Instore - December 2018 - 32

INSIGHT INSIDER

The bread - which has gone through years
of research and development - is produced
in its own bakery within the Raybern's production facility, which has been just south
of Tupelo, Mississippi, since 2015.
"We make millions and millions of loaves
of our hoagie bread every year. It really is
something that our consumers recognize,"
Gomes says. "They're pleasantly surprised
when they try our bread and realize how
soft and nice it is. It's an unexpected delight."

touches. "We still have to hand-wrap all our
sandwiches, so there's a lot of manual labor
on that side. We have a lot of people who are
working on the line, taking each sandwich,
hand-wrapping it in the butcher wrap. It's
that kind of fi nishing touch that gives it that
authentic deli style feel."
And while the bread gets a lot of the top
billing, Gomes points out that what goes
between the slices is just as big of a focus
for Raybern's, especially with the' healthminded shopping of today's consumers.

That high-quality bread is even more important in today's market, where consumers are increasingly moving toward artisan
baked goods.

"One thing that we really focus on and deliver on is consumers looking for protein,"
she says. "Our sandwiches have a lot of
meat and deliver a lot of protein."

"Grocery stores have been seeing a rise in
sales in that part of the store. I think people
really do appreciate artisanal breads and
are exploring a lot of new kinds of breads,"
Gomes says. "I think given that kind of appreciation that's going on from the consumer, they really recognize that we have something special with bread that tastes as good
as it does coming out of the microwave."

Most sandwiches, Gomes says, typically
contain around 20 grams of protein.

In half of the 146,000-square-foot facility -
which was part of a $10 million investment
- the bread is baked and prepared.
In the other half, meats are cooked and
sliced, cheeses are sliced, and then the
sandwiches are assembled and packaged,
which happens by hand.
"When we say it's hand-crafted, there's a
lot of work that we're doing to make these
sandwiches in our factory," Gomes says,
pointing out the importance of the fi nishing

"That's something that we want to made
sure we continue to deliver on," she says.
"There's a demand for a fulfi lling sandwich
that gives you the healthy protein you're
looking for."
That protein ranges from the thinly slices, seasoned beef of the heralded Philly
Cheeseteak to the pepperoni and sausage
in the Italian Style Supreme.
Other meats include a southwest-style beef
on the Southwest Chipotle Steak, smoked
ham on the Ham & Swiss on pretzel, white
meat chicken on the Chicken Bacon Ranch
and slow-cooked barbecue pork on the Brbecue Pulled Pork.
Raybern's also has a line of breakfast sandwiches, including bacon, ham and sausage.

The company also released the MEGA
Philly Cheesesteak, which it says increases
the typical amount of beef and cheese by
50 percent.

Remaining ﬂexible
While the hand-crafted touch of the sandwiches is key, the simple fact is that Raybern's produces so many of its sandwiches
- more than 35 million if you're counting
- that a fast, steady production speed is
incredibly important.
Even more important is fi nding ways to
fi ne-tune the process, which is what the
company did with high-speed slicers from
Weber. "We're vertically integrated and are
making everything ourselves," Gomes says.
"We found that the high-speed slicers really
help us thinly slice and shave our meats and
then automatically weigh out the portions
we need on the sandwich. We want to make
sure we have great consistency across all
our sandwiches. That's something that has
helped a lot in getting a nice slice with all
of our meats."

"What we see a lot today is
that consumers are looking to
explore more with the types of
sandwiches they're eating."
MARISSA GOMES, RAYBERN FOODS

Raybern Foods was acquired by Canadian
company Premium Brands Holding Corp.
in November 2017 in a combined purchase
that also included Buddy's Kitchen and
Shaw Bakers for $115 million.
Raybern's now sits under the umbrella of
SK Food Group, another Premium Brands
company that operates six production and
warehousing facilities across the country.
"We just have the one facility, but SK Food
Group has six," Gomes says. "If we have
certain things that we need to do, we can
defi nitely leverage the strength of the SK
Food Group network to produce it."

Raybern's says its Philly Cheeseteak is the top-selling cheesteak in the U.S.

32 * DECEMBER 2018 * commissary INSIDER

That helps with the need for flexibility,
which is continually tested by changing
consumer demands. Lately, Gomes says,
it has been the rise in popularity of bold,
ethnic and unique fl avors that has spurred
Raybern's into development mode.

Instore - December 2018

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