makes good financial sense all around. Among the first refrigerated public warehouse companies to implement the technologies have been MTC Logistics, Baltimore, Md.; Hall’s Warehouse Corp., South Plainfield, N.J., and Henningsen Cold Storage Co., Hillsboro, Ore. Is solar right for your company? Is this the right time? Consider these questions: • Where is my facility located? What state? What state subsidies exist? • Do I own the facility or lease it? • How many kilowatt hours of electricity does my facility use annually? • How large is my roof, parking lot or available acreage? • How old is my roof? When does the warranty expire? • How cluttered is my roof? Does my land have permitting hurdles like wetlands? • Is my business credit worthy? • Do I have capital to invest? Do I have a strong enough tax appetite? • Will my property be here in 20 years or will it be repurposed and redeveloped? Answering those questions help you determine if a solar opportunity exists. Next is how best to address the topic. Here, business owners may consider whether to host or buy. Here’s how the options break down: www.rffmag.com

1. Savings or revenue: Host a solar energy system on your property and buy the electricity from the system owner at a discount to your current electric rates or lease your property (roof or land) to the system owner and earn revenue from lease payments. 2. Investment & Savings: Buy or lease a solar energy system and install it on your property to take advantage of a strong, risk-adjusted IRR and long term energy savings. If you think you have opportunity for a larger solar energy system, consider talking to a solar project developer. A reputable solar project developer can help assess your operation’s solar potential. If a solar opportunity exists, the right project developer will work to understand your goals and help you navigate the best approach. The refrigerated and frozen food warehousing industry gives us one example. MTC Logistics recently installed a 737kW solar array on the roof of a new cold storage facility at the Port of Baltimore. MTC chose to buy (to invest and own the system) and satisfy as much as 20 percent of the company’s power needs. “We estimate a $3 million increase to the facility’s property value and are set to meet or exceed the fairly aggressive return targets we developed,” said MTC President Harry Halpert. Solar energy diversifies MTC Logistic’s energy supply. Moreover, it helps the company hedge against rising utility rates and offset some of its peak load – the most expensive electricity. A solar energy system also adds value to the property in the event of a strategic acquisition. Chris Walmsley is co-founder and CEO of HelioSage, LLC, a solar energy services provider in Charlottesville, Va. With experience built upon developing 400 MW of renewable energy projects, HelioSage reduces risk and ensures sound investments in both solar electricity and solar energy systems. Visit www.heliosage. com for more information.

Solar “state” of mind? During the second quarter of 2011, six states each installed more than 10 megawatts of solar energy. For the first time (during that same quarter), New Jersey’s commercial scale solar market exceeded that of California. Your company or cold storage business may have a better opportunity to utilize solar technologies – and enjoy related subsidies – if you’re in one of the following states: • New Jersey • Massachusetts • Ohio • Maryland • Connecticut • New York • Hawaii • California • Arizona • Colorado However, state subsidies come and go. Take New Jersey, for example. In the third quarter, the main financial solar subsidy in New Jersey – solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) – fell in value dramatically as supply of the credits outpaced demand. Market forces are at work here. Many projects under development may be stranded for as much as a year or two. To seize the “solar moment,” find a trusted partner to help keep an eye on state subsidy programs without taxing your core business.

refrigerated & frozen foods NOVEMBER 2011 17

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Cold Technology Showcase fOCUS ON: CUTTerS, SLICerS, CoATING eQUIPmeNT This is all you need Reiser’s Holac Dicers to satisfy a variety of production requirements. Holac Dicers can accurately and effortlessly cube, strip, slice and flake a variety of products. These systems are ideal for fresh, cooked and tempered meats, as well as cheese, vegetables, fruits and fish. Holac Dicers feature an automatic pre-press system to ensure absolute cube uniformity. Operators easily can change cutting grids for portion sizes from 3mm to 60mm with production rates of 500 to 10,000 lbs. per hour. Models available as manual, semi-automatic and fully-automatic machines. Holac’s strength is its versatility. Use it to produce cubes for kebabs and stews; strips for fajitas and stir fry; juliennes for salads; shreds and flakes for salad and pizza toppings. – Reiser (781) 821-1290 / www.reiser.com

Cutting-edge precision

Adaptive 3D portioning Poultry processors may feel they have exhausted their yield improvement efforts but a new portioning technology from JBT FoodTech provides opportunities for double-digit yield improvement. The DSI Adaptive 3D Portioning™ system combines vertical waterjet portioning technology with intelligent horizontal slicing to achieve three-dimensional portioning. This system maximizes yield by slicing intelligently and only when necessary. The DSI system improves yield by vertically and horizontally cutting optimal portions out of irregularly shaped meat better than other systems. The system scans incoming meat and sophisticated software determines the most profitable use for each piece of meat. – JBT FoodTech, (781) 821-1290 / www.reiser.com

Urschel’s new E TranSlicer® Cutter delivers continuous precision slices. Meanwhile, Urschel has enhanced key elements throughout the machine, which represents the next step from its predecessor, the TranSlicer 2000. E TranSlicer uses the same 20” wheel and delivers the same types of cuts. The machine also accepts the same size infeed of 4” (102 mm) diameter firm products, more compressible products up to 6” (152 mm) diameter and offers the same productionproven operating principle. A newly designed cutting wheel mount/holder assembly simplifies cutting wheel changeovers. Hinged/sliding access panels offer full access to all key areas of the machine. Sloped surfaces ease wash-downs. Available with across-the-line start or with a variable frequency drive. – Urschel Laboratories Inc. (219) 4644811 / www.urschel.com 



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refrigerated & frozen foods November 2011 19

Cold Technology Showcase fOCUS ON: CUTTerS, SLICerS, CoATING eQUIPmeNT

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Improved performance, sanitation Grote’s enhanced new 530E Slicer/Applicator now features sloped and hermetically sealed framing and an open-frame design with all control electronics located outside the slicer’s main body. Additional sanitation improvements include a solid nylube clevis on the main crank arm, scalloped bearing bar support mounts to minimize seams and a newly redesigned curved thickness tray that easily removes without tools. For optimal performance and durability, the 530E Slicer/Applicator includes several new standard features that reduce maintenance downtime including a clutchless cluster drive system (electric models only) and modified upper cabinet door for easier access to the servo-motor and gearbox. The 530E now offers full 6” stroke capability, eliminating the need to make mechanical adjustments when slicing larger products. – Grote Company, (888) 534-7683 / www.grotecompany.com

More slicing power, flexibility Ideal for mid-sized operations, Weber’s new 804 Slicing System packs big-time features and sanitation ease into a compact solution that offers many of the advantages built into our largest systems. Upper product guidance, for instance, increases product control and serves to maximize yields. Additionally, the ability to load products up to 1700 mm will increase throughput even beyond what could be expected from the involute blade speed of 1,500 RPM. What your customers will notice, however, is the perfect slice quality. Weber’s exclusive knife head design features an idle cut function that virtually eliminates product rips and tears on slices 0.5 to 50 mm thick. Open architecture makes complete sanitation fast and easy. – Weber Inc., (816) 891-0072 / www.weberslicer.com

