Prepared fresh foods are a significant opportunity for food processors

Because we continually strive to bring the best in packaging design to our customers, we are at the forefront of change in the food industry. One of those changes is the shift in the fresh prepared foods category.

For years we have worked with grocers to help them develop their deli and HMR categories, but today much of this production has shifted to food processors. And, there are very good reasons for this:

1)    At the centre of the whole food industry is food safety. Food processors are in a better position to control their environment and prevent contamination.

2)    The second factor is labour. The people at the store have many responsibilities and peeling carrots or making sandwiches often get missed. Also, training and supervision are much more challenging in the retail environment.

3)   The category has taken off and even dedicated, well trained staff often can not keep up at the retail level.

4) Recipes can be more strictly adhered to in a production environment which converts more sales and tighter control of supplies.

At Olaf we have worked very hard to support our customers in fresh prepared food. Our efforts include: developing small portion packaging for produce for the c-store channel; adding better print capabilities to our sandwich wrap business; developing what we believe are the best PETE containers for ease of use and extending shelf life of single sandwiches; and, finally, we have custom designed sandwich bags and boxes that have outstanding consumer appeal and branding.

Our goal has always been to serve select customers extraordinarily. The prepared fresh food industry in Western Canada is exactly the type of segment that fits us well.