jobwerx Manufacturing News

Hooper, food or medical packaging equipment?

INSIGHT

March 13, 2002 Sarasota, FL. -

Founded in 1974, the southern Manatee County company originally produced packaging machines for the food industry but later switched to making medical packaging machines, which now account for 80 percent of its sales.

Now, Hooper is producing food-packaging machines again. The company predicts that in 10 years, 70 percent of its machines will be used by meatpacking companies and supermarkets.

"The process takes the meat from the majors, delivers it to grocery stores and gets rid of the middle man," said Hooper President Jon Ford. "It's fresher and safer."

It's also cheaper. Annual savings to a supermarket can amount to more than $20,000 per year, according to the American Meat Institute of Arlington, Va.

Switching to food packaging doesn't mean Hooper is about to abandon its medical packaging business. It means demand for food packaging machines will escalate, Ford said.

According to the meat institute, about 1.2 billion case-ready meat packages hit supermarket display cases in 2000. That's expected to jump to 2.8 billion by 2005 and to 9 billion by 2012.

Harpak Inc., a Massachusetts package maker already in the case- ready package market, saw the potential. And last year, it purchased Hooper.

Harpak imports Mondini packaging machines from Italy, which take plastic wrap, Styrofoam trays and meat products and spit out labeled, case-ready packages.

Hooper is making the machines that produce the Styrofoam trays. The company began designing the machines last summer and was producing them by the fall. Sales initially sputtered, but Ford said they've taken off since the beginning of the year.

Last year, Hooper moved into a 35,000-square-foot plant. It hired 20 employees, bringing its total to 50, and it's hoping to increase production from 24 to 50 machines per year.

Customers include Farmland Industries, a Kansas meatpacking company, and Publix Super Markets, which purchased the machines to package meat and other products at its central processing plant in Lakeland.

As to the fate of in-store butchers, Publix spokesman Lee Brunson said they need not worry. "We will never not need butchers in our stores," he said. "We're not changing present operations."

WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK.

Did you find this material interesting?

Do you want more information of this type?

Comment via FEEDBACK

What related topics would you like to see covered?

What additional information on this topic would you find useful?

Source: Sarasota Herald Tribune

Please patronize our many sponsors, affiliates and advertisers today so that we may bring you more advanced services tomorrow. Have you seen the great deals from top brand name manufacturers?

Jobwerx makes no representation as to the accuracy of information transmitted herein.