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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 2 0 , 2 0 1 5 3 2 EXCALIBUR LEADS IN DEHYDRATION EQUIPMENT An interview with Teresa Asbury, V.P., The Legacy Companies. FEN: Tell our readers about your company. TA: Excalibur is a world leader in dehy- dration equipment for commercial and home use. The unsurpassed engineering design, material quality and exceptional performance offered by Excalibur delivers amazing, consistent results every time. FEN: How can the operator benefit from your product? TA: Operators benefit from increased profitability due to machine reliability, menu expansion, speed of dehydration and less power usage. We also offer a range of dehydrators including 4-tray, 5- tray, 9-tray, 10-tray, 12-tray and 42-tray units with drying space ranging from four square feet to 136 square feet. FEN: Tell us about your new products. TA: This is our second time presenting Excalibur at NAFEM, so all products are worth checking out! We recently revamped our commercial two-zone unit incorporating a computerized digital con- trol panel with two times, two tempera- tures and recall memory selection. We also launched stainless steel units with stainless steel trays. Many chefs prefer stainless steel, so we wanted to create something that was smaller in size and price than the commercial two-zone unit, but also suitable for a chef's needs. All of our dehydrators come complete with our patented Parallex™ Horizontal Air Flow, Hyperwave™ Fluctuation technology, 26-hour timer and temperature ranges from 105 degrees Fahrenheit to 165 degrees Fahrenheit. FEN: How can Excalibur help our read- ers build their business? TA: Excalibur builds menu offerings in a number of ways. First, flavor enriched cuisine. A well prepared dish will reap a higher sales price and greater margin for the oper- ator. Second, consistent, quality food. Customers know they will get the same product that they expect, every time. Third, durable equipment. We know operators don't want to be plagued with down time result- ing in loss of revenue. Our cus- tomers comment that our dehy- drators offer the lowest total cost of ownership. FEN: What distinguishes your products from the competition? TA: No doubt, the majority of chefs pre- fer Excalibur as their dehydrator of choice. The patented technology in our units creates a most efficient and consis- tent output. Excalibur is also Made in the USA, with service and manufacturing based in Sacramento, Calif. If you have a problem, we're here to help you. We also pride ourselves in spending time in the kitchen with chefs and listening to our customers. In doing that, Excalibur has focused on designing dehydrators, like the Com-2 which is a commercial two-zone with 136 square feet of drying capacity, for the most demanding users and the most demanding applications. Our dehy- drators last longer and need fewer repairs. FEN: What is your outlook in gen- eral for the business? TA: We're extremely pleased with the feedback and responses we've received regarding the stainless steel series of dehydrators. People continue to recognize us for the inner-working of our dehydrators which lies in our dehydra- tion technology. We're also seeing many people develop and advance within our product portfolio. They'll start with a 5- tray. As their business grows, they call us back to purchase a 9-tray. Then, over time, many will call back to purchase a commercial unit. Visit Excalibur and The Legacy Companies at booth #5026. For more information, go to www.drying123.com or contact Teresa Asbury, Vice President, by email at TAsbury@TheLegacyCompanies.com. ESCALI INTRODUCES NEW SCALES, PACKAGING, WARRANTY This will be a big year for Escali's pro- fessional line of foodservice-minded scales. Escali is announcing a new two year product warranty (known as their 2- Year Professional Guarantee), freshly redesigned packaging, as well as a few new scales at NAFEM. The new 2-Year Professional Guarantee is Escali's new warranty for its professional line of scales, which doubles its former one year warranty it replaces as well as the industry average. Escali was able to extend its warranty to double that of the industry average because of its exceptionally low return rates. "We are confident in the quality of our scales, and we want to convey that confidence to our customers," said Theo Prins, President of Escali. To celebrate the new 2-Year Professional Guarantee, Escali has also announced that it will be updating all retail packaging for their professional scales. The design features the majority of the retail boxes to be wrapped in a few shades of grey to allow the product image to be the hero. Most of the designs will also feature a new red band across the top of the box to draw attention to the Escali brand and set it apart from