Real Solutions For Real Products

A market leading consumer products company engaged Wornick to extend a product’s brand equity from a standard glass jar into a more convenient packaging format. Through intense collaboration and astute industry observations, Wornick and the company successfully developed an entire new product line of microwaveable multiple compartment meals. These new offerings provided consumer convenience and allowed the company to play in a category with additional SKUS, resulting in higher retail prices and more robust margins.

Product features include:

  • Increased convenience
  • Improved quality
  • Multiple component addition
  • Microwaveable
  • Multiple compartments
  • Disposable single serve tray

Wornick’s skilled R&D and culinary staff worked jointly with the company to complete bench top formulation development followed by plant production trials that demonstrated the quality improvement offered by Wornick’s flexible packaging.

A streamlined process for completing all of the critical product qualification tests was developed including:

  • shelf life analysis
  • packaging development
  • shipping studies
  • sales sample support

Wornick provided a number of manufacturing capabilities to support the unique product requirements:

  • Raw material inspection
  • Temperature controlled storage
  • Lot tracking
  • Kettle Batching and Blending
  • Multiple filling technologies
  • Demonstrated container integrity
  • USDA inspection
  • In house process authority
  • Auto check weighing
  • Automated retort loading/unloading
  • High speed cartoning
  • Metal Detection
  • Gas flush capabilities

The ambitious nature of this new product also required a significant capital investment for the installation of dedicated production lines. Working with a true partnership mentality, Wornick offered flexible financing options. Our engineering services team acted nimbly in the design, installation and start up of all the new equipment, ensuring a working system that met the crucial launch dates. With some creative thinking and adaptability, Wornick reduced the company's capital exposure by over 50% by redeploying available infrastructure, retort and packaging capacity.

From initial concept to shipment this visionary venture took only 11 months, earning the distinction as "the most successful product launch in our history," according to the customer. In fact, the new product offerings have been so successful, initial estimates have been doubled, resulting in a contract extension and installation of a second line to support the swift growth.