Food preparation right before the customer’s eyes
At IFFA, Bayha & Strackbein GmbH (Arnsberg, Germany) presented its “BASTRASmart500”, a new type of system that generates additional freshness, quality and variety in butcher’s shops or at the service counters in food retail, stimulating additional customer needs. Equipped with Bastra’s tried and tested, environmentally friendly smoke condensate technology, this system can create fresh meat and sausage products through hot and cold smoking, cooking, roasting, steaming, drying and reddening or process fish, poultry and cheese. According to the manufacturer, this system can also be used for the production of a wide variety of foods for immediate consumption as well as high-quality convenience products that customers can purchase and prepare easily at home.
Thanks to its compact design, the system can be integrated into practically any shop concept. Its multi-functionality makes it suitable for use not only in “transparent production” but also at the hot-food counter or in restaurants. According to Bastra Managing Director Claudia Buse, the added value of the products created in this way offers opportunities for increasing customer retention and value creation on a sustainable basis. As with front cooking, this system offers customers a first-hand experience of the production process for products that are then available for purchase. This allows shop owners to keep the promise of “What you see is what you get”, communicating to the customer a high level of reliability and credibility in a direct and binding manner. Experience has shown that, through direct visual - or also sensory - stimuli, spontaneous customer needs can be stimulated, which can lead to impulse purchases.
With these features, the “BASTRASmart500” can serve as an effective marketing instrument: with products and special foods prepared fresh daily, the system offers its operator numerous options for winning new customers and stimulating their interest in the shop’s other products. The fundamental success factors for this system are a high level of transparency in the production and preparation of foods and the freshness, quality and variety of the products used. According to the manufacturer, the system can help shops - particularly butcher’s shops - better meet the needs of quality-conscious consumers and develop products, for example, for the growing number of single-person and senior-citizen households.
The system is operated by means of a Bastra MC 500 microprocessor control unit, which allows for up to 99 programs with 30 processing steps each. Standard features include automatic compressed air cleaning, an integrated cooling shower, continuous air circulation and automatic vents for fresh and exhaust air. Safety-glass doors and cooling systems for connection to on-site refrigerators are among the optional equipment available.
The system can operate at temperatures of up to 180 °C (356 °F). With a usable chamber volume of 430 litres (15 cubic feet), it is also a useful and multifunctional piece of equipment for caterers and party services. The integrated receiving frame can hold either 8 size-GN 2/1 or 16 size-GN 1/1 containers or trays, as well as smoke sticks and wire racks.