Recycling old cases

Store Equipment & Design, July, 2000 by David Litwak

Many new types of products are fighting to get into your meat, seafood and deli cases. Will your old cases be ready for them?

You've got a good case!

This phrase can have three distinct meanings, depending on who is saying it. It means one thing if a judge is talking to a lawyer, quite another thing if your mother or wife has just listened to your best argument for buying a sports car but isn't going to let you get it anyway! It means something totally different to a supermarket operator who wants to bring more prepared foods into the meat, seafood and deli departments, but has to decide whether to replace his old commodity-merchandising cases.

The scenario is quite typical in stores around the country. A store that's been around for a while, but is not ready for a major remodel, has perfectly serviceable self-service meat and seafood cases. The merchandising people want to introduce a prepared foods program in the deli and a value-added meat and seafood program. The merchandiser has four choices; he can either just dump them in the inappropriate coffin cases where they won't be seen, or in the multi-deck cases where they will probably not be in the proper temperature. On second thought, he can always bring in some additional cases or mobile cases, which he may not have enough room for. Third choice is to just rip some of the old cases out and start over again -- the CFO doesn't like that one! The last choice is try and use the cases that are there, but to make improvements to them so that they enhance the product rather then hide it or spoil it.

Enhancing the product is the aim of merchandising and displaying it. Cases are no longer just an area in which product is held at a certain temperature and the public is given an occasional peek at it. Cases, which are display merchandisers, need to enhance the appearance and visibility of any product placed into them, especially a value-added or prepared product.

By improving the cases we don't necessarily mean doing a major retrofit of the case, which is certainly an option. Cases can be taken out and have their controls rewired, and their beds changed and have decks added or taken off. Flat case decks can become slanted case decks, colors can be changed and so can fronts and top d[acute{e}]cor. This type of major retrofitting can be done through the case's original manufacturer in many instances, especially if the case is not too old, or it can be done by a case re-manufacturer. There are several companies across the country that specialize in rehabilitating old refrigeration display cases.

TEMPERATURE A GUIDE

The once-critical element in deciding whether to replace an older case or use it for prepared foods is temperature. There is no getting around the issue of critical temperature. Either the case can keep the product at the desired temperature or it can't! Just because a case can keep one set of products cold doesn't necessarily mean that it will be able to keep all products at their proper temperature. If your old case can do the job temperature-wise, fine. The decision on whether to use then comes down to aesthetics and merchandising.

If the case will not hold foods at the proper temperature, the choice on whether to keep it or not becomes a little more complicated. One decision is clear, you simply can't use the case as is, because you will risk killing off your entire prepared foods program with spoiled products or worse. For most cases you can upgrade the refrigeration output. This is usually a more involved process that may require changing the compressor, or perhaps switching over to a different coolant, depending on the age of the case. Again, the manufacturer should be able to guide you, or a secondary case rehabilitator.

"There really isn't much hope for retailers who don't invest in themselves for the better types of refrigeration," says Norma Gilliam, director of public relations for Hubert in Harrison, Ohio. "There are several reasons for this: their shrink has to be unbelievable, food safety is a big issue and as the government moves more and more into mandates, retailers are going to be forced into it, so they might as well do it. It's really for their own benefit as well as for the consumer. If the consumer becomes smarter through wider educational programs they'll become more sensitive to temperatures in the case."

CUSTOM ENGINEERING

Making cases that can be used with both traditional commodity products as well as semi-prepared and fully cooked foods is becoming a big priority with both case manufacturers and retailers. Operators are more frequently going back to their case companies and asking them to help them find a solution to an aging, but productive case that needs to be recycled into a prepared foods case.

"It's a big part of what the company's custom engineering group does, they handle these special requests," says Hill Phoenix's vice president of marketing, Brad Roche. The Conyers, Ga., case manufacturer has a team of inside sales reps that work with the custom engineers to solve specific retailer problems. When the engineers work on a specific solution for a retailer they then catalogue what they've done, so that it can later be applied to a similar operator request. Hill Phoenix, like other manufacturers has developed a line of cases that are more flexible in adapting to the retailer's changing needs. The OUM series comes with a number of options that allow the cases to be used for a variety of applications.