J. Kings Foodservice Professionals Inc. has been in business since 1974 when it was founded by John King, and has been processing fresh-cut fruits and vegetables for the last nine years. In that time, demand for value-added products that provide convenience and safety has grown so much that the company recently expanded to a new facility that provides four times more space.
The company had $160 million in sales last year, with produce accounting for 35 percent of sales, Panagakos said. The company’s fresh-cut operation, Kitchen Cuts, has been in existance for the last nine years and the recent expansion is focused on continued growth. J. Kings started the process in it’s new building in Holtsville, on Long Island in New York, in 2000 and the new facility was completed last fall on a site about six or seven miles from the company’s headquarters. The new plant handles the Kitchen Cuts line and other food preparation operations. The company employs 330 and has an HACCP program, is approved by the American Institute for Baking and is certified by USDA in the meat-processing plant. The company is a member of PRO-ACT, the nationwide foodservice distributor, so third-party audits also are regularly conducted.
जे. किंग्स फूडसर्व्हिस येथे वेस्टब्रुक प्रोड्यूसचे उपाध्यक्ष जोएल पनागाकोस म्हणाले, “हे आम्हाला अन्न सुरक्षेच्या बाजूने मोठ्या प्रमाणात मदत करते.
Each day, J. Kings not only prepares fresh-cut produce and meat products and packs whole produce; it also has an on-site kitchen that prepares meals for the more than 300 employees. The company didn’t start out feeding employees, but chefs working on new menu items were giving the meals to the night crew, and eventually an area in the building was turned into a dining area. That idea has been expanded to the day crew with a sit-down café that provides free lunch to all employees. On a recent workday, J. Kings employees had the chance to try a filet mignon recipe that the chefs were developing for a high-end client, Panagakos said.
किचन कट्स
The new fresh-cut area is about 11,000 square feet and currently does 70,000 to 80,000 pounds a week, Panagakos said. The fresh-cut program does about 350 items for a wide range of customers, from hospitality and medical customers to white tablecloth restaurants.
The new supporting room was designed to prevent any foreign materials from entering the processing area. All of the produce is removed from bins or boxes onto a conveyor system, which takes the raw product into the cutting area. The waste is carried out in a flume system, then compacted and sold to nearby farms.
Cutting is done primarily by machines. About 75 percent of the fresh-cut items go through Urschel machines, and the remaining are cut by hand for special requests from customers. The hand-cut requests typically come from high-end restaurants – chefs looking for a specific profile – Panagakos said, but that’s dropped off a little bit with the recent downturn in the economy.
But one area that has been growing is foodservice to the healthcare industry. Because of the many dietary requirements of patients in hospitals or long-term care facilities, meal preparation can exceed the capabilities of hospital staff, so companies like J. Kings have filled that niche. Soups, for example, may have anywhere from three or four ingredients up to eight, depending on the dietary restrictions of the patient.
"आरोग्य सेवेमध्ये, अन्न सुरक्षा पैलू हा एक मोठा भाग आहे, परंतु तो श्रमिक पैलू देखील आहे," पनागाकोस म्हणाले.
The new space and all-new equipment line has allowed the Kitchen Cuts division of J. Kings to develop new products, adding to its already long list of fresh-cut items. The company is working on new coleslaw blends and a line of fresh-cut fries.
कंपनीचे विपणन
One way J. Kings helps its foodservice customers is by having an executive chef, Chris Neary, on staff. He helps restaurants develop new menu items and is an integral part of the sales process by working with the executive chef of a restaurant to determine exactly what cut or flavor profile is needed for a menu item.
“There’s more credibility. I’ll always give the best suggestions, but a chef can go in and talk to a head chef and they speak the same language,” Panagakos said.
आणखी एक ड्रायव्हिंग फोर्स रेस्टॉरंट्स आणि इतर खाद्यसेवा ग्राहक शोधत आहेत ते टिकाऊपणा आहे, ज्याची अनेकदा स्थानिक म्हणून व्याख्या केली जाते.
"विशेषत: उत्पादनांसाठी, 'गो लोकल' साठी जबरदस्त जोर आहे," पनागाकोस म्हणाले.
Local growers – from Long Island and the region – have fresh harvested product picked up by a Kings truck in the afternoon and is shipped to customers the next morning. The local movement is just one way the company is “going green” – there’s even a Go Green checklist that lets customers know the various ways the company is focusing on sustainability. Items on the checklist include:
• पुठ्ठा, कागद, दुधाच्या डिब्बे आणि काचेच्या आणि अॅल्युमिनियमच्या बाटल्यांचा पुनर्वापर.
• रात्री दिवे आणि संगणक बंद करून ऊर्जा कार्यक्षमता वाढवणे.
• कार्यक्षम शेड्युलिंग, GPS-सुसज्ज ट्रक आणि ट्रकच्या ताफ्याला डॉज स्प्रिंटरमध्ये रूपांतरित करून फ्लीटचा वायू आणि उत्सर्जन कमी करणे, जे प्रति गॅलन 22 मैल मिळते.
• लंचरूममध्ये जेवण देऊन कर्मचार्यांचे गॅस आणि उत्सर्जन कमी करणे आणि साइटवर एटीएम प्रदान करणे, विक्री वाहनांना GPS ने सुसज्ज करणे आणि मध्यवर्ती कार्यालयात आणि तेथून प्रवास कमी करण्यासाठी मध्यवर्ती ठिकाणी बैठकांचे समन्वय साधणे.
• शक्य तितका ऑनलाइन व्यवसाय करून कागदाचा कचरा कमी करणे – बँकिंगपासून ते नोकरीच्या अर्जांपर्यंत.
याशिवाय, कंपनी आपल्या विक्री कारच्या ताफ्याला हायब्रीड वाहनांमध्ये रूपांतरित करण्याचा, तिच्या कार्यालयात सौर आणि पवन ऊर्जा उपकरणे बसवण्याचा, इलेक्ट्रॉनिक प्रणाली वापरून कागद कमी करण्याचा आणि कंटेनर कमी करण्यासाठी कंपनी-ब्रँडेड मग आणि पाण्याच्या बाटल्या आपल्या कर्मचाऱ्यांना पुरवण्याचा विचार करत आहे. कचरा
J. Kings also has hired consultants to help restaurant customers make the most of their menus. The consultants helped develop the right portions and types of offerings, as well as how items were arranged on the plate to bring out the taste profile of the main dish, Panagakos said.
Last year, J. Kings launched a new campaign to benefit its restaurant customers that was very successful, Panagakos said. The company launched a new Web site, www.greatrestaurantsNY.com, that gives site visitors a searchable database of restaurants on Long Island as well as links to menus and restaurant Web sites. Some of the J. Kings trucks also had signage for customers’ restaurants on them instead of the J. Kings logo.
“आम्ही ग्राहकांसाठी जाहिरात करत होतो,” पनागाकोस म्हणाले.
The program has been expanded five-fold this year. Between 150 and 200 restaurants already have signed on for the program.
"या मुलांसाठी जाहिरात करणे कठीण आहे, परंतु त्यांच्या संसाधनांचे एकत्रीकरण करून ते त्यांचे नाव तेथे मिळवू शकतात," पनागाकोस म्हणाले.
As a full-line distributor of fresh produce and meats, a full-line processor of fruits and vegetables, J. Kings has expanded to include a marketing department that benefits customers. By helping bring diners into restaurants, Panagakos said he’s helping his customers succeed and helping the J. Kings business in the long run.