Your prep partner GENMAC’s Model 2601CS Chunker is designed to chunk frozen, tempered, or firm products in preparation for further processing. Use it to reduce frozen meat, poultry, pork, fruit, vegetables and fish. With a block capacity of up to 10” thick x 24” wide x 24” long, it also has been used with frozen blocks down to 5˚F. Operators can adjust the 2601CS block feed system for single block or continuous feeding of up to four blocks per minute. With a high powered synchromatic drive unit and HTD belt drive system, the cutting drum turns at only 60 RPM. Safety is engineered throughout. – General Machinery Corp. , (920) 458-2189 / www.genmac.com 

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refrigerated & frozen foods November 2011

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Wireless data logging pod CAS DataLoggers’ new Accsense A1-13 is wireless temperature data logging pod that can monitor up to three remote temperatures from -200C to +200C with RTD probes. Measured data is automatically sent to a wireless mesh network base station, which uploads to any server via standard Ethernet. The Accsense A1-13 pod is ideal for monitoring refrigerators, freezers, transportation vehicles and any other cold storage equipment found in commercial food production. The system has three external inputs plus ambient temperature sensor and will operate on battery or AC power. – CAS DataLoggers Inc., (800) 956-4437 / www. dataloggerinc.com

rigeration Ref Improve your food-processing facility's design. engineering architecture

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Spray Dynamics joins Heat and Control Heat and Control has purchased Spray Dynamics, Ltd., a leading supplier of equipment for the controlled application of liquid and dry ingredients. “We have successfully partnered on projects over the years and found their equipment to be an excellent match with our own FastBack on-machine seasoning systems and individual in-kitchen flavoring applicators,” said Tony Caridis, Heat and Control president. Spray Dynamics builds applicators for oils, seasonings, vitamins, tack and release agents, chocolate, yogurt and candy coatings, anti-oxidants and anti-clumping agents. Heat and Control manufactures and supplies machinery and controls for food processing, seasoning, conveying, inspection and packaging. – Heat and Control Inc., (800) 227 5980 / www.heatandcontrol.com.

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refrigerated & frozen foods November 2011 21

Cold Technology Showcase High-speed precision

In-feed chutes, incline hoppers Dorner has enhanced its AquaPruf and AquaGard sanitary conveyor platforms with new in-feed chutes and incline hoppers. In-feed chutes and incline hoppers are ideal for bulk handling applications where items are being fed onto the conveyor. For tools required for cleaning – simply rotate the chutes and hoppers away from the conveyor for access to the belt and frame. The chute or hopper mounts to conveyors without any modifications. All components are 300 series stainless steel. Chute / hoppers are adjustable along the length of the conveyor. All adjustment screws are located outside the food zone. Available in three models: horizontal chute with back stop, angled hopper with back stop, flared side guide. – Dorner Manufacturing, (800) 3978664 / www.dornerconveyors.com

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Fortress Technology’s new STEALTH unit combines powerful digital signal processing (DSP) technology for high-speed precision detection – with ultra sensitivity to detect the smallest metal contaminants. STEALTH has automatic testing and calibration and true auto-balance to recover from large metal contaminants and avoid detector “blindness.” Dual power/frequency aids automatic compensation for extreme product characteristics (ex. metalized and non-metalized packaging). Product library feature stores individual settings that can be recalled instantly to simplify changeover. Quality Assurance testing on samples can be initiated on demand or by time interval. – Fortress Technology Inc. (888) 220-8737 / www.fortresstechnology.com

Wasting costly coatings? A frozen pizza producer needed to improve precision when applying oil to dough prior to baking. The goal? To achieve a consistent calorie count and minimize oil waste. This processor installed an AutoJet® Spray System with PulsaJet® automatic spray nozzles. Operators simply select the oil application rate on the control panel – based on the recipe – and choose which nozzles to activate in order to cover the width of the dough being processed. During operation, when line speeds change, the spray controller also ensures the proper volume of oil is uniformly applied to the dough. This processor reduced oil waste and saved as much as $38,000 per year and also saved on conveyor belt replacement. Calorie count for the pizzas can now be validated. – Spraying Systems Co. (800) 95-SPRAY / www.spray.com

refrigerated & frozen foods November 2011

www.rffmag.com

[COVER FEATURE]

O T S E N O ATCH W By Bob Garrison

12 0 2 IN

T

hink of it as micro meets macro. Some of the industry’s small- to mid-size companies are growing as they address “macro” trends. These Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ “Ones to Watch” honorees are making a name for themselves in food safety, artisan and premium new products, ethnic adventure, at-home convenience foods and better-for-you products. If you want to grow, these are some names to know! Read on for growth profiles in each of six categories:

PREPARED MEAT & POULTRY

Cutting-edge processing, food safety equipment, new products mark Columbus Foods’ rise from the ashes.

SNACKS, APPETIZERS & SIDE DISHES

CJ Foods rides consumer interest in ethnic taste adventure, better-for-you foods.

DAIRY FOODS

Ciao Bella Gelato expands, scoops up more consumers with awardwinning frozen desserts.

BAKERY FOODS

Class in session. Canada’s Boulart wants consumers, customers to visit, taste “the new school of bread.”

PREPARED FRUIT & VEGETABLES

Acquisitions, new products fuel Inventure Foods’ rise in “better-for-you” frozen foods.

MEALS & ENTREES

Foods 24

Jane’s Dough Foods plans to double take-and-bake pizza sales by 2014 with custom new products for every channel.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

www.RFFmag.com

MEAT & POULTRY

Winning combination: new technology and new, on-trend meats.

Four-alarm fire. Four-star plant.

Cutting-edge processing, food safety and new products mark Columbus Foods’ rise from the ashes.

