Food Manufacturing - November/December 2016

carrots and the green beans. The carrots are the Carrot Cuties, and the green beans are Cool Beans.

FM: How did the OH SNAP! product
line come about? Why was this type of
product a good fit for GLK Foods?

RMD: You kind of look for — what are
your facilities certified to do? And things
that are high acid, we can do … So just
looking at opportunities there. And it just
occurred to me that there’s a void. We eat
a lot of pickles in this country, and more
and more people, they’re interested in
convenience. I tried the (single-serving
pickle) products that existed in the
market, and I wasn’t exactly blown away,
and just thought it was time for something
different. It was really that basic. And
it was something that we could kind of
step into without going crazy and see if
it does have legs. And it demonstrated it
has, so now we started brining our own
cucumbers, we’re … getting deeper into
the supply chain, and then we’re going to
fully automate all the (pickle) packaging
and see where it goes. It’s been fun.

FM: GLK Foods will launch its GoBitos brand of roasted chickpeas in multiple flavors in November 2016. What kind of equipment did the company have to invest in to accommodate the product line?

RMD: Pre-formed pouch packaging
equipment, but that’s kind of common
among food products … We have a
large industrial-sized roaster from
(Texas company) AC Horn … That was
a special piece of equipment that was
unlike anything we have in our
operation.

We have a pre-roasting oven that takes excess moisture off of the product before the main roast, and then there’s the soaking equipment. A chickpea, when it comes to us, is in a dry (state), I think it’s at like 13 percent moisture, or something like that. We have to soak it … and then you roast and then you season. And the seasoning equipment we have is unique, too.

FM: What do you believe sets GLK
Foods products apart from others in
the marketplace?

RMD: On the kraut side, it’s really that we’ve focused on this business like nobody else has. Kraut is a relatively simple product, but it requires a fair bit In 2016, the company added roasting capabilities at its Bear Creek facility. GLK Foods plans to launch its GoBitos brand of roasted chickpeas in November 2016. Flavors will include: Aged White Cheddar, Sweet & Hot Thai Chili, Tangy Ranch, Hot Hot Hot Ghost Pepper and Garlic Parm.