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Accent On Quality Lighting Gives Deli Cases That Extra Eye Appeal

By JOHN KOVACS

Understanding that Americans shop with their eyes challenges deli managers to pay closer attention to display case lighting. And to those businesses who have made the switch to specialty lighting, the pay off is an increase in company profits.

"If something looks good to us we tend to buy it," explains Barry Nauroth, President of Front Line, the Northern California distributor of Promolux specialty lamps (www.promolux.com). "Whereas in Europe, and in other countries, there is more sampling and people taste things before they make a decision to purchase."

Today specialty lighting is the fastest growing trend in deli retailing because of it's ability to preserve shelf life while giving deli products some great eye appeal. Promolux specialty lamps produce such spectacular color, they make things look as they naturally should. "Color renderings are so good, the products just jump out at you with freshness," Nauroth says.

In fact, the company states the lights are designed to enhance various shades of red specific to each cut of deli meat, while illuminating the pure white of fat and skin. Moreover, low UV radiation emitted by a Promolux light source keeps a longer bloom on red meat, reduces drying of sliced deli items and increases overall shelf life.

The unique thing about Promolux lamps is they make products last substantially longer and things look much more appealing," Nauroth says.

Jamie Orr, Regional Sales Manager for Promolux Inc. says it is not uncommon to find a light source placed just inches away from deli product. "Every deli manager knows regular lamps warm up merchandise and discolor meat slices to a dull gray while increasing the drying of cheese slices," say Orr. "You really notice this in fresh meat, shaved deli, roast beef and fresh sausage," he says. "Promolux doesn't do this because it produces 87 per cent less radiation than regular lamps."

The reason regular lighting fails to perform well in deli display cases is a standard 40 watt lamp results in 60 per cent of the energy being converted to UV radiation or approximately 24 watts. However, only 21 per cent of this energy or 8.5 watts is transformed into light. The remaining 39 per cent of the UV energy and a total of 77 per cent of the total energy used by the lamp is transformed into heat, infrared and radiated energy. Only 23 per cent of the total lamp wattage is actually transformed into visible spectrum of light.

"In deli displays, ultraviolet radiation (UV) exposure from general-purpose lamps encourages bacterial growth, enzymes, dehydration and oxidation which break down product appearance," Orr says.

Nauroth says in any given week a deli manager will typically experience lunch meats drying out and cheeses will get that dried look and will continually have to be topped. "There is a good deal of throw away. He says wastage has been confirmed in test situations, particularly in deli and even more particularly if the lights are close to the product. Sometimes the lights are only inches away, he adds. "There's been documentation of a substantial reduction in shrink, that offsets the cost of the lights very quickly."

"Many deli departments discard as much as 5 to 10 pounds of product each day due to drying and discoloration," says Orr. "This quickly adds up when continually resurfacing deli loaves and cheeses, trimming shaved deli meats, skimming the surface of salads and other prepared foods," he explains. "By using Promolux lights, retailers typically experience from one to three days of extra shelf life, depending on the sensitivity of the deli item exposed to UV from regular lamps."

A decrease in premature spoilage or shrinkage and a boost in profit margins in a deli department are easily achieved by replacing display case light bulbs with Promolux. These lamps are specifically designed for specialized areas such as displays of perishable foods. They provide a perfect balance of color output to reveal the highest contrast for each and every shade of natural color that exists in deli display. Promolux lamps are also approved in writing by health officials for applications such as meat display, according to the company.

"Today, consumers are demanding premium quality freshness, and if they don't find it in your deli display cases, they'll not purchase," Orr says. "Upgrading your lighting display cases to our Promolux specialty lamps will save you money by increasing shelf life and by increasing consumer impulse purchases."

Nauroth says deli managers consider Promolux an ideal investment since in many cases extended shelf life alone will pay for the bulbs in less than three months. "An individual store might spend $7,000 to $10,000 more a year on lighting but because of the prices they are charging for their products, and the quality of their products, and the importance of shrink - which applies to all grocery companies," says Nauroth.

"It's worth the added investment if you have a fifteen dollar piece of specialty meat or specialty fish and you're losing five or 10 per cent of it because of lamps," he says. "That's worse than if you only have a six dollar item.

Promolux lamps are being used in increasing favor in specialty shops and high-end operations which are not trying to look like Ralph's and Lucky's and Safeway. They are trying to look different, they give a presentation of high end, high quality, says Nauroth, much better than you can get in the standard grocery store.

Promolux has been established in Europe for more than twenty years and for fifteen years in North America through its Canadian subsidiary, MGV Inc. Promolux manufactures lamps for many markets, in North America and abroad, so worldwide standards are maintained.

Promolux lamps are multi-coated with rare earth phosphors that are most often found in television picture tubes coating. It is a more expensive coating process than used in making fluorescent lamps. Additional special coatings are used to control UV radiation and to protect the lamps from changing their faithful color reproduction. Additional technical information is available on the Promolux website at http://www.promolux.com