FREE HELP at NAFEM

Predictably, there have been many articles about the need to continue innovating despite declining sales - this goes for manufacturers selling a tangible product, consultants selling services and restaurants selling meals. It seems like a no-brainer - you need to do something to stand out from the crowd, to offer a better value to your customers. Better value may be in the form of better service, better styling, better features, better energy conservation or better pricing or something new - something that makes buyers want what you are selling.

How do you get there?

Does your staff think differently, creatively, about your product?

How do you step back and re-examine your products from the viewpoint of a clear-eyed, tight-fisted customer? 

You have a great opportunity at the NAFEM Show this week in Orlando to get a lot of free help.  The opportunities are endless to ask clients what's important to them. Get input on your products specifically. Try not to get defensive. Take notes. 

Manufacturers - have technical people and service agents look at your equipment at the show and point out areas for improvement. Take more notes. Take the time to ask questions before launching a sales spiel. 

Consultants - go to the What's Hot, What's Cool Product Gallery and find out what's new in the market that can benefit your customers. Encourage manufacturers who innovate - help them with valuable feedback.

Foodservice Operators- also visit What's Hot, What's Cool and get a sense of where your operations can change to help you save money, increase sales, offer greater safety and productivity.

I've gained a lot of knowledge about our own products and others' and the NAFEM show provides a priceless educational opportunity.  Take advantage of your time there.

See you in Orlando.

Best wishes,

IPA World Food Process Exhibition

To broaden our understanding of other branches of the foodservice industry, we spent a day at the food processing equipment show held concurrently with Equip'Hotel in Paris in November.   We could recognize some equipment easily - but as you would expect, it is MUCH bigger.  We saw large mixers, extruders, packaging equipment, robotic arms for palletizing goods, robots for peeling fruit and vegetables, chemical and temperature testing equipment, candy-making equipment. Many manufacturers have models small enough for larger commercial kitchens.  And we found the big stuff provided inspiration for labor-saving devices for small kitchens.

It was strange yet fascinating to see products that can be used in both wine making and industrial waste systems.

Our Vermont neighbors Edlund had their large automated can cleaner/crusher on display, as well as some of their can opening equipment - including a specially designed unit for opening asymmetrical fois gras cans.  www.edlundco.com

Tipper Tie Alpina, a Dover Industries company,  had a new line, Swopper, with a beautiful chopper - all its electrical components are well protected from moisture and grease by being double-boxed.  They also have a new "hanging line" which automatically strings 100 sausages a minute and hangs them on poles.  We were told it would amortize itself in 1½ years.link to Tipper Tie

Ytron(on beautiful LakeChiemsee in Germany) makes a mixer with a Venturi-shaped stator, which allows easier addition of powder to liquid. The Ytron-Y rapidly and homogenously mixes without forming a vortex like conventional mixers.  link to Ytron

Another American manufacturer, Urschel of Indiana, had food cutters on display.  The company was founded in 1910 by the inventor of a gooseberry snipper, is still family owned and has worldwide sales.  They have machines that cut nuts, fruits, vegetables, meat, bread, fish and fowl. link to Urschel

A.B.L. srl of Italy presented their fruit processing machines - they claim to be the first in Europe with apple processing equipment. link to ABL

AFOheat of Belgium uses gas to produce IR and convection heat transfer, with an emphasis on grilling and roasting, to custom design equipment for food processors.  We saw a conveyor grill (the Afogrill) that reduces product weight loss and energy consumption, according to the company.  link to AFOheat

Mike Colburn stands by a large vertical cutter mixer in the booth of distributor LMIA.

Which is more environmentally friendly, dishwasher or sink? [These are household examples, but provide food for thought] Hand washing uses about 5 times as much water as a high-efficiency dishwasher, but sink suds are more energy efficient.  For 8 or fewer place settings, hand washing saves power.
How about disposal or trash can?  Disposals use less water all day than a single toilet flush and increase electricity usage at home by only 0.1% - which more than offsets savings from flushing waste instead of trucking and dumping it.  NY's Dept of Environmental Protection says ground-up kitchen scraps don't clog sewers or treatment plants; trash collection produces 4 times as much greenhouse gas as disposals.  Composting is best, but bacteria in piles that are not aerated (by worms, for example) will put out more greenhouse gases per pound of waste than city dumps.
 -Thanks to Mother Jones magazine, Nov/Dec 08
 

Please forward this newsletter to anyone who would be interested in foodservice equipment design, development and invention.