Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/261661
F o o d E q u i p m e n t N e w s F r i d a y, F e b r u a r y 8 , 2 0 1 3 6 8 decrease the amount of grease particulate and vapor exhausted from high tempera- ture, high grease applications. Halton's Radiation Index Sensor can detect the onset of cooking within seconds and acti- vate the mist system. Once the cooking cycle is completed, the mist shuts off sav- ing this valuable resource. UV-C applications have had great success Halton (Con't. from p. 12) line ups. This provides a more robust sys- tem that ensures the longevity of the UV system and minimizes maintenance over high heat and high grease applications. The CMOD system is integrated with the M.A.R.V.E.L. and Capture Jet hood to SDR: When food service suppliers use me in their operations, I keep food ingredients 12 inches off the floor to prevent undesir- able conditions, created by debris, insects and other contaminants, that lead to waste and profit shrinkage. FEN: Do you comply with NSF® criteria? SDR: Yes, I am NSF certified. FEN: How do you compare yourself with aluminum racks? SDR: I am far superior to those metal racks. I am made of heavy duty plastic that will not dent or rust and I am more easily sanitized. Unlike aluminum, I won't overheat or over- cool when exposed to higher or lower tem- peratures. My rounded corners and soft edges reduce the potential for bag punctures and tears. I am also safer for employees. FEN: What is the purpose of your series of slots? SDR: They facilitate air circulation to avoid condensation and prevent bacteria and mold from accumulating on my surface. FEN: You look very strong. How much weight can you hold? SDR: Among my family's various sizes, we can hold from 1,500 to 4,000 pounds. We are light in weight, but solid in structure and load capability. FEN: You look great in black, but are you available in other colors? SDR: Yes! Our newest color is yellow – the color of safety. Our variety of colors pro- vides for color-coded systems to keep foods separated and to make them more readily identified by your employees. Dunnage Rack (Con't. from p. 1) FEN: How do you perform in differing temperature conditions? SDR: I am equally at home in warm and cold environments such as storage areas, backrooms, freezers, coolers and food prep areas with temperatures ranging from -20 degrees Fahrenheit to +180 degrees Fahrenheit. FEN: What is your stance on storing foods on multiple level racking systems? SDR: I would rather store on a single sur- face, like mine, to avoid spills and drippings from the upper levels that can mix with other foods and ingredients. A single surface is also more ergonomic because it means easy access to product – no need to stretch out to reach up. FEN: Are you a supporter of sustainability in the workplace? SDR: You bet I am! I am made of a plastic material that is recyclable at the end of my long service life. FEN: How will you assist food service operations with organization and cost sav- ings? SDR: As you know, an organized work area is proven to be more efficient which leads to less labor that in turn lowers your cost. I also provide great visibility to locate products before they spoil or expire. See Forté Product Solutions food equip- ment products at booth #756, call 816-741- 3000 ext 103, or visit www.forteproductso- lutions.com. Meet the Forté SureStack Dunnage Rack in the What's Hot! What's Cool!® product gallery. tionizing the kitchen by equipping it with brains. FEN: You grew the quick serve industry in the 1960s alongside the icons and became a trusted member of McDonald's family. What was the thinking back then? BK: We knew that if we could automate labor in restaurants by half, it would change the economic model of running a restaurant and create a billion dollar business. FEN: So you started your company Food Automation—Service Techniques (FAST.), and invented the FASTRON® Cooking Computer. Was it successful? BK: We went on to build and sell lines of timers, electronic temperature controls and fryer controls, which quickly made FAST. a global industry leader. FEN: A year ago, FAST. integrated with another of your businesses, SCK® Direct, merging their respective technologies and core competencies to form a combined enti- ty known as Kitchen Brains®. What is Kitchen Brains? BK: A new umbrella, Kitchen Brains has emerged as a global leader in the develop- ment and deployment of integrated, end-to- end, wireless M2M networking solutions and SAAS applications for the commercial kitchen/food service industry. It was built on the legacy and technological accom- plishments of FAST., and now better addresses the needs of current and new global customers worldwide. FEN: What prompted the integration? BK: We receive many inquiries from QSRs looking to revamp their operations and pro- vide healthier, safer, and fresher meals. Increasing corporate remote visibility and management of restaurant operations is crit- Ben Koether (Con't. from p. 1) ical. The merging of each respective com- pany's strengths enables Kitchen Brains to offer holistic solutions that provide insight and deliver real time management capabili- ties not only to restaurant crews, but to own- ers and operators at headquarter levels also. FEN: What have been the major achieve- ments resulting from the fusion? BK: The RM-200: a networked tempera- ture monitoring solution using state of the art technology to provide remote reporting access to all temperature sensitive products. The FASTIMER.