Increases in the cost of plastic products likely?
Written by Rory McNulty
A view of The Cappoquin Bacon Factory, which closed in 1980, from across the river Blackwater.
Picture courtesy of Waterford County Museum
www.waterfordmuseum.ie
....and Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved by compassion toward them and he healed the sick with the blue mould that he had scraped off the five loaves that he had brought.
15 And when it was evening his disciples came to him saying shut the surgery none of these people has an appointment anyway send them away so they may go into the villages and buy themselves some victuals.
16 But Jesus said unto them they need not depart give ye them to eat
17 And they said unto him we have here but two loaves and five fishes
18 And Jesus said it is five loaves and two fishes for the umpteenth time why does everyone always get that wrong two loaves and five fishes would be tricky but five loaves and two fishes is a doddle we could even cut off the crusts.
19 And he took the two fishes and hung them over the fire a little while.
20 And his disciples marvelled saying what is this miracle that thou are performing now?
21 And he said unto them it is called smoked salmon you slice it very thin and put it on titchy pieces of bread and you would not credit the number of people you can cater for it will change the face of bar mitzvahs as we know them.
22 And lo the miracle of the canapé was done and the disciples went around with twelve trays and the multitude said terrific but what about the little slices of lemon?
23 And Jesus said unto them look up into the trees and the people were amazed for they had never realised that the things in the trees were lemons they had only ever seen lemons in slices at catered functions.....
By the late great broadcaster and humorist Alan Coren
Chocolates and Cuckoo Clocks – the essential Alan Coren
Canongate
Ask us for information and samples of our packaging for smoked salmon!
The Indasia company is introducing new user-friendly packaging for it's great range of marinades. The stand up pouches with recloseable caps incorporate a handle for easy pouring, an inspection window in the base and are easy to empty completely. There vis less chance of spillage and the used pack takes up less space and is easier to dispose of.
For our friends in the bacon and ham processing business
Written by Rory McNulty
This cartoon is reproduced by kind permission of the artist and illustrator Tom Gauld - www.tomgauld.com
And his wife saw farmer Paddy leaning against the tractor staring into the middle distance. And she said
"What are you thinking about, Paddy?"
And he replied
"Just thinking its gonna be our Golden Wedding in a few weeks".
"We could throw a party", said his wife on the spur of the moment, "and you could kill a pig!"
And Paddy Thought About This for a while and and finally said slowly
"No, Mary, I don't see why a pig should suffer for something that happened 50 years ago...."
FREE Indasia Marinades
As we head into the BBQ season and the weather cheers us up a bit, there is the chance to try some Indasia marinades for free when you buy 4 containers from our standard range.
Rory O’Neill has the details on 087 906 0996 or call the Fispak office on 01 620 449. There are some great tasting summer marinades that will have your customers coming back for more!
Serve-over bags a hit for Fresh Meat Fish and Deli products
Easy to use, self sealing , airtight bags sit ready to use at your serve-over counter. Pick up, Pop in the product, remove the protective strip at the top and press together for an air and liquid tight seal.
Have your own design printed on to promote your own brand.
Customers love them too, fish and meat can go side by side in the shopping bag with all other groceries and they can be frozen and thawed.