Jungle Jim’s International Market isn’t your typical grocery store; it’s a destination for food lovers. The market has grown over the years from a simple roadside stand to a 300,000-square-foot food extravaganza, offering more than 150,000 different items from over 75 countries around the globe.

The market, located near Cincinnati, Ohio, is noted for having one of the largest wine collections in the United States, live seafood tanks and an in-store cooking school, in addition to a 1,000-person event center, where private receptions and trade shows are held. Each week, 50,000 shoppers visit Jungle Jim’s, may of whom visit from other cities and states, for the store’s wide variety of foods and unique shopping experience.

Weigh-Wrap Machine Downtime Leads to Higher Labor Costs

Over the past few years, Jungle Jim’s legacy weigh-wrap machine was continually breaking down. Since there was only one certified food-equipment technician in the area, the machine could be down for several days.

“One of the reasons our former machine was out of commission was because it couldn’t keep up with the high volume of Jungle Jim’s Gourmet Meat Shoppe,” says Phill Adams, director of development for Jungle Jim's International Market.

Although Jungle Jim’s did have a hand-wrap station that could accommodate for the downtime, hand-wrapping meat products took longer and resulted in a higher labor cost per package.

“The machine was too complicated. Even minor maintenance, such as replacing a sensor, which we’d typically do ourselves, required a certified technician,” says Adams.

In addition to the maintenance issues, Jungle Jim’s was not happy with the quality of wrap from the former machine, as well as the fact that the film wrap, which was costly, was available only from one specific supplier.

Reduced Labor and Film Costs

Jungle Jim’s has other Hobart equipment on site and has always been pleased with its reliability and performance. To experience that reliability in the Meat Shoppe, Adams purchased Hobart’s Access Wrapping System (AWS).

Hobart’s AWS offers beautifully wrapped packages while economizing on film. It’s easy to use and has an integrated scale and label applier that reduces floor-space requirements.

Since replacing the previous weigh-wrap machine, Jungle Jim’s has experienced no downtime with the Hobart AWS. This result translates into reduced repair costs and increased labor efficiency.

“With the AWS, we’re using 50 percent less film compared to our old machine,” says Adams. “Furthermore, the AWS film is more cost-efficient because we can purchase film from multiple distributors. With our last weigh wrapper, we had to purchase film from one local distributor and were locked into one purchase price.”

Adams explains wrap quality has greatly improved with the new machine. A better wrap ensures a tighter fit and reduces the likelihood of cross-contamination. It also delivers a more appealing product presentation to the customer.

“The AWS wrap quality is vastly superior to that of our previous wrapper. I don’t recall any customer complaints with our old wrap, but they had to wonder,” he says. “Since we move such a large volume of meat, we didn’t experience any shrink due to wrap quality, but a store with a lower volume might have seen an impact on sales.”

The Hobart AWS has also improved labeling. The AWS automatically centers, wraps and labels trays, which saves time and increases quality, and Jungle Jim’s Meat Shoppe staff does not have to reliable or reorient packages.

Lastly, the machine is smaller and takes up one-third less space than Jungle Jim’s previous machine. Having more space in the Meat Shoppe makes it easier and safer for employees to maneuver meat carts throughout the back room.

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