® TT-500 Touch Screen Timer delivers a superior bundle of features and benefits to QSR retailers. The VTC-501 multilingual intelligent touch screen control provides retailers and OEMs a common universal controller platform across appli- ance portfolios for greater operational per- formance and in-store efficiencies. Suite of SaaS applications, such as Quality Production Management [QPM] gain accel- erated adoptions by building a complete cloud-to-kitchen solution. There is also the international expansion and global roll out of QPM and the hiring of additional person- nel, including doubling the sales force. FEN: What's the main benefit of Kitchen Brains? BK: Kitchen Brains provides appliance controls and other efficient, operational solutions that drastically improve the avail- ability of high-quality fresh foods and increase profitability. Automating complex, labor-intensive processes provides opti- mized appliance utilization, saving on labor and freeing staff to focus more on cus- tomers. An easy-to-read, real-time dash- board updates restaurant teams on the status of current restaurant operations at a glance. For more information, stop by booth #1235 at NAFEM. Visit www.kitchenbrains.com, follow the company on Twitter @kitchen- brains and on Facebook and LinkedIn. KK: Ice-O-Matic is a Denver-based manu- facturer and global supplier of ice-related products and the world's largest producer of ice machine evaporators. At Ice-O-Matic, we pride ourselves on delivering innova- tive, reliable and energy-efficient ice machines, storage bins and water dis- pensers. We focus on getting the customer the type of ice they need in the simplest way possible. FEN: What would you say makes your company unique? KK: Our tagline says it all: Ice. Pure and Simple. We manufacture purpose built ice machines that simply deliver the right amount of ice every time. These machines are no fuss. They're reliable and easy to service. In addition, we make it easy to do business with us from ordering to servicing. FEN: Are you introducing any new prod- ucts? KK: This coming year will be an exciting one as far as new products at Ice-O-Matic. I can't share all the new products just yet, but we do have one exciting announcement at NAFEM. We are introducing two new large capacity 22-inch cubers. The all new ICE0926R and ICE0726R are small foot- print, high-volume ice machines, designed for use on a wide range of dispensers such as the Coke Freestyle. In addition, they provide large ice capacity in a small footprint when installed on a 22- inch wide bin or two side-by-side on a 48- inch bin providing the security of produc- tion redundancy for those customers who wish to have this added layer of protection. FEN: What distinguishes your product(s) from the competition? KK: Our machines are designed with no Ice-O-Matic (Con't. from p. 1) extraneous functionality other than reliably delivering ice when it is needed. In addition, most of our cuber models deliver signifi- cantly more ice than the competition for competitively sized and priced machines. All in all, the Ice-O-Matic ICE series deliv- ers great value to the operator day in and day out. FEN: How do you see the next year in terms of economy, sales, technology, prod- uct evolution? KK: We see the market strengthening both domestically and internationally. Consumers in Central and South America and the Pacific Rim are beginning to embrace the use of ice in their drinks, so we see exceptional growth in these markets as a result. In addition, our customers are responding to our efforts to deliver reliable, uncomplicat- ed ice machines that deliver more ice than the competition for a competitive price. Our sales growth currently reflects this positive trend and we expect it to continue into the future. FEN: To what do you attribute your com- pany's success? KK: For more than 60 years, Ice-O-Matic has focused solely on manufacturing and distributing ice machines and ice-related products. This singular focus allows us to deliver higher value to our customers while also providing our product development teams with a clear roadmap. FEN: How can our readers find out more about your company? KK: Complete information can be found at www.iceomatic.com, including a listing of our worldwide distribution network. For more information, visit booth #2000 at NAFEM 2013 or email keith.kelly@iceo- matic.com. over mixed lines where temperatures in the plenum are below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The wave length of light is diminished at temperatures over 165 degrees Fahrenheit reducing the effec- tiveness of the UV oxidation process. In applications where the charbroiler or sim- ilar equipment is more than 50 percent of the canopy area, the CMOD system would provide improved grease extrac- tion. See the latest technology from Halton at NAFEM booth #1064. For more informa- tion, visit www.haltoncompany.com or call 800-442-5866.