WindMeals freshly cooked food contains all the goodness of home-style meals. Easy to do when you're small and local. And then your business grows...
WindMeals is part of the not-for-profit DutchCare community organisation, that runs aged care facilities and services throughout Melbourne for retirement living, home care and residential care.
It operates its own kitchen in Seaford, which is in addition to the kitchens in DutchCare’s aged care facilities. Its 10 staff produce approximately 75,000 meals a year in a kitchen that operates 10 hours each day, four days a week.
Customers can order online with more than forty nutritionally balanced meals to choose from.
Drivers deliver the meals Monday to Friday in refrigerated vans and will assist customers if they need their meals packed into their freezer.
GROWTH COMES WITH ITS OWN CHALLENGES
In the four years since WindMeals began, it has gone from a local start-up to an established business servicing hundreds of customers every week from Moe to Geelong.
WindMeals coordinator, Sue Pyper, had for some time been looking for a system that could automate the packaging of meals and make the process of packing and sealing meal trays more efficient.
“We were using foil trays with cardboard covers, but I felt these were impersonal as you couldn’t see the food and were not that attractive. Also, there was a perception they couldn’t be microwaved and when customers heated their meals in the oven, this had the potential to pose scalding risks,” Sue said.
“In looking for a change we tried plastic trays with clip-on lids but these had many drawbacks. We wanted an environmentally-friendly solution and one that would have a high return on investment.”
THE SOLUTION WAS ALREADY ON WINDMEAL’S DOORSTEP
Confoil was the existing supplier. When it became aware of the need to update, the packaging producer introduced WindMeals to its range of Oliver paperboard trays and automated sealing machinery. The benchtop sealer can comfortably package 300 meals per day and drastically reduce meal preparation hours.
The Oliver 1308 system comes with film lidding that has a generous overhang on the tray. Even though it is tamper evident, is very easy to open. The complete meal package can go in the microwave or oven and because the tray is made of a paperboard construction, which is a natural insulator, they are comfortable to handle straight from the oven.
The trays come in single or multi-cavity sizes and can be recycled. They are HACCP certified and are accredited under the Aged Care Standards.
THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING (CASSEROLE, BOERENKOOL…)
Before deciding on the Confoil Pack and Seal system, WindMeals sent out samples to customers and surveyed them to gauge their response.
“Feedback was very positive,” Pyper confirmed. “Customers found it very user friendly. They could see the food and found it easy to peel back the film. And because the film is perforated the steam that escapes is not as much as with alternative systems.
“The greatest benefit to customers though is that they can take the meal direct from the freezer and pop it in the microwave or oven and remove it without the danger of burning themselves on the tray. The trays are never brittle and can withstand temperatures of –40°C to 210°C.
“The tray is also attractive, so there are lots of positives. I don’t think there has ever been a negative comment on the actual container. Plus, it is recyclable.”
THE SURPRISE ENDING
Operationally, WindMeals is benefiting from the Confoil system through better control of wastage.
“Because our process is portion controlled and we have set menus, you can monitor your wastage better. It’s a direct benefit because we know how much labour is needed for how long to produce the stock that’s on the menu that week or month.
“We use the dual compartment tray and desert tray and seal the soup cups as well with the film lidding.
“If we do happen to have excess product, we can label and distribute it in containers to send to our sites.”
BENEFITS BETWEEN FRIENDS
The benefits to WindMeals in using the Confoil system include:
- Faster meal processing, which saves time and money.
- Meals can be stacked on top of each other, which saves space in the freezer and van.
- The equipment is simple to use with just an on/off switch so technical staff or specialised training isn’t required.
- Using the Confoil system allows WindMeals to run the kitchen four days a week, which reduces overheads.
- Customers are delighted with the attractive design and ease of use. The convenience of freezer to oven/microwave means they can eat straight from the tray or decant on to a plate.
- Ordering via the website has grown since it went online last year and because of the automated sealing system, WindMeals has been able to handle the increased business.
- The reduction in hot steam escaping upon peel-back due to the perforated, anti-fog film lidding makes it safer for customers.
- A very pleasing return on investment.
