While many people found operating a business successfully during a pandemic to be an extremely challenging endeavor, Joe Cavey thought it would be the perfect time to take a leap of faith and launch his.
Unlike other prepared meal companies that follow a business model catering directly to consumers, Cavey has tailored Torn Apron to offer delicious, chef-prepared meals that are sold in hotels, grocery stores, micro-markets and convenience stores, coffee shops, healthcare facilities and other locales. Cavey himself is a chef, and he prepares each and every meal to be ready from the microwave in minutes.
Five months after installation, the ReeEco automatic tray sealer is doing its part to help make Torn Apron into a successful startup.
Ossid/Reepack Tray Sealer Helping to Make a Startup Brand into a Sweet-Tasting Success
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NARRATOR:
Starting a business during a pandemic is not for the faint of heart, but with the business model Joe Cavey had envisioned, it was the perfect opportunity to give his dream a shot at reality. Looking to tap into the growing popularity of pre-made meals, Joe’s idea was to deliver restaurant quality dishes that cater mainly to business travelers and other people on the move. And with that, Torn Apron was born.
CAVEY:
So, Torn Apron is a meal solutions concept that I developed back in July of last year and it’s really centered around fresh restaurant quality foods that are available in a variety of different retail settings to a pretty broad selection of different customers. I really wanted to create foods that were relatable to everyone, from a college student to a busy professional traveling on business. Just with a small selection of eight to 12 different menu items, I could have things that were ethnically diverse, that were healthful, that were minimally processed with fresh ingredients, and would be enjoyed by a lot of different people.
NARRATOR:
Unlike other prepared meal companies that follow a business model catering directly to consumers, Joe has tailored Torn Apron to offer delicious prepared meals, such as grilled pork tenderloin, Moroccan style pot roast, and meatballs marinara that are sold in hotels grocery stores micro-markets and convenience stores and other locales.
CAVEY:
It was interesting because a lot of the segments that I had traditionally done business with kind of went away. College, a lot of high volume segments, hotels, conventions, and a lot of places that I traditionally done business that just fell off a cliff. So quite frankly I felt the time was good to develop something that post COVID, when the hotels come back, business travel comes back or whatever that looks like there’s gonna be even you know greater demands for you know people to have foods where and when they need them.
NARRATOR:
For Joe, a professional chef by trade, freshness of his meals would be the key to Torn Apron’s success. The job of ensuring his meals stayed fresh and provide a crisp packaging appearance, was the ReeEco automatic tray sealer from Reepack
KAUFMAN:
The ReeEco is a good investment for Torn Apron simply because it’s a smaller machine, smaller footprint, however it does all the styles of packaging that they would need for the package that they’re looking for and that they’re doing right now.
NARRATOR:
The ReeEco can do three different styles of packaging; lidded, gas flush, and vacuum skin packaging, which is the style Torn Apron uses for its meal trays.
KAUFMAN:
Vacuum Skin Pack is a style of package where you’re getting a complete vacuum on the package, however the film is draped over the product so once it’s draped, it looks as if there’s no film over the product itself. However, you get a complete vacuum skin pack or vacuum package so it gives a longer shelf life.
CAVEY:
As a chef, the thing that I really appreciate about the vacuum seal skin packaging is that it allows the presentation of the dish to really shine through. You know you can really show the protein, you can show the color of the vegetable and quite frankly I wanted Torn Apron to be you know something that would be enjoyed with the eyes first as we say. You know, the first bite’s always with the eyes.
NARRATOR:
The ReeEco comes with a standard infeed conveyor that allows for up to three tray loading positions. It features easy tooling changeover and a user-friendly control panel. The ReeEco operates with electricity and does not require expensive compressed air. Torn Apron is packaging up to 1000 meals a day, four days a week for distribution mainly throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
CAVEY:
They’re an absolute leg of the stool right now for Torn Apron. Quite frankly, I mean this is my single vessel that I package my product in. I like the foundation that I have right now with the ReeEco machine that I have from Ossid and I like the functionality and the expandability of it as well.
NARRATOR:
Ossid is the North American master distributor of Reepack. This partnership completes Ossid’s breadth of product enabling it to consultatively recommend the best solution to it’s customers by directing them to the package style that best fits their application and production goals.
KAUFMAN:
Joe and I met through a film supplier, and he just contacted us after having a recommendation to go to Ossid. As soon as we met, we just kind of hit it off and we invited him down to Ossid to take a look at the tray sealer, we demo’d it for him and ever since then, it’s been full steam ahead.
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Ossid provides superior tray overwrapping, flow wrapping, weigh price labeling, case scales, and horizontal thermoform fill & seal machinery. We are committed to designing and building solutions that protect product quality and fully meet our customers’ production needs.