B

etter to make headlines for the right reasons. Perhaps no one knows that more than Columbus Foods Inc. This 94-year-old Bay Area company made news when a July 2009 fire destroyed its salami and deli meats slicing and packaging facility, one of two locations in South San Francisco, Calif. This summer – two years to the month – Columbus again made headlines by opening a 60,000-square-foot slicing and packaging facility in nearby Hayward, Calif. The project meant enclosing and renovating roughly half of a 122,000-square-foot distribution center. Most importantly – at a time when media are connecting widespread foodborne illness to everything from poultry to produce – Columbus Foods has an even better story to tell. That’s because its recent $31 million project featured a high-pressure processing (HPP) line. Still relatively rare in U.S. food plants, this cold water-based technology creates and transmits enough pressurized force to kill harmful bacteria without affecting taste, color or texture. Employees place packaged product into specialized canisters and insert those containers into a high pressure, cold www.RFFmag.com

water chamber. Tim Fallon is Columbus Foods’ chief executive officer. “After we lost the other slicing facility, major customers inquired as to whether we would have the capability to apply HPP to our sliced deli meats. Accordingly, when we built the new facility, we invested in that technology. “We are dedicated to the safety and quality of our products,” he adds. “Now this plant is one of the United States’ most technologically advanced slicing facilities – including the most advanced HPP technology.” For the record, Columbus Foods processes and markets 223 types of artisan and premium bulk and sliced deli meats (most of which carry the Columbus brand). It ships nationwide and supplies retail grocery, deli and club store customers. In 2006, company management and private equity investors Endeavour Capital led a recapitalization of the company through which a majority interest was acquired from family ownership. Endeavour has offices in Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles. Fallon notes that Columbus applies HPP to a portion of the deli meats sliced

AT A GLANCE: Columbus Foods Inc. HQ: Hayward, Calif. TOP EXEC: Tim Fallon, CEO PRODUCTS / DISTRIBUTION: More than 220 branded types of bulk and pre-sliced, packaged dry-cured salame, meats and deli meats for nationwide supermarket retail, deli and club store sales. Columbus also distributes bulk deli cheeses and condiments.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

25

MEAT & POULTRY

and packaged in Hayward. Engineers designed the operation with specialized rooms and restricted process flows for hygienic zoning, as well as separate slicing rooms for deli and cured meat. Columbus Foods estimates its initial HPP capacity – based on three shifts, seven days a week, 48 weeks out of the year – at approximately 20 million pounds. The company’s new facility also employs some of the meat processing industry’s latest slicing and packaging equipment – including some of the industry’s fastest and most efficient slicers; robotic pick-and-place units that transfer meat into packaging; and high-tech units to package deli meat and salami into flexible modified atmosphere or zippered containers. How will those high-tech products

and packages perform in the market? Fallon says he expects Columbus Foods, a mid-size processor, to post double-digit sales annual gains in 2012. For its part, Columbus Foods has kept pace with market trends. Officials say the business’ latest new products include No-Nitrate All Natural Italian Dry Salame, Low-Sodium Salame, a line of wine salame and reduced sodium Herb Roasted Turkey Breast twin-pack (processed through the HPP system). Interestingly enough, the October 2011 issue of Women’s Health magazine also recognized Columbus’ Reduced-Sodium Turkey Breast as one of the “125 Top Packaged Foods.” “This slow-roasted deli turkey is miles ahead of other packaged meats in the flavor department — a coup, since

it also has 43 percent less sodium and is virtually fat-free,” the publication said. Fallon notes that all Columbus products are gluten free, trans fat free and contain no MSGs. Meanwhile, consumers also appear to be biting for anything with artisan or upscale appeal (similar to breads, cheeses, dips and spreads). “Consumer trends are favorable for premium products and there’s a growing culinary appreciation for authentic, higher-end and artisan dry-cured meats,” says Fallon. “We also are educating consumers about pairing options as well as traditional and innovative product usage. We believe that we are the United States’ leading artisan drycured meat manufacturer.”

The industry’s only pre-filed hard bound catalog listing equipment, supplies and services to the food and beverage industry is only a phone call away. No need to work with an incomplete vendor list or wade through hundreds of consumer listings online. The Food Master is the most comprehensive reference source for Plant Operations, Engineering, Manufacturing and Packaging executives.

To order your personal copy, call Ann Kalb at 248-244-6499 or go to www.foodmaster.com

26

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

www.RFFmag.com

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SNACKS, APPETIZERS & SIDE DISHES

New CJ Foods and Annie Chun’s frozen offerings for club stores and supermarkets.

Ride the wave

CJ Foods rides growing consumer interest in ethnic taste adventure, better-for-you foods.

H

AT A GLANCE: CJ Foods HQ: Commerce, Calif. TOP EXEC: Eliot Chung, Senior Brand Manager PRODUCTS / DISTRIBUTION: Refrigerated and frozen wontons, dumplings, noodles, soup and other items for branded and private label sales at supermarkets, health food stores and club stores. Newly formed CJ Omni supplies commercial restaurants as well as non-commercial operators, c-stores and vending.

28

eard of the “ripple effect?” Consider this an example where science meets business and where water meets wontons. You can see a ripple effect by dropping or throwing even a small object into a still body of water. The object’s initial force creates energy transference with concentric rings of water that ripple and expand outwards. A diversified global company, South Korea’s CJ Corp. started a similar ripple effect in 1978 when it formed CJ America, a U.S. sales subsidiary. CJ’s next market ripple occurred between 1997 and 2004. That’s when it started a beef processing business in Alabama; created CJ Foods, a Los Angeles importer and distributor; and started a fresh bakery operation. CJ Foods’ next ripple came in 2005 when the business struck up a strategic distribution and sales partnership with Annie Chun’s Inc., a San Francisco distributor of Pan-Asian natural instant meals and sauces. The following year, CJ bought Omni Food Inc., a Commerce, Calif., a processor of frozen Asian dumplings, noodles, rice and meats for branded retail (Ohana House) and contract sales. Included was Omni’s 17,000-square-foot, USDA-approved

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

facility in Paramount, Calif.; and a 20,000-square-foot noodle-making facility in Southgate, Calif. It was an important move as CJ Foods shifted from an import and distributing model to a domestic OEM profile. Today finds CJ Foods riding a new wave of activity in refrigerated and frozen snacks and appetizers. One key to the latest news involved CJ Foods formally buying Annie Chun’s last January. The deal certainly fits CJ Foods’ U.S. growth goals. Elliot Chung is CJ Foods’ senior U.S. brand manager. “CJ is a company based on delicious, convenience foods made with the freshest ingredients possible. Our frozen products … show we are extremely devoted to this philosophy and committed to authenticity,” he says. “In 2012, we would like to increase our retail availability across the U.S. and make our products consumers’ top choices for everyday meals.” That led CJ Foods to take the next step with Annie Chun’s, which already had recently begun its own national media campaign (“Bring Something New to the Table”) with TV advertising. “Our distribution has expanded so that we are available nationwide in natural health and specialty stores as well