the competi- tion. The first scale to receive the new packag- ing is Escali's brand new Nova 2 Pound Digital Scale, and it will be on display for the first time in Escali booth #2210. The Nova 2 Pound Digital Scale features a removable stain- less steel platform and sealed controls for easy cleaning. Its squat and square shape is durable and portable. The tare protec- tion features allows you to zero out the weight of a container up to two pounds and still maintain the scale's full two pound measuring capacity. "Our cus- tomers have been asking for us to make a scale like this for a while now, and we are happy to get it to market during the NAFEM show," said Kelly Walsh, National Sales Manager of Escali. According to Walsh, the Nova scale is just one example of how Escali has been listening to the needs of its customers and the market at large to develop new scales. "For the Nova, we lowered the scale's graduation to 0.5 grams and added a switch in the battery compartment, hidden away from any potential spills, that will allow the user to turn off the automatic shut-off feature," said Walsh. More new scales will be announced in the Escali booth. Visit Escali at booth #2210. For more information, contact Kelly Walsh at 952.232.6962 or go to www.escali.com. PANASONIC SONIC STEAMER UNITS THE RIGHT FIT FOR HOTELS, RESTAURANTS, BANQUET FACILITIES After extensive, on-site testing, Panasonic's high performance Sonic Steamer ® microwave steamers have been specified as approved equipment for restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and catering facilities around the country. Tests using the high-powered Sonic Steamer model NE-3280 to quantify delivery time, energy efficiency and labor costs. The results were monitored by Operations and R&D Directors of var- ious chains. "After a review of current menu items and discussions regarding new menu development opportunities, vari- ous concepts determined that the Panasonic Sonic Steamer unit offered the greatest potential to deliver the desired results," said Ken Megarr, Director of Panasonic's Corporate Test Kitchens. According to Megarr, the Panasonic Sonic Steamer scored big when it came to helping expand restau- rant menus where steamers were relied on previously. "Various chefs at different proper- ties expressed how foods they prepared with our Sonic Steamer unit looked, smelled and tasted better," reported Megarr. "They were impressed with the consistent results the Sonic Steamer achieved. There's less batch-to-batch variation, which is especially important for chains. This consistency is also what returning guests that have come to expect from properties that they fre- quent." Fast, clean and extremely economi- cal to operate, Panasonic's Sonic Steamer units use microwave energy to rapidly heat the water content in (or added to) food to the boiling point, thereby produc- ing steam. Unlike conventional steamers, these energy-efficient units require no water hook-ups, filters, drains, drain systems or vent hoods. There's no recovery time as they are "instant on," and less load is produced on air condi- tioning and refrigeration sys- tems. Panasonic offers microwave powered steamers that can accommodate two full-size standard steam table pans with covers, or four half-pans, or six nine-inch plates, at one time. To achieve incredible speed and even heating, Panasonic developed a unique top and bottom energy feed design using four separate magnetron heating elements. The ultra-fast Sonic Steamer units can cook two full-size, four-inch tall steam table pans of lasagna in under 20 minutes. Six pounds of fresh vegetables are ready in just six minutes. A 1 ¼ lb. lobster can be steamed to per- fection in under two minutes. "The shift in chain restaurants' focus to increasing operational efficiencies has opened many doors for the Sonic Steamers," said National Sales Manager Steven Stohrer of Panasonic's Commercial Food Service Group. Panasonic is commit- ted to providing its cus- tomers with the highest reliability and after-sale customer service. Technical support, from trouble-shooting to recipe development, is available nationwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week via Panasonics website, www.Panasonic.com/cmo. Panasonic brand products for the hospitality and commercial food service industries are marketed through Certified MAFSI Distributors selected by the Food Service Group of Panasonic North America, which is the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Company, Ltd., (NYSE:PC) of Japan, one of the world's largest developers and producers of electronic and electric products for business and industrial use. More information on Panasonic products can be found at www.panasonic.com/cmo. Media can access press releases from www.pana- sonic.com/pressroom. For more information, visit booth #611.