Farm shop keeps track of the recipe

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 4, 2003

Chatsworth Farm Shop has celebrated its 25th anniversary by supplementing its range of Bizerba weighing systems in order to cope with increased customer demand.

Chatsworth Farm Shop has celebrated its 25th anniversary by supplementing its range of Bizerba weighing systems in order to cope with increased customer demand.

The recent acquisitions are the latest to emerge from a long-term relationship that has helped both companies establish reputations for quality and service.

Chatsworth Farm Shop's renowned butchers, bakers and delicatessen attract visitors from far and wide to sample the quality fare sold at the converted stud farm in Derbyshire.

Andrew Flemming, Team Manager at Chatsworth Farm Shop, admits, however, that success has its limitations.

"Although we have a supermarket's turnover, we don't have its floor space and can't afford queues because they impede the visitors in the shopping area".

With Bizerba's expertise, the prestigious outlet has developed an integrated management system that keeps queues to an absolute minimum.

Employing a number of modern electronic scales on the butchery and delicatessen counters including seven devices acting as checkout tills, the system is based on the Windows-based software solution Eureka, which links the terminals together and provides back-office management control.

The network's ability to provide complete stock and pricing control, and daily sales and management reports convinced Andrew to hire three additional machines to cope with additional custom.

Flemming explains that no matter how busy it gets, the system can cope with the required customer throughput.

As customers enter the shop, they are allocated a card as they begin their visit and subsequent acquisitions are added to their associated virtual account.

The bill is collated at a touch of button when the customer checks out.

"Since we don't have to key in everything twice, it speeds up the tills and reduces the queues".

Behind the scenes, Bizerba's weighing systems are also helping Chatsworth Farm Shop establish more efficient baking methods.

Andre Birkett, who is one of three team managers, explains: "Our baker uses Bizerba's Recipe Formulation system to prepare all the bread and early-morning goods.

A second system looks after the cakes and puddings, and third is used to prepare cooked meats, pates and pies".

Each system consists of an intelligent weighing terminal, which guides the operator through the recipe formulation process, a weighing platform, to ensure accurate measurement of each ingredient, and central PC containing the ingredient and recipe databases.

Chatsworth Farm Shop's second Recipe Formulation system was acquired in June 2002.

Birkett says the versatile systems enable the company to formulate recipes quickly and train new staff.

"Because the ingredient information is fed directly into the computer and this information is conveyed to the operator through detailed prompts, an apprentice can bake new recipes with relative ease".

The detailed prompts, which prohibit progress if excessive or insufficient amounts of ingredient are added, help the shop to maintain its famously high standards.

In addition, they minimise mistakes and, since the systems are linked to Eureka, also provide a detailed record of the completed recipes and associated sales.

"The Recipe Formulation system is fool-proof and helps us guarantee the quality our products".

Chatsworth Farm Shop uses Bizerba's technology to prepare, measure and label the enormous range of foodstuffs that is produced on the premises on a daily basis.

The scope of this use extends to thermal printers, hanging scales and gravity feed slicers.

"Because the shop has grown in terms of size, our use of Bizerba's equipment has evolved over the years", Flemming admits.

"As a result, all of Bizerba's machines are important to us because they gives us our stock, sales and labelling information.

We simply couldn't be without them".