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SNACKS, APPETIZERS & SIDE DISHES

as in general supermarkets,” says Diana Wang, Annie Chun’s director of marketing. This is a huge achievement for us. It proves our loyal consumers welcome and enjoy our brand’s innovative offerings and bold flavors and appreciate that our foods are made from the highest quality organic ingredients, with no trans fats or MSG.” At a time when consumers are interested in ethnic taste adventure, Annie Chun’s broader Pan-Asian positioning gives it license to showcase new tastes from anywhere in the region. Likewise, at time when consumers are more interested in better-for-you offerings, Annie Chun’s has a strong natural and organic positioning. Wang says there are as many as 14 different Annie Chun’s product lines. They include three refrigerated items and now as many as 10 frozen SKUs. Refrigerated organic potstickers and mini wontons debuted in 2010. This year brought an entirely new line of frozen savory wonton soups (Chicken & Cilantro, Chicken & Garlic, Spicy Vegetable) and more frozen vegetarian appetizers such as Annie Chun’s Organic Shiitake & Vegetable Potstickers and Spicy Vegetable Mini Wontons. This year also marked the debut of Annie Chun’s refrigerated, Japanese-style Udon freshpak noodles. “Our refrigerated foods are nationally recognized in health and food outlets as easy-to-prepare options for nutritious and delicious meals,” says Wang. “Meanwhile, many of our foods also have caught national attention. The Today Show, Oprah Magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray and many nutritionists have promoted and praised our all-natural, Pan-Asian cuisine.” This year also saw Annie Chun’s promoting ties with Dale Talde, a celebrity chef and former contestant on Bravo’s Emmy award-winning series Top Chef. This summer, Talde created an exclusive signature recipe series featuring Annie Chun’s products. Speaking of chefs, CJ Omni (a sister company) launched a foodservice business at the 2011 National Restaurant Association Hotel-Motel Show last May

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in Chicago. “Although CJ Foods has been in the United States for more than 30 years … Korean food in America has become a phenomenon in recent years and is now considered to be one of the most significant trends in cuisine,” says Becky Westby, CJ

Omni’s director of foodservice. “There is no better time for CJ – as a leading authority on Korean food – to lend its expertise to foodservice. Operators are asking for healthy, better-for-you items that provide bold, authentic flavors and are operationally effective. That’s what we offer.”

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Refrigerated & Frozen Foods NOVEMBER 2011 29

DAIRY

Brand expands from scoop shops to mainstream retail shelves.

Hello beautiful

Ciao Bella Gelato expanding to take its award-winning products to more consumers.

H

AT A GLANCE: Ciao Bella Gelato HQ: Florham Park, N.J. TOP EXEC: Stan Fabian, CEO PRODUCTS / DISTRIBUTION: Ciao Bella produces and distributes retail sorbet and gelato products for national distribution in retail single-serve, pint and novelty forms. It supplies its own scoop shops as well as foodservice operators.

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ere’s a scoop. There’s more to the dairy industry than Greek yogurt. Although, interestingly enough, one of the category’s more intriguing companies also has Mediterranean ties. Look at the premium frozen desserts and one business making headlines for everything from new products to expanded sales … is Ciao Bella Gelato Company. What began in 1983 as gelato scoop shop in New York’s Little Italy is becoming a coast-to-coast leader in new ice cream and novelties innovation. For the record, five-year market tracking from Mintel finds that total retail ice cream and frozen novelty sales (all grocery, food drug and mass merchandise outlets) fell 8 percent to $10.2 billion from 2006 to 2011. Still, study authors concluded, ““Full-fat, indulgent brands have performed well in the last year, appealing to consumers’ desire for a rich, creamy, flavorful and fun eating experience, gaining share but not growing fast enough to reverse the segment’s steady decline.” Meanwhile Ciao Bella, Florham Park, N.J., is a company on the rise. Officials credit former executive F.W. Pearce who bought the business in 1989 and then – along with Charlie Apt – expanded Ciao Bella’s sales to area restaurants, retailers and, eventually, more scoop shops. That profile was well established by 2008 and 2009 when Ciao Bella posted

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

20 percent to 35 percent annual top-line sales gains, earned rave reviews from Oprah Winfrey and was named as one of Brandweek’s “Brands on the Verge.” Mid-2008 brought an important capital infusion from private equity investors Encore Consumer Capital and Sherbrooke Capital. In February 2009, Ciao Bella then hired CEO Stan Fabian, a veteran of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream for nearly 20 years With ultra-premium gelato and sorbet shops in major cities on both coasts, Ciao Bella decided in 2010 to push broader and deeper retail packaged sales in specialty and mainstream supermarkets. In conjunction, Ciao Bella closed production plants in New Jersey and California and struck up a contract processing agreement with Oregon Ice Cream Co., Eugene, Ore. Fabian focused capital spending on promotion, marketing and the company’s award-winning product development group, led by Executive Chef Danilo Zecchin and Deborah Holt, Ciao Bella’s vice president of sales, marketing and head of new product innovation. In part, the group has been responsible for developing more gelato and sorbet offerings (particularly novelties) and redesigning Ciao Bella’s retail packaging. Most importantly, the process appears to be working. Last year saw Ciao Bella www.RFFmag.com

DAIRY introduce six pint flavors and convert is six most popular gelato and sorbet flavors into single-serve retail cups. It also launched three frozen novelties: Blood Orange Bars (only 60 Calories), Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares and Chocolate-Dipped Tahitian Vanilla Raspberry Gelato Dips. Along the way, Ciao Bella also earned its 16th sofi Award for its Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares. The item was named most Outstanding Dessert or Dessert Topping from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Inc. (NASFT). The company pushed even more development in 2011. “This is an exciting year for Ciao Bella – more stores, more products and ultimately, more ways for fans old and new to enjoy Ciao Bella,” said Fabian, in an April release. “Finding ways to better accommodate our consumers is always a top priority at Ciao Bella. We’re thrilled to offer them the convenience of more locations and a variety of new products to choose from when purchasing our brand.” Ciao Bella expanded distribution to include major retailers nationwide such as Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Kroger, Costco, Giant Landover, Target, Jewel, Cub Foods, Albertsons, WalMart, ShopRite, and BJs. The company also opened in-store gelato scoop shops at retailers in Atlanta, New York City, South Florida and both Northern and Southern California. Complementing this was a summer sampling and promotion blitz in key new markets. Ciao Bella took it tastes to the road and sampled product at Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl in Boston, BlogHer in San Diego, Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival in San Francisco and Fashion Week in New York. Meanwhile, Ciao Bella’s new products continue to attract attention. Following the 2010 buzz around the brand’s Blood Orange Sorbet Bars, Ciao Bella expanded its low-calorie line of sorbet novelties with Blueberry Passion Bars, a 70-calorie combination of Wild Blueberry and Passion Fruit flavors. It also developed Belgian Chocolate S’mores Gelato Squares, which won www.RFFmag.com

NASFT’s 2011 gold sofi Award for Outstanding Dessert or Dessert Topping. “Next year, we want to continue expanding sales penetration in our existing market, improve purchase frequency and extend our sampling and brand-building efforts,” says Holt. And perhaps in an unavoidable nod to

the dairy category craze, Ciao Bella is readying adonia by Ciao Bella, a frozen Greek yogurt line, for an early 2012 launch. Each of seven new varieties (retail cups first, followed by novelties) is made with real Greek yogurt, has only 130 calories per serving, nine grams of protein per serving and is fat free.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

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BAKERY FOODS Distinctive high-moisture breads, baquettes and rolls.

Fashionable food

Canada’s Boulart grows, combines high volume industrial scale with artisan innovation.

