With retail sales topping $4.0 billion, Roundy’s Supermarkets is well known throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois. Roundy’s food production facility, located in Kenosha, WI, is central to the chain’s operation and occupies 120,000 square-feet. It is comprised of multiple, separate food processing capabilities under one roof, encompassing meat processing, dairy foods manufacturing, baked goods production, bottling of prepared drinks, and preparation of a wide selection of fresh deli foods. Selling a high volume of freshly-prepared soups and salads, its store delis require constant preparation of pasta and potatoes as key ingredients.
When Roundy’s first began preparing fresh soups and salads in 2007, it relied on a chain-driven, semi-continuous conveyor batch process system for cooking and cooling its pasta and potatoes. Unfortunately, this process was problematic with uneven cooking and cooling.