rewrap

Although sanitation was not mentioned to the department manager or employees during the pre-baseline and baseline periods, observation of labor, chemicals, product and storage temperatures, and rewraps, and ground beef sampling may have provided strong clues as to the nature of the study.

Although the number of reworks, distressed items, and rewraps increased during the post-training period (an increase of 334 items), reprocess losses from waste were cut by 30.6% due in large part to improved sanitation and extended shelf life.

The purpose of this study was to measure the potential for increasing profits in a retail meat department using improved sanitation practices to decrease the amount of product rework and rewrap, to extend shelf life, and to reduce overall labor costs.

Qualitative and quantitative data recorded during the pre-baseline, baseline, training, and post-training periods included: 1) time of day and temperature of meat products, coolers, cutting rooms and display cases during delivery, storage, processing, and display; 2) costs associated with the sanitation program as measured by the type and amount of chemicals, cleaning supplies, and labor devoted exclusively to sanitation activities in the meat department; 3) rewrap costs (product and labor); 4) product volume and prices (wholesale and retail); 5) inspection notes and observations recorded by researcher; 6) shelf life and color of meat products; and 7) customer complaints recorded by the department manager.

The program permits retailers to recycle polystyrene products from its backroom rewraps and break rooms, as well as accepting polystyrene from consumers for recycling.

Now, the plant vacuum packs individual retail-size chunks, eliminating store rewraps.