T

AT A GLANCE: Boulart Inc. HQ: Lachine, Quebec TOP EXEC: Michel Saillant, Owner, President PRODUCTS / DISTRIBUTION: Approximately 30 types of frozen French and Italian artisan baguettes, breads, rolls and sandwich breads for Canadian and U.S. supermarket and club store in-store bakeries, white tablecloth and chain restaurant accounts.

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hey say great minds think alike. Or how about a case where one great mind applies the same creative approach to different fields. Case in point, what fashion is to clothing, Boulart Inc. is to bread. It’s going beyond the functional for a higher quality edge and experience. Meet Michel Saillant, a French Canadian business owner and entrepreneur who has sold everything from real estate to French and Italian apparel. Saillant then became a business consultant – only to soon join Montreal’s Au Pain Doré, a French bakery distributing to own Montreal retail outlets as well as area restaurants and supermarkets. Saillant eventually left Au Pain Dore in 2004 and nurtured a vision of his own business that would concentrate on artisan, all-natural frozen breads and rolls. Moreover, that business would start with an entirely new niche product: a baguette inspired by Italy’s ciabatta. The goal was to sell these breads (branded and private label) more broadly through supermarket in-store bakeries as well as to the foodservice trade. Specifically, Saillant wanted to help in-store bakeries set up small upscale (higher profit) bakery shops within their departments – far away from more commercial, branded on-shelf offerings. Fully baked breads and rolls would arrive frozen. Store employees then simply re-heat them for three or four minutes in the in-

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

store bakery’s oven prior to display. Saillant’s passion and patience turned into three years of travel to Europe (mostly France and Spain) to find just the right industrial process and technology (make-up equipment, dough dividers and ovens) for a long fermentation, high moisture product. Saillant hired a master baker, Claude Seaonsky, and once the pair was convinced it had the right machinery, Saillant found the financial backing in 2007 to build a bakery and launch Boulart. At its start, Boulart produced as many as 80,000 baguettes each day to supply area supermarkets including Canada’s Metro Richelieu and Sobeys (initially in the Montreal metro area). In just its first year, the company earned a 2007 Canadian Grand Prix New Product Award for its private label breads marketed as Metro’s “Irresistibles” line. Germany’s Baking + Biscuit International magazine interviewed Saillant the following spring, shortly after the awards were announced. “To us, baguettes are a classical product for Sundays, something one is looking forward to,” Saillant told the publication. “I wanted quality without any compromises. Breads made exclusively from flour, water, salt and yeast, without bakery improvers or additives, but taking a lot of time.” Three years later, Boulart (annual sales not disclosed) produces and diswww.RFFmag.com

BAKERY FOODS tributes as many as 30 SKUs to retail and foodservice clients in Canada and the northeast United States. Its product line includes classic French baguettes, half baguettes and dinner rolls, ciabatta breads and flavored specialty items. This year also found Boulart ready to take its next growth step. For starters, it held something of a “coming out” party last June at the International Dairy-DeliBakery Association’s 2011 Dairy-DeliBake convention in Anaheim, Calif. The event drew 8,554 attendees and 1,576 exhibitors, officials said. Boulart also has brought in new talent, including Executive Vice President Michel Benoit, a Quebec native with 25 years of CPG sales, marketing and brand development experience in both the Americas and Europe. “Boulart hasn’t reached its maturity yet but – because of its fairly rapid development – it’s time to refine business processes and market penetration strategies,” says Benoit. “As we attract more

interest in new [distribution] markets, we want to steer the development of this brand and make our processes more efficient and consistent.” Benoit knows Boulart already is instep with consumer interest in healthier foods and upscale, artisan products. He notes that Boulart’s all-natural offerings start with a formulated base of unbleached and untreated flour, filtered water and natural sea salt. Although Benoit didn’t attend DairyDeli-Bake, Boulart officials were still buzzing about the event when he joined the company in August. “It was an opportunity for Boulart to become more widely known and solicit feedback for its items,” says Benoit. “It proved to be an extremely busy show with long lines of people waiting for sandwiches featuring our breads... Our products taste amazing so it’s a matter of seducing consumers to try them. When you taste an amazing bread to start off a meal, it sparks your appetite.”

That said, Boulart is not about to “sell out” for larger mass appeal. “We’ll grow with quality partners that provide a genuine commitment to the artisan breads category,” says Benoit. “Our goal is not to cover the earth but to take a targeted, rifle approach. “We have capacity to grow but we want to do so in very close, careful collaboration with our retail and restaurant partners,” he continues. “We like the notion of supporting local restaurants and retailers and building demand from the ground up.” With that, Benoit echoes Saillant’s 2008 comments to Baking + Biscuit International. A confident entrepreneur, Saillant spoke of passion and patience. “I have learned to say no if necessary. Customers who are not willing to follow our concept of constant freshness and premium quality and who do not stick to these preset standards are not our type of customers. Our brand is defined by quality and freshness.”

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33

FRUIT & VEGETABLES

New products spur dramatic growth at Rader Farms, Lynden, Wash.

Mind the (market) gap

Acquisitions, new products fuel Inventure Foods’ rise in “better-for-you” frozen foods.

M

AT A GLANCE: Inventure Foods Inc. HQ: Phoenix, Ariz. TOP EXEC: Terry McDaniel, President & CEO PRODUCTS / DISTRIBUTION: Approximately 100 SKUs of frozen branded (Rader Farms, Jamba Juice) and private label fruits, fruit blends and smoothie kits for grocery, club and foodservice accounts.

34

ind the gap. It’s a widely known cautionary phrase associated with England’s London Underground railway. Then again, “mind the gap” also can be a business strategy. While installing and servicing bagging machines in 1970’s snack food plants, engineers Jay Poore and his older brother, Don, observed the finer details of potato chip production. They also noticed a void in the market. The brothers decided to develop their own snack brand and create a thicker, kettle-cooked chip. That unique product idea led to the 1983 start-up of Bob’s Texas Style Potato Chips, which the brothers sold to a partner in 1986. Afterward, the pair moved to Arizona and started another company with the Poore Brothers brand. That was still just the beginning. In 1996, Poore Brothers joined private investors and went public. Then the company acquired several small snack chip businesses (including Bob’s Texas Style), factories and popular brands, including T.G.I. Friday’s (a licensing deal) and Boulder Canyon. By 2006, Poore Brothers was a national snacks company and officials changed the name to “The Inventure Group” (since renamed Inventure Foods) reflecting the business’ focus on “innovation” and “new ventures.” Behind the scenes, the brothers and

