Jungle Jim's International Market - Case Study

Customer Profile:

Jungle Jim’s International Market isn’t your typical grocery store; it’s a destination for food lovers. Jungle Jim’s 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 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. In fact, customers have been known to drive from other cities, and even states, for the store’s wide variety of foods and unique shopping experience.

“The AWS wrap quality is vastly superior to that of our legacy wrapper. I don’t recall any customer complaints with our old wrap, but they had to wonder. 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.”
Phill Adams, director of development, Jungle Jim’s International Market

Challenge:

Jungle Jim’s legacy weigh-wrap machine was inoperative several times over the past two years. Because there was only one certified food-equipment technician in the area, the machine would be down for up to two days. Jungle Jim’s did have a hand-wrap station that could accommodate for the downtime, but hand-wrapping meat products took longer and resulted in a higher labor cost per package.

One of the reasons the former machine was out of commission was because it couldn’t keep up with the high volume of Jungle Jim’s Gourmet Meat Shoppe.

Jungle Jim’s staff thought the machine was too complicated and that even minor maintenance, such as replacing a sensor, which staff could typically repair themselves, had to be outsourced to a certified technician.

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 was available only from one specific supplier, which was costly.

Solution:

Objectives:

• Replace the legacy weigh-wrap machine with a more reliable unit that could handle the large volume of Jungle Jim’s Meat Shoppe.
• Improve meat-wrap quality.
• Lower wrap purchasing costs.

“With our legacy weigh wrapper, there was only one technician in the area, and maintenance could take two days or longer. With Hobart, we have access to a large local service workforce. They are always close by to install, maintain and service our equipment.”
Phill Adams

Hobart Products Involved:

• Hobart’s Access Wrapping System (AWS) offers beautifully wrapped packages while economizing on film, topped by high-resolution printed labels with smaller bar codes, leaving more room for merchandising.
• The AWS is easy to use. Operators simply put the tray on the intake, and the AWS centers, wraps and labels it.
• The AWS has an integrated scale and label applier that reduces floor-space requirements.
• The AWS gives the IT manager access—the ability to network the system on the scale’s Internet-based platform.

Actions Taken:

• Jungle Jim’s installed a Hobart AWS in its Meat Shoppe.
• The former weigh-wrap machine was removed from the Meat Shoppe and relocated to the bulk produce department to handle their overflow.

Results:

“We’ve always been satisfied with Hobart equipment and service. We have several pieces of Hobart equipment on site and have been very happy with their performance and reliability.”
Phill Adams

• Eliminate downtime and increase efficiency: 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.
• Reduce film costs: Jungle Jim’s uses 50 percent less film with the Hobart AWS compared to its legacy machine. Furthermore, the AWS film is more cost-efficient, as Jungle Jim’s can purchase from multiple distributors. With its former weigh-wrap equipment, Jungle Jim’s had to purchase film from one local distributor and was locked into one purchase price.
• Increase food safety with a higher-quality wrap: Hobart’s AWS delivers a much better quality of wrap, which ensures a tighter fit and reduces the likelihood of cross-contamination. It also delivers a more appealing product presentation to the customer.
• Save labor and time: With the Hobart AWS, Jungle Jim’s Meat Shoppe staff does not have to relabel or reorient packages. The AWS automatically centers, wraps and labels trays, which saves time and increases quality. The film also takes less time to load compared to the legacy machine. The AWS allows both side and back access to the film area. Operators can even load film with one hand—the film slides on the shaft and centers automatically.
• Safe space, increase back-room safety: Hobart’s AWS 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.

Hobart is the world leader in commercial food equipment and service for the foodservice and food retail industries. Hobart manufactures products for warewashing and waste handling; food preparation; cooking; weighing, wrapping and labeling systems; and Traulsen refrigeration and Baxter baking. Hobart equipment is supported by a national network of nearly 1,700 factory-trained service technicians and 200 locations across the United States. To learn more about Hobart, visit www.hobartcorp.com.

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