Produce in the mist

Misting vegetables and other fresh foods has almost become an automated art form.

Supermarket veterans likely can remember the days when produce department workers would turn on a hose to mist display items. These days, though, automation is the rule: About 90 percent of retailers now use automated misting systems. With automation a given, the latest innovations on the misting front are aimed at making systems less obtrusive, simpler to maintain and less likely to have problems because of stagnant water. Systems are using plastic rather than copper piping to lower maintenance. Those systems are balanced to avoid "dead water areas"--spots where water might collect and bacteria could grow. Nozzles also are being placed closer together to increase flexibility in setting up misting zones within a produce display, says Mike Corrigan, president of Corrigan Corp. of America, Gurnee, Ill.

Miatech Inc., Clackamas, Ore., has newer systems using water under higher pressure, usually between 95 and 125 pounds per square inch, compared with 40 to 90 pounds per square inch in older systems. The higher pressure fully cycles water through the pipes in a system, leaving none behind that could pick up possible contamination, says Quentin Ketchersid, sales manager.

Miatech also has gone to shorter misting periods, down to two seconds from 10 seconds. "The produce likes smaller amounts of water more often," Ketchersid explains. Another trend in misting systems is to install misting bars under a display as well as on top so produce on the bottom of display piles also can be misted. Low-profile systems that are less likely to attract consumer attention also are popping up in stores. "We're trying to make our systems more invisible," Ketchersid says. KES Science & Technology, a Kennesaw, Ga.-based company that makes misting systems, has a new low-profile mister, the Millennium System, which can fit in a 1-inch lip in front of a display case. It uses 150 pounds per square inch of pressure to pump out smaller droplets of water and to do so more quickly than older models could, says KES' Cherri Spearman, vice president of sales.

However, remember this Experts agree that not all produce needs to be misted. Misting actually can hurt berries, mushrooms and cauliflower

WASHING PRODUCE: STILL LABOR INTENSIVE

While misting has gone automatic, washing produce--whether for salad bars or other items--is still largely hands-on. But one Italian equipment maker is trying to change that by marketing an automatic produce washer/dryer system. With food safety issues always a concern, automatic washing could have a future if it lives up to its advance billing for ridding foods of dangerous bacteria.

Bacteria is "always a concern when water is around," notes Kathy Means, vice president at the Produce Marketing Association, Newark, Del. "Retailers obviously are paying close attention to safety."

Nilma, a Parma, Italy-based manufacturer, has food safety in mind with its automatic produce washers and dryers, notes Vlade Dobrohotoff, the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based U.S. partner for Nilma. Nilma machines can automatically wash produce without bruising it. The company began selling its line to hotels 13 years ago and now is reaching out to the supermarket trade.

Whole Foods is using a Nilma washer/dryer combo in a California commissary kitchen and has found it a labor-saver, says Jim Whitney, the facility team leader. The Los Angeles kitchen supplies prepared foods to roughly 20 Whole Food outlets in Southern California. Nilma's machine "gets off stuff you would have to scrape by hand before," Whitney says. He expects to see Whole Food commissary kitchens in other parts of the country use the equipment and thinks individual stores also might be interested.

KES also has a backroom crisping system that allows stores to wheel produce in plastic crates into the system and then wash and crisp items automatically.

Many stores still wash their produce the old-fashioned way--in sinks. Sink manufacturers are trying to make their products more user-friendly when it comes to producing washing.

American Delphi Inc., Westminster, Calif., sells sinks that have troughs in the back that can be used for sluicing produce refuse directly into garbage disposals, explains John Brown, marketing manager. "More and more places are putting in salad bars and deli areas," Brown notes. That means demand for sinks and washing systems also is increasing. Some stores are even washing items in front of consumers to instill a sense of the care they take in preparing items, Brown says.

American Delphi's most popular model includes a three-compartment sink with a trough in back that has flowing water sweeping refuse directly into a garbage disposal. The more produce waste put down a disposal, the less trash stores need hauled away and the lower their cartage bills.

THE SOUNDS OF SALAD

The use of sound with misting was originally designed merely to warn customers that the watering was about to begin.

But sound has come a long way, baby. Today, sound systems hold the promise of becoming advertising tools for stores. Some companies offer sound to go along with their misting systems.

Miatech Inc., has thunder and lightning and can offer up to a 20-second message on its systems. KES can do messages in Spanish and is moving into other store departments with sounds of cows, chickens, seagulls and even popping champagne corks. One store ordered Italian opera for its pasta case, says Cherri Spearman, vice president of sales. "It's a marketing tool," she explains.

Kids love sounds in misting systems. "It becomes the grocery store that the children want to go to," says Spearman. Roughly 70 percent of KES customers now use sound, she estimates. Corrigan Corp. of America, can offer up to four minutes of messages. "People are interested in announcing specials," said the corporation's president, Mike Corrigan.

Adding sound to a misting system requires a sound box and card. Corrigan's firm also can couple a transmitter to a system so it can receive messages via satellite from a central location. That allows a chain to broadcast specials to all its stores, ensuring message consistency.

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