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

board members hired seasoned snack and larger CPG company veterans to manage the growing national business. And it wasn’t long then before the company struck out on an important new venture: a new platform for betterfor-you and specialty natural/organic foods. In 2007, it paid $21 million to buy Rader Farms Inc., a family-owned Lynden, Wash., grower, processor and marketer of premium branded and private label IQF (individual quick frozen) berries and berry blends. Steve Sklar is Inventure’s senior vice president of marketing. “The idea was to diversify our business and add to our health / natural foods unit,” he says. “Fruit is clearly part of the trend toward health, wellness and better-for-you foods. We had a number of execs with frozen food experience (from Minute Maid, Marie Callender’s, Tropicana, Haagen-Dazs) and that made the acquisition more palatable. Ultimately, we saw the opportunity to add product innovation, better packaging, sales, marketing and operational expertise to grow the business.” Inventure followed through a little more than year later. Again, officials found growth opportunity in an unmet market need. “We were looking for additional uses for our fruit and wanted to create valueadded products,” says Sklar. “We saw www.RFFmag.com

FRUIT & VEGETABLES that smoothies were growing rapidly in foodservice, but there was a gap in retail. Jamba Juice Company – being the largest smoothie chain – was a clear target as a retail partner.” Inventure invested in plant upgrades, new packaging and filling equipment and more people for Rader Farms. Rader launched its own fruit smoothie kit line in early 2009. Inventure then signed a licensing deal with Jamba Juice to produce and market three of the chain’s top selling varieties in a makeat-home kit format. Jamba All Natural Smoothies debuted just nine months later, in March 2010. Last February found Inventure President & CEO Terry McDaniel commenting on fiscal 2010 results. He noted Rader Division revenues were $48.5 million, an increase of 19.9 percent from previous year. Excluding Jamba, Rader revenues for the year were up 11.4 percent, reflecting continued growth in both existing and new cus-

tomers, officials said. Meanwhile, McDaniel said Jamba revenues were $3.4 million ($4.9 million gross) for the year, which exceeded internal expectations. Brad Rader is a Rader Farms’ vice president and general manager. “We are very agile and can adjust and react quickly to customer request or market shifts. And this year, we have been successful with new items,” he says. “Our plant has grown tremendously during the past 24 months and we have a great group of managers that care about their staff and our product quality. They have rallied as we add shifts and new production lines and we haven’t skipped a beat.” With Rader’s plant operating at an estimated 50 percent capacity (as of February 2011), Inventure turned up the volume. During the past nine months, the business has expanded distribution to Midwest, East Coast and even Canadian retailers (reaching an estimated 9,000 outlets); added a

fourth variety, Caribbean Passion; and increased its promotional efforts, which included a July profile on Food Network’s “Unwrapped.” “Jamba is a powerful brand,” says Sklar. “We need to make consumers aware that our make-at-home, Jambabranded smoothie kits are now available in the freezer section of their local supermarkets, mass merchandisers and club stores.” Meanwhile Inventure Foods promises to press on. McDaniel noted the Jamba At-Home Smoothie sales reached $10.4 million during the first two quarters of fiscal 2011 (ending June 25). “We are committed to leveraging our sales momentum with continued targeted spending in critical slotting, demonstrations and other promotional efforts as we continue to secure new distribution across the United States and Canada,” said McDaniel in a July earnings release.

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Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

35

MEALS & ENTREES

Jane’s Dough Foods General Manager Alan Hoover and Janet Sprouse, executive director of research & development.

Meet Jane’s Dough

Donatos’ take-and-bake pizza business plans to double sales by 2014 with custom new products for every channel.

R Foods AT A GLANCE: Jane’s Dough Foods HQ: Columbus, Ohio TOP EXEC: Alan Hoover, General Manager PRODUCTS / DISTRIBUTION: Approximately 70 types of branded, private label and contract frozen pizza dough shells, topped pizzas and bread sticks. JDF supplies nearly 2,000 points of distribution in restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores, hospitals, schools and stadiums.

36

emember the ‘70s? That’s when one hamburger chain playfully advertised that its signature sandwich featured “special sauce.” Talk to Alan Hoover today and he’ll tell you that a special source is his key to double-digit annual sales gains. Hoover is the general manager of Jane’s Dough Foods Inc (JDF)., a threeyear-old Columbus, Ohio, business producing as many as 45 different frozen pizzas (included branded, private label and contract varieties) for supermarket delis, convenience stores, restaurants, schools and other non-commercial foodservice outlets. Hoover, the former president of Kahiki Foods, joined Jane’s Dough last April. The 12-year food industry veteran says he has been impressed with JDF’s special sauce, represented by parent Donatos LLC. “What makes us unique is a 48-year restaurant heritage and Jim Grote, who opened and managed the first Donatos pizzeria while he was still a 19-year-old sophomore at Ohio State University,” says Hoover. “Today, Donatos has near-

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods November 2011

ly 165 pizza restaurants and [no other frozen pizza processor] has this type of history combined with our manufacturing capabilities.” “We have a [Donatos] support system complete with marketing, R&D and consumer insights,” Hoover continues. “Plus [industrial food processing equipment supplier] the J.E. Grote Company is right next door. As a result, our plant provides a host of complete solutions all under one roof – from dough production, proofing and freezing all the way to topping applications and modified atmosphere packaging. Everything we do is designed to help customers sell more pizza.” Those customers include convenience stores looking for custom hot foods, such as JDF’s 7-inch personal pizza, which they can easily prepare to draw in consumers. Still more customers are supermarket retailers looking for more ready meal solution offerings. Retailers buy JDF’s 11- to 14-inch pies for grocery take-and-bake pizza and private label programs. Last but not least, JDF also specializes in 16-inch sizes www.RFFmag.com

MEALS & ENTREES

for school lunch and contract feeding accounts. For the record, Jane’s Dough (named for Jim Grote’s daughter, Jane Grote Abell) also produces about 25 different types of frozen pizza dough shells for Donatos and other restaurant operators. Officials say the frozen product matches in-store taste and texture profiles. Meanwhile, frozen dough shells also eliminate store-level dough handling issues providing product consistency, employee safety and shrink reduction. JDF grew at a double-digit pace in 2010 and Hoover says officials just completed a three-year growth plan calling for JDF to double its size by 2014. The business’ two-pronged strategy targets greater sales within existing customer channels as well as expanded branded retail sales. To the first point, JDF already can tap into Donatos’ vast network of everything from consumer insights research, marketing and product development to finance and supply chain management. Meanwhile, Hoover says JDF will hire additional sales personnel to support a sales push in each major customer channel. Serving new and existing customers also requires wider distribution capabilities. And while Donatos is concentrated in the Midwest and mid-South, Hoover says JDF aspires to support customers in new geographies such as California, the Pacific Northwest, the upper Midwest and the Southeast. Back in Columbus, meanwhile, Hoover says JDF is just beginning to rev up its own new products program. Just in time for the Ohio State football season, JDF introduced a licensed Donatos take-and-bake pizza with pepperoni applied in the shape of the university’s famous “Block O” design. A former food packaging materials veteran, Hoover also has redesigned Donatos’ own take-and-bake offerings and says JDF soon will launch an entirely new package with a new name: “Fresh Bake by Donatos.” It’s a package Hoover expects to see www.RFFmag.com

soon in supermarkets. A former college baseball player, this South Carolina native is unabashedly competitive and routinely visits area supermarkets – before work starts – to check store sets and displays. “Pizza is what we do,” says Hoover.

