By Hannah Thompson Educator & Trainer for ANCO Fine Cheese Looks like the word “artisan” has been hijacked! Subway sandwich shops now offer artisan sandwiches, and Domino’s offers artisan pizza. What does “artisan” really mean? It’s meant to refer to foods that are hand-crafted in smaller batches and made with high-quality ingredients, such as ice cream, cheese and bacon. The [...]
By Mark DiDomenico Datassential, Inc. Today’s consumer is much more engaged with the foods and beverages they consume. Subsequently, they are driving faster adoption of trends. Nowhere is this more evident than in the restaurant channel, where operators are challenged with developing new and enticing menu options for their patrons’ ever evolving tastes. Those trends are also providing great challenges [...]
By Jack Sjogren Hillphoenix Design Center Specialist Using proper lighting inside and around closed-door refrigerated cases turns glass-fronted coolers into gallery-worthy display spaces. That increases the value of your investment in high-visibility cases, such as the Clarity line from Hillphoenix. And it ensures your closed cases not only offer energy savings and product longevity, but also show merchandise at its [...]
Last month, we discussed the lack of effective performance baselines for natural refrigeration systems and how that makes it difficult for utilities to provide natural refrigeration incentives. In this article, we’ll talk about the second challenge faced by end users and utilities: the lack of good modeling software for natural refrigeration systems. When seeking incentives from utilities for natural refrigeration, [...]
By Margie Proctor Hillphoenix Marketing & Design Specialist Here’s a challenge for all of you store merchandisers tasked with building great displays behind closed-case doors. Surprise and delight your shoppers with at least one unexpected design element inside the case. Imagine new possibilities Small creative touches can add interest to your in-case merchandising. Here’s a great idea for showing off [...]
Over the past several years, some notable trends have brought changes to the retail refrigeration space. Grocery stores are getting smaller, fresh-food options are gaining ground at retailers of every size, and ozone-depleting refrigerants continue to be pushed out by natural and sustainable options. At the spot where small-format, fresh-format, and sustainability converge, retailers may find themselves in unfamiliar territory [...]
In 2014, research firm Packaged Facts reported that the average size of supermarkets has been trending smaller since 2006. At the same time, consumers have continued to ask for more fresh and convenient food options, and supermarkets — along with small-format retailers such as drugstores and convenience stores — have responded by increasing their fresh and prepared food selections. And [...]
Video: Is your display case stealing moisture from your meat and seafood? March 29, 2016 | Coolgenix Only Coolgenix deck pans use pulse flow control technology to maintain natural moisture levels and preserve the integrity of meat and seafood. Other conduction cooling cases claim to work like Coolgenix, but they don’t. Cases with our patented Coolgenix technology are the only [...]
If you’re going to reward improvement, you need a baseline against which to measure it. Therein lies one of the many challenges facing refrigeration end-users seeking utility incentives for upgrades and new installations. As utilities, manufacturers and end-users work together to make newer, more energy efficient equipment more affordable through incentives, the lack of standard industry benchmarks makes the process [...]