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P r o d u c e S h o w D a i l y 6 3 S u n d a y, O c t o b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 5 PLOCKY'S CELEBRATES MORE THAN 25 YEARS OF TASTY, ALL-NATURAL SNACKS In May 1988, two partners with years of food industry expertise, a lot of ideas and an instinct for the next big thing started Plocky's ® Fine Snacks from scratch. Today, 26 years later, Plocky's ships its "healthy snacks that taste good" – tortilla chips and hum- mus chips with unique flavors – nationwide and beyond. The Plocky's success story started in 1988, when the family-owned busi- ness introduced its line of tortilla chips that were like no other on the market: Original Three Grain Chips, Caribbean Black Beans 'N Rice Chips and Louisiana Red Beans 'N Rice Chips with Tabasco in the chip. As opposed to the plain corn chip, Plocky's tortilla chips featured different grains, unique spices and the "healthy" factor. They tasted so good that Plocky's Three Grain Tortilla Chips were awarded the Seal of Approval for Best Tortilla Chip from Diabetic Living magazine. The seal provides con- sumers with a guide to great-tasting foods that are low in calories, sodium and saturated fat, but rich in healthy fats, fiber, vitamins and whole grains. Plocky's expanded the initial line with three new flavors of tortilla chips: Sundried Tomato Basil, Whole Grain Sweet Chipotle and Whole Grain Aged White Cheddar. It followed with another market-first, handy Organic Dip Strips, in Golden, Blue and Louisiana Peppa Red, made with organic corn. Salsas with a twist soon give Plocky's tortilla chips something zingy to dip into: Black Beans 'N Rice Salsa and Red Beans 'N Rice Salsa. Plocky's didn't stop at tortilla chips. In 2005, the company unveiled another extremely popular "first": savory, gluten-free Hummus Chips made with real hum- mus and olive oil. The first three flavors were Original, Roasted Garlic and Roasted Red Pepper, soon followed by Greek Lemon Herb and Honey Caramelized Onion. The hum- mus chips are certified kosher and made from the finest all-natural ingre- dients, with absolutely no preserva- tives, zero trans-fat and no genetic modification. Plocky's Greek Lemon Herb Hummus Chips were nominated for the 2012 Sweets & Snacks Most Innovative Products Award. The Hummus Chips are available in 3- ounce and 100-calorie bags. Owner Paul Cipolla credits Plocky's success to focusing on that simple goal: Healthy snacks that taste good. "We went through a lot of trial and error in the early days, trying to find some- thing that was different but that still tasted good," Paul Cipolla said. "But taste is the most important thing. A snack can be good for you, but it has to taste good for consumers to keep coming back for more." Consumers definitely keep coming back. For the past four years, Plocky's Fine Snacks has exported its unique flavors of Tortilla Chips and Hummus Chips internationally as well, to nine countries in Southeast Asia Pacific, Canada, the Middle East and Central America. Consumers can find Plocky's Fine Snacks in select specialty shops, natu- ral foods stores and finer supermarkets nationally or order online at www.plockys.com. For more information, visit www .plockys.com. ICON HELPS CREATE AFFORDABLE, FLEXIBLE LIGHTING SOLUTIONS Virtually every environment and venue can be dramatically enhanced by cre- ative lighting. Since 1947, ICON's lighting experts have been proving this true by designing site-specific lighting into a wide range of supermarket proj- ects. From produce department, bakery and deli, to check stand, customer serv- ice, warehouse and main sales floor, each design solves a specific problem, enhancing a particular environment, increasing energy efficiency and, in many cases, actually helping to improve the bottom line. Unlike some lighting manufactur- ing conglomerates that will sell you one of their products, plug it in and leave, ICON is a team of experienced creative problem-solvers who take you from concept to completion and beyond. Its team of designers, R&D, engineers, project managers and cus- tomer service representatives provide a seamless transition from fixture design to project completion. ICON will research and analyze your site, discuss your goals, factor in your financial parameters, conduct an energy audit and create a custom lighting plan with photometric analysis to optimize foot candle levels. This saves you money. Its experts' goal is to create a lighting solution within your budget that can evolve and change with your needs. To that end, it is always available to help you adjust and re-focus your lighting system. One of