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SUCCESS STORY MRS GERRY’S KITCHEN, USA
Chad Vogt, CEO at Mrs. Gerry’s, says: “Our company started in my mother’s kitchen, with her parents being the first two employees, and is still family-owned and operated more than 40 years later. It was my father, who ran a small distribution truck, that needed salads to compliment the meat items he sold, so he approached my mother with the idea of making potato salads, macaroni salads and coleslaw for him and it blossomed from there.”
“Our mission is to provide superior and consistently safe products built on a strong foundation of faith, family and quality while providing our customers with the highest levels of service. Over the past 43 years, our company has expanded in numerous ways and now sells more than 35 million lbs of food each year. Mrs. Gerry’s operates from a 214,500 sq. ft. facility in Southern Minnesota and employs more than 200 people.”
For more than 40 years, Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen has supplied high quality salads and side dishes, using only premium ingredients including locally grown potatoes and fresh vegeta-bles. Based in Albert Lea, Minnesota, the business places great emphasis on the quality of its raw materials - ensuring its products are fresh - and looks to exceed expectations.
Since its establishment, Mrs. Gerry’s has been growing steadily and has undertaken nine expansions of its production facility. The latest expansion by the company, which includes the Orbit 350 steam peeling line from TOMRA Sorting Food, allowed them to expand their ‘Ready to Eat Refrigerated Entrees’.
Today, Mrs. Gerry’s salads and mashed potato products are sold across the US and can be found in grocery stores, restaurants, universities, healthcare facilities and more.
“We want to provide our customers with the highest level of service and deliver the highest quality product possible.”
Chad Vogt, CEO at Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen
Dave Vanderploeg, Director of Operations and Mike Miller, Director of Facilities at Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen
“Implementing TOMRA’s Orbit 350 has helped us reduce steam and energy consumption while increasing productivity.”
PRODUCTIVITY INTO GROWTH “The Orbit 350 peeler is able to process large quantities of produce with a shorter cycle time, while also reducing steam usage, which has led to significant increases in productivity and the reduction of energy costs. We know that we are now using less steam than before and the machine also provides improve-ments in the uniformity of peeling, helping to reduce waste.”
Chad concludes: “Shorter cycle times and increased productivity give us the opportunity to focus on continuing to grow our existing business and securing new customers through the development of new product ranges, while maintaining our reputation for high-quality products and remaining profitable.”
“The equipment is very user-friendly and we are proud to be utilising the latest technologies to increase efficiency and ensure every product has the highest quality, flavour and value for our customers.”
Chad Vogt, CEO at Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen
“TOMRA’s equipment has been imperative to our most recent expansion and will enable us to continue keeping up with customer demand for quality and volume.”
Chad Vogt, CEO at Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen
TOMRA Sorting Food AMERICAS
875 Embarcadero DriveWest SacramentoCalifornia 95605U.S.A.
Tel: +1 916 388 3900Fax: +1 916 388 3901W: tomra.com/foodE: [email protected]
TOMRA Sorting Food EMEA
Research Park Haasrode 1622 Romeinse straat, 20 3001 Leuven BELGIUM
Tel: +32 16 396 396 Fax: +32 16 396 390W: tomra.com/foodE: [email protected]
TOMRA Sorting Food ASIA
1A/E, Rihua Building, No.8, Xinfeng 2nd Road Huli District, Xiamen, Fujian, P.R.C 361006 Xiamen CHINA
Tel: +86 0592 572 0780 Fax: +86 0592 572 0779 W: tomra.com/foodE: [email protected]
The Orbit 350 peeler uses innovative technology to carefully monitor and send information to the machine’s control panel, ensuring the lowest steam times and the reduction of peel loss to the minimal levels.
CHALLENGE INTO OPPORTUNITYMrs. Gerry’s has faced two challenges as the company has grown: firstly, keeping pace with the increasing steam capacity required to produce the quantities of its products to meet demand and secondly, running out of production capacity. More than 120 different products including its Original Potato Salad - the recipe that started it all in 1973 - are now produced by the business.
“We spent six months researching various peeling solutions for our processing line and toured manufacturing facilities to evaluate steam consumption data before choosing TOMRA’s machine to fulfil our requirements.” TOMRA’s technical team visited the manufacturing facility in Albert Lea to see first-hand the challenges and requirements of the customer. Following a process audit and an efficiency test of the existing solution, it became clear that peeling efficiency, steam supply and consumption could be improved.
Chad adds: “We are very familiar with the innovative solu-tions manufactured by TOMRA, as we have been using their steam peeling machines since 2001, and we recently purchased TOMRA’s Orbit 350 peeler with OBD 6/20 brusher and M01 steam accumulator, as part of our expansion plans.”