“It is what Donatos has done incredibly well since 1963. We believe we do it better than anyone else in the industry … and we are constantly seeking to improve all facets of our business so we can better serve our customers’ needs.”

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COLD PLANT OPERATIONS Photos courtesy Jane’s Dough Foods

Jane’s Dough processes about 45 topped frozen pizza SKUs. Production Manager Dan Seimetz (back) and Richie Scott monitor rotary dough cutting.

On the cutting edge

Jane’s Dough Foods pushes frozen pizza quality, productivity.

Foods AT A GLANCE: Jane’s Dough Foods ADDRESS: 935 Taylor Station Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43230 PRODUCTION MANAGER: Dan Seimetz FACILITY: 45,000 square feet PRODUCTION: Two dough sheeters, one toppings line PRODUCTS: Approximately 45 frozen topped pizzas (including 7-inch, 11- and 14-inch, 16-inch varieties), breadsticks and approximately 25 different frozen pizza shells. EMPLOYEES: 65 full-time associates

38

S

ometimes the best business metaphors come straight from the factory floor. Visit Jane’s Dough Foods’ (JDF) frozen pizza plant in Columbus, Ohio, for example, and you’ll see a sheeting line with equipment stations that repeatedly roll, stretch and fold dough until it becomes a thin layer ready for cutting. Then newly cut pizza doughs travel through large spiral towers in an enclosed proofing room. The right mixture of time, temperature and humidity helps each dough rise so it’s ready for topping and/or freezing. JDF’s frozen pizza plant has a similar step-by-step story – involving bustling periods of activity followed by time and the right conditions to facilitate more growth.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods NOVEMBER 2011

Will Webb is a 43-year Donatos veteran who has worked at bakery since 1999. Today, he’s JDF’s director of quality assurance. “The decision to create Jane’s Dough Foods was easy. We were looking for ways to diversify our brand and leverage the knowledge gained after 48 years in the pizza business,” he says. “We began developing products for customers who share similar core values. Since then, we have attracted both private label and national grocery business including some of industry’s largest retailers. We believe – particularly in today’s economy – that this strategy will provide both long-term growth and sustainability. Meanwhile, with those decisions made, we can concentrate on having fun and making great pizza.”

www.RFFmag.com

COLD PLANT OPERATIONS

Baked pizza crusts travel from ambient cooling tower to two-stage freezer. Below: Finished pizzas in new modified atmosphere packaging.

Here’s a brief look at Donatos and Jane’s Dough Foods. Step One / 1992: Donatos Pizza had about 34 pizza restaurants including its first franchise. Founder Jim Grote built a bakery to produce frozen dough pizza crusts formulated to match restaurant taste. This important move improved overall store-to-store product consistency, boosted store level employee safety and productivity (saving employees’ back-room dough handling time and activities) and reduced shrink (involving doughs prepared but ultimately not used). Step Two / 2004-2006: With growth and a little extra capacity, Donatos partnered with another well-known Ohio business, The Kroger Company. The bakery produced branded Donatos take-and-bake pizzas for kiosk sales within Kroger supermarkets. The wholesale business grew and in 2006, Donatos expanded its plant to add spiral proofing towers, a three-stage oven, cooling tower and topping line. Step Three / 2008: Bakery production and efficiency levels not only were strong enough to support more than 150 Donatos restaurants but also growing wholesale demand. Convenience

www.RFFmag.com

stores, supermarkets and non-commercial foodservice operators asked for more frozen pizza in private label, foodservice and contract food programs. In a reference to Jim Grote’s daughter, Jane Grote Abell, Donatos created Jane’s Dough Foods. This was Jim Grote’s second spin-off business (after industrial process equipment supplier, J.E. Grote Co.). Step Four / 2010-11: Convenience store and retail “take-and-bake” demand contributed to JDF’s double-digit annual sales increase in 2010. JDF also earned a 2010 Emerald Award for Leadership from the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio for becoming “Landfill Free.” The plant reduced its total landfill waste by more than 99 percent, largely by recycling 342,000 pounds of scrap pizza dough into animal feed. JDF started 2011 by earning SQF 2000 Level 2 certification, a global accreditation for food safety and quality production. JDF also has excelled in worker safety and as of October 2011, the plant worked 1,100 days without a lost-time accident. Projected growth for JDF’s retail and c-store pizzas (including more branded retail products, wider distribution) led

JDF to expand its toppings room by 1,760 square feet. The September 2011 project included a second individually quick frozen products blast freezer and modified atmosphere packaging line. What’s next? While sale rise, JDF production costs will go down, predicts Hoover, who joined JDF last April with more than 33 years of combined packaging and food industry experience. He most recently served as president at Kahiki Foods, a frozen Asian entrée and appetizers processor in nearby Gahanna, Ohio. Refrigerated & Frozen Foods recognized Kahiki in 2009 for its use of the Milliken Performance System to drive year-over-year production efficiencies. Milliken & Company, a Spartanburg, S.C., textiles leader, developed its own process control program with principles of Total Process Management, Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. “We’ll introduce a similar system to drive out costs and waste. We want to streamline processes so that cost per pound declines,” says Hoover. “Meanwhile, we will build our safety program into one that fully engages and enrolls every associate in our business. Ultimately, our goal is to develop a high

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods NOVEMBER 2011

39

COLD PLANT OPERATIONS

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ta ke s4 0y ear s

d.

performance culture and become a ‘best place to work’ here in Central Ohio.” Under Hoover, JDF also will take a cue from Jim Grote, who espoused a simple business strategy when he opened his first Donatos pizzeria in Columbus in 1963. At the time, Grote said his goal was “to make the best pizza and to treat others the way I would like to be treated.” Forty-eight years later, Hoover holds a similar standard for JDF’s industrial business. “We will focus on what customers want and need. Our desire is to delight customers with exceptional service. In addition, we want to improve the lives of our ultimate consumers by providing products that ‘wow’ them every time,” he says. “And we still practice the golden rule of treating others the way you would like to be treated.” L-R: General Manager Alan Hoover, Production Manager Dan Seimetz

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Toll Free: 866-713-6307 • FAX:860-668-2871

www.kellyfreezer.com CO-PACK MANUFACTURING SERVICES

Contact Us for Fast Flexible Production & Culinary Solutions. Large company process. Small company flexibility. We combine the capabilities and capacity of a large company – rigid food safety standards, culinary ideation, trend identification and stringent quality assurance – with the personal responsive and flexible approach of a small company. Manufacturing Capabilities

• Kettle Production Sauces and Soups • Tray Lines • Rheon® Technology

Contact

SUZANNE SARKESIAN

• • • • •

(up to 4 oz. shapes) Hand Rolled Line Breading Line Enrobing (Bake/Par-Fry) Proofing/Baking Multi-Component Fill

