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Specialized Lighting Offers Fresher Looking Deli For Hungry New Yorker Commuters

By JOHN KOVACS

Lighting a path to the finest selection of food in New York may be as simple as changing a few light bulbs. But the choice of light may also be the difference between burning your deli profits and getting busy commuters to stop and grab your food product.

Ed Yuter, president of Yuter Marketing, supplying small New York retail stores (not supermarkets) and the nicer corporate cafeterias with Federal Display cases pre-fitted with high fidelity Promolux Lighting.

"I don't have to push it on them, Promolux lamps make food more appetizing," Yuter says. "And in Manhattan, they like to put them in their own corporate cafeterias."

Paul Norris, Promolux North American Sales Manager says getting the lighting details of a corporate cafeteria just right is important. "In a highly mobile American workforce, food service is one employee perk that is not underestimated by corporations," Norris says. "The theory is, a happy workforce is less likely to leave." However, it's not just about good looking food, Promolux accent lamps are uniquely manufactured with three rare phosphor coatings which result in a lamp that emits 87 per cent less harmful ultraviolet radiation than general use fluorescent lamps.

"In prepared food displays, ultraviolet radiation exposure from general-purpose lamps encourage bacterial growth, enzymes, dehydration and oxidation, which break down product appearance," Norris says.

Promolux lamps are specifically designed so the natural color of fresh merchandise is kept while reducing the problems of surface fading, discoloration and drying from UV emission emitted by general purpose lamps. A decrease in premature spoilage or shrinkage adds a boost in profit margins for the prepared food service manager. Company officials explain this is easily achieved by replacing display case light bulbs with Promolux. The specialized accent lamps are approved in writing by health officials for applications such as meat display.

The reason regular lighting fails to perform as well in deli display cases is because 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. Also, general fluorescent bulbs are engineered to emit rays of light at the yellow and green end of the visible spectrum to increase efficiency. This washes colors out but even more harmful is the close proximity of these lights radiating harmful UV at times just inches away from perishable product.

"Promolux lamps do not dry out or burn fresh food items and desserts," Orr says, "meat and hot food items stay fresher longer with less spoilage and waste, and baked items stay moist and are shown in their true colors."

The company says by using Promolux lights, retailers typically experience from one to three days extra shelf life, depending on the sensitivity of the prepared food item exposed to UV from regular lamps.

Yuter says successful elite establishments are catching on to Promolux such as Payard Patisserie and Bistro. Payard has 6 display cases fitted with Promolux lights already. "The restaurant interior was designed by Rockwell Design, who is probably the top designer in the country," Yuter says. The designers now use Promolux accent lamps in restaurant display cases whenever they can.

"Payard is right in Manhattan and so many people who are going to open a bakery, or owns a bakery, or does anything with display cases will want to see it," Yuter says. " It's been written up so much they've heard about it, they'll want to see it, so really that's our best installation."

Yuter says designers are into merchandising and they recognize visual appeal. "It's easy to sell the designers on Promolux. It makes their work look better, so they'd certainly want to do it."

Yuter meets with a fare amount of designers and recently received an order for 8 display cases for a very fancy french place called Fachon. He says Fachon has a very large store in Paris and will be opening its first American Store in the Drake Swiss Hotel in Manhattan and all the cases in the store will have Promolux in them.

He says he now has installed some Promolux in Grand Central Market which is also a central location. Last October the market opened a market stall area with about 15 vendors lined up on two sides of an aisle. "There are people selling fish, fruits, vegetables, meats and pastries," he says "It has become very popular and there's a couple of locations in there now that use Promolux."

Another famous New York Landmark using the accent lamps is Zarro's Bread Basket a high end multi-unit chain that feeds the busy commuter traffic. Joe Zarro is a third generation deli owner with 25 years of experience.

"Food is our focal point, not our cases, and we want our cases to disappear and highlight our product," says Zarro. Promolux are in Zarro's cases, and additional orders for new cases are underway. Zarro explains the lights are more expensive but they certainly bring out the different colors of the baked goods and sandwiches.

"Most people like the way they look and finds it helps keep food fresher," says Yuter, but when people give an objection to price, I tell them Promolux will help make the food last longer.

"For those people who really care about merchandising, they recognize the benefit right await and go for it."

Meanwhile, Yuter expects the Promolux market to grow and be very substantial within a couple of years. "One of the advantages of dealing with smaller retail customers is an in-store test doesn't take too much effort," he says.

"A few weeks ago we went to a place and changed a few of their light bulbs, and they said "we like this and placed an order a few days later," Yuter says. "Smaller places, can make decisions quickly, so I'm very optimistic about sales around here in the future."