ICON's specialties is creat- ing a lighting system and delivering on time as needed. Because of its stream- lined in-house process, ICON has become known for meeting short dead- lines and working with contractors to make certain every specification is pre- cisely met and on time. ICON creates unique layouts incorporating state of the art standard products. Many of the ICON products are LED fixtures that are DLC listed and qualify for rebates and incentives. One of its latest featured products is its Prime23-LED with RS series spot lights – a unique track lighting system that combines exceptional linear ambient lighting with energy efficient spot lighting. Put the ideal amount of light exactly where you need it, with superior heat man- agement and consuming as little as 10 Watts of power per track light. Its pro- prietary optical lenses use a highly transmissive material ensuring mini- mal light loss while delivering beauti- fully uniform illumi- nation. ICON's eco- friendly lighting designs provide at least 50,000 hours of light, equivalent light output compared to traditional light sources such as CMH, halogen or incandes- cent, while cutting energy consumption by as much as 75 percent. This system is easily integrated with control sys- tems for low voltage dimming, occu- pancy and motion sensing and daylight harvesting. With virtually no UV or IR emissions, ICON LED lighting is instant on/instant off and prevents pre- mature ripening of produce, and will not fade materials such as packaging and fabrics. Make your fruits and veg- etables look their best! For additional information, contact sales@iconintl.net. THE THREE SECOND RULE COULD SAVE YOUR BOTTOM LINE It's no secret to FMI Connect 2015 attendees that occupational injuries have an impact on profitability – both directly and indirectly. However, many managers and safety directors are frus- trated with their apparent inability to achieve 100 percent compliance to safety and ergonomics initiatives. The Three Second Rule just may be the solution. With over 14 years of experience as the previous Director of Workplace Safety at Hannaford Supermarkets and Delhaize America, Brian Doe, current- ly Principal Hygienist at EHS Advantage LLC, adheres to the follow- ing guiding principle for ergonomic design: "Three seconds or less, without struggle." Doe's field experience with the application of ergonomic solutions in retail has yielded this conclusion: Even if a process or tool makes a task safer, employees won't implement it at the expense of efficiency. "This was par- ticularly the case," he says, "in high- volume locations where employees feel pressure to do whatever it takes to get the job done." This doesn't imply workers don't care about safety. On the contrary, after months of research and straight- forward conversations, Doe came to this conclusion: "At the expense of their own body, these employees were loyal to serving the customers." One hundred percent compliance is only possible when employees understand why a tool or procedure is necessary and when it doesn't interfere with productivity. Doe's conclusion was cemented when he discovered, in a busy retail environment, mere seconds could mean the difference between employees uti- lizing a safety tool or failing to do so and sub- jecting themselves to risk of injury. Enter the Three Second Rule: If the bene- fit of a tool is clearly demonstrated – and it can be implemented in three seconds or less, without struggle – employees are much more likely to use it, even when they're not being observed. And they may even thank you for it! An example of a tool that embod- ies the Three Second Rule principles is the patented C3 Caster-lift Shopping Cart Safety Rope, designed and manu- factured by Minneapolis-based C3 LLC. Due to its unique ergonomic ben- efits, maneuvering eight shopping carts with the C3 Safety Rope typical- ly requires less effort than five carts without. And using it takes only seconds. The C3 Safety Rope makes shopping cart retrieval easier, safer, even faster; as a result, employees not only understand its bene- fits, but they also use it and love it. Kay Kashanipour, Lead Customer Service Manager at Harmons Grocery, explains the effective five- minute exercise she conducts with her bagger trainees after showing them C3 LLC's nine minute training video: "I have them all compare the old strap pushing five carts to using the C3 [Safety Rope], pushing eight carts." The consensus with the C3 Safety Rope? "It is so much easier to control and push the carts," she says. "Thank you for making a great product that solves a long-standing issue." Fdor more information, go to C3LLC.com.