• Drop-In Pouch Enclosure • In-House Pasta Blanching • Fully Integrated In-House Component Processing

• Vegetable Blending • RTE • USDA/FDA Certified • HCCAP Program • X-Ray Scanning • Metal Detection

Packaging Capabilities

• Aluminum Tray (3 to 10lbs.) • Dual Ovenable/Microwavable Tray (10 to 44 oz.) • Boil-In-Bag • Gusseted Multi-Component Bag/Film • Steamable Bag/Film • Tray In Carton • Eat Out Of The Box • Bulk Pack

p: 248.786.1692 e: [email protected] 42

Please visit us at www.ardenculinary.com or www.bellisiofoods.com or call 800-368-7337 for more information on production capabilities and culinary services.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods NOVEMBER 2011

www.RFFmag.com

Classified Network

248-786-1692 • [email protected] • Suzanne Sarkesian

FINANCIAL SERVICES

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

Cr yo-Jet® Cooling Fan • Faster cooling of hot food products using ambient air. • Reduces build up of frost/ice in continuous freezers.

NEED CAPITAL TO GROW?

E-mail: [email protected] www.foodesign.com Phone: 503-685-5030 Fax: 503-685-5034 PO Box 2449 Wilsonville, OR 97070

A PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM INVESTING IN COMPANIES FOCUSED ON CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS; SPECIFICALLY, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES

YELLOWSTONE CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC Houston, Texas

Vreij Kolandjian 1-713-650-0065 [email protected] www.yellowstonecapital.com

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

Terlotherm Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger Typical applications include (EATINGs#OOLING #OOKINGs0ASTEURIZATION

WANTED TO BUY

(856) 241-9970 www.terlotherm.com

www.RFFmag.com www.RFFmag.com

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods NOVEMBER 2011 43

Classified Network

Suzanne Sarkesian • [email protected] • 248-786-1692

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

44

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods NOVEMBER 2011

www.RFFmag.com

2012 FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT April 17-19, 2012 • Washington, DC Solutions for today, Planning for tomorrow. The Food Safety Summit is dedicated to addressing industry issues by providing the food safety professional the highest quality educational programs and real-life industry solutions.

®

• CURRENT & RELEVANT EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS • EXPANDED EXHIBIT HOURS • UNPARALLELED NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES • 3 FULL DAYS OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

OSCAR GARRISON 2012 KEYNOTE SPEAKER Division Director, Consumer Protection Georgia Department of Agriculture President of the Association of Food & Drug Officials (AFDO)

www.foodsafetysummit.com GOLD SPONSOR

REGISTRATION IS OPEN

SILVER SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSOR

MEDIA SPONSORS

For information about ex exhibiting and/or sponsorships please contact Chuck Wilson at 630-962-0078 or [email protected] co

Quality Assurance & Food Safety

ADINDEX Advertiser

ADVERTISING Page

E-mail/Website

Advanced Food Systems

37

www.advancedfoodsys.com

Americold Logistics

2

www.americoldrealty.com

Ashworth Bros., Inc

18

www.ashworth.com

C. R. England Global Transportation

9

www.crengland.com

Demaco

20

www.defranciscimachine.com

Exopack

3

www.exopack.com

The Fricks Company

22

www.thefrickscompany.com

Grote Company

40

www.grotecompany.com

H&M Bay

19

www.hmbayinc.com

Interstate Cold Storage

31

www.interstatecoldstorage.com

Jacobs

21

www.jacobs.com

M&M Refrigeration

13

www.mmrefrigeration.com

Patrick Young Publisher & District Sales Manager 600 Willowbrook Lane, Suite 610 West Chester, PA 19382 [email protected] Tel: 610-436-4220, ext. 8520; Fax: 248-502-2123 Mid-Atlantic Territory: CT, Eastern PA, NJ, NYC and LI, VA, MD, DE, Washington DC

Paul Kelly District Sales Manager 155 N. Pfingsten Rd., Ste. 205 Deerfield, IL 60015 [email protected] Tel: 847-405-4048; Fax: 248-502-1017 Midwest and Northeast Territory: Northern IL, WI, MN, IA, KS, MO, SD, ND, CO, WY, NE, TX, OK, NM, AR, NH, VT, MA, RI, ME, Saskatchewan

Brian Gronowski District Sales Manager 13973 Meadowlark Ln. Newbury, OH 44065 [email protected] Tel: 440-564-5732; Fax: 248-502-2088 Midwest and Southeast Territory: OH, IN, WV, KY, TN, MI, NY, Western PA, FL, GA, NC, SC, AL, Southern IL, MS, LA, Ontario, Quebec

Wayne Wiggins, Jr.

OSI Group Raque Food Systems, Inc.

7, 27 5

www.osigroup.com

District Sales Manager 454 Funston Avenue San Francisco, CA 94118 [email protected] Tel: 415-387-7784; Fax: 415-387-7855 West Coast Territory: AZ, CA, OR, WA, AK, UT, ID, HI, British Columbia

Carolyn Dress Sales Representative 155 N. Pfingsten Rd., Ste. 205 Deerfield, IL 60015 [email protected] Tel: 847-405-4046 Fax: 248-502-9104

Suzanne Sarkesian Internet and Classified Sales Manager [email protected] (248)786-1692

www.raque.com READER & MARKETING SERVICES

Reiser

23

www.reiser.com

Richmond Cold Storage

33

www.richmondcold.com

SubZero Constructors

21

www.szero.com

Triangle Package Machinery Co.

29

www.trianglepackage.com

United States Cold Storage, Inc.

Back Cover

www.uscold.com

LETTERS Bob Garrison Refrigerated & Frozen Foods 517 N. Michigan St. Plymouth, IN 46563 [email protected] BACK ISSUES Hallmark Data [email protected] (847)763-9534 SINGLE COPY SALES Gisele Manelli [email protected] (847)405-4061

REPRINTS

Washington Cold Storage

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods 155 Pfingsten Road, Suite 205 Deerfield, IL 60015 Phone: (847) 405-4000 | Fax: (847) 405-4100

40

www.washingtoncoldstorage.com

Also publishers of: Food Engineering, Food Master, Food Automation and Manufacturing Conference and Expo and ProcessTechnologyXchange

Jill Devries [email protected] (248)244-1726

LIST RENTAL Kevin Collopy at 800-223-2194, ext. 684 Michael Costantino at 800-223-2194, ext. 748

A Natural Solution... USCS Logistics and SmartWay Transport

Your Supply Chain can work toward protecting our environment. USCS Logistics has been approved as a SmartWay Transport Partner that offers full scale transportation management solutions while reducing air pollutant emissions to help create a sustainable environment for generations to come.

www.uscoldstorage.com USCS Logistics Tel 856.380.8025 | Headquarters Tel 856.354.8181 | National Sales Tel 510.471.1703