|
|
 |
 |
|
Restaurant Owners Expand Profits By Entering the Retail Market with the Help of Cook-Chill Bags
Thomas R. Cutler, President & CEO, TR Cutler, Inc.
|
|
Every city and town is home to a restaurant that is known for its incredible soups or delicious pasta sauces. Following the lead of major restaurant chains that leverage brand recognition on the grocery store shelves, local restaurant owners are making the leap into retail food production. Expanding their market beyond the brick and mortar stores has produced increased profits. These restaurants often have famous chefs known locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally. Chefs at these restaurants are learning to turn to bag-in-box packaging to minimize costs while maximizing shelf life and visual appeal.
A key element to the success of retail branding expansion is based upon how the product is packaged. Entering retail means that foods must still taste fresh after sitting on the shelf for days if not weeks. Beyond protecting taste, texture and aroma, the package must be visually appealing to consumers, easy to ship and store as well as cost-effective. Manufacturers are turning to bag-in-box packaging to meet all of these requirements.
A bag-in-box package includes a poly bag inside of a printed, corrugated box. The corrugated box is the canvas for product images and colorful branding to catch the eye of the consumer. The bag is a key to protect the product from inside. Cook-chill bags, frequently used in central foodservice kitchens to package foods for distribution to multiple locations, are a great fit for the bag-in-box application. “Cook-chill bags are made from an extremely durable multi-layer film that provides protection from oxygen and moisture” said Del Bourassa, National Sales and Marketing Director for Plascon Packaging (www.plasconpackaging.com), a supplier of cook-chill bags and accessories. Bourassa also noted, “This greatly extends the shelf life of the food and ensures that the product will maintain the same taste, texture and aroma as the recipe when it is first prepared.”
A local New England delicatessen has implemented both foodservice and retail packaging, using the bag-in-box concept with cook-chill bags. For foodservice, two 1-gallon cook-chill bags are packaged in a box while for retail use, one 24-oz bag is best. Because the deli was already set up to fill cook-chill bags, no additional fill equipment was needed to move into the retail market. The business currently has twelve full-time employees and plans to add at least four more full-time positions as the business grows.
Cook-Chill Processing and Food Safety
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) programs in the foodservice industry ensure that food and production methods are safe, hygienic and compliant with regulations and legislation. “HACCP identifies areas of the food preparation process that are high risk for contamination, then implements policies and procedures to minimize those risks” said Bourassa. With cook-chill, foods are packaged at above pasteurization temperatures, then never handled directly again, greatly reducing the chance of contamination and HACCP compliance much easier. Foods packaged using cook-chill have a shelf life of up to forty-five days when refrigerated. “Frozen products can be stored up to a year, giving food manufacturers plenty of time to get their products to the consumer without compromising on product quality” added Bourassa.
Cook-Chill Packaging Cost Effective and Green
Other advantages of bag-in-box packaging include cost benefits and environmental impacts. Many packaging alternatives require large minimum purchases or high set-up fees that can be cost-prohibitive, especially for the start-up companies. Companies like J.S. McCarthy in Augusta, Maine, can provide high quality corrugated boxes in small quantities while staying cost-effective. Cook-chill bags are available by the case from Plascon Packaging in a variety of standard sizes. Corrugated boxes can be made from recycled materials. Corrugated package printers like J.S. McCarthy and Curtis Packaging Corporation are powered completely by wind energy allowing the package to carry the “Printed with Certified Wind Power” logo. The final bag-in-box package is lightweight and space-efficient, making it easy to ship, store and display on the shelf.
Finding the right packaging suppliers with whom to partner is critical. “Not all bag inserts are created equally” said Bourassa. “If packaging does not preserve the taste, texture and aroma of the product, so that it tastes freshly made when the consumer takes it home, future sales from that customer are highly unlikely…they probably won’t try the product again” Durability, seal strength, oxygen and moisture barrier properties are critical to ensure the shelf life of foods.
Foodservice professionals are looking to capitalize on the local popularity of their soups, sauces and pasta recipes; bag-in-box packaging provides an option which minimizes start-up costs while maximizing food safety, lengthening product shelf life and maximizing product branding.
Thomas R. Cutler is President & CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, TR Cutler, Inc. He is the founder of the Manufacturing Media Consortium of three thousand five hundred journalists and editors writing about trends in manufacturing. Thomas is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Online News Association, American Society of Business Publication Editors, Committee of Concerned Journalists, as well as author of more than 400 feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing sector. He is also the developer of lean technology C.E.O (Continuous Experiential Optimization). For article feedback, contact Thomas at trcutler@trcutlerinc.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
