Bob Evans: Comfort food at your convenience...
Our next stop was the Kettle Creations factory in Lima, which was acquired by the BEF Foods subsidiary of MidWest restaurant chain and grocery products giant Bob Evans last year for $50m.
Its key products are refrigerated mashed potato, Mac & Cheese, green bean casserole and other convenient side dishes.
The site, which opened its doors in 2009 and still looks brand new, has been expanding rapidly, with a third production line coming online two months ago capable of handling 9,000lbs of potatoes an hour and work now commencing on a fourth that could handle 15,000 lbs/hour.
We're seeing a growing demand for convenient meal solutions
While it's pretty easy to make mashed potato at home, more and more Americans are choosing to buy it ready-made at the supermarket, says Bob Evans corporate communications chief Margaret Standing.
"We're seeing a growing demand for convenient meal solutions and many of our customers are increasing the space they allocate to their cold cases. People are looking to top up main dishes with pre-prepared sides because they haven't got time to do everything from scratch, but we also see lots of opportunities in frozen handheld breakfast products."
While Bob Evans' BEF Foods division has undergone significant restructuring recently (it has closed some fresh sausage facilities), overall, its grocery products business - which supplies retailers nationwide with products under the Bob Evans and Owen's brands - is growing, she said. (Q2 net sales at BEF Foods were up 10.6%)
"And it's not just where we have Bob Evans restaurants [which are focused in the MidWest and the South]. We're growing everywhere."
We started in 2009 with 22 people, now we have 227
At the Kettle Creations plant, which opened in 2009 with Bob Evans as its first customer, the growth has been nothing short of meteoric, says director of R&D Keith Stoll.
"When we started, we had 22 people, now we have 227."
Managing production efficiently throughout the year can be a challenge as the products have a relatively short shelf-life (typically around 60 days) and demand is very seasonal, ramping up strongly as the holiday season begins, he says. "Right now, it's like Las Vegas in here, we're running 24:7.
"We hot fill the mashed potato, and then chill it very fast using a spiral water chilling system, which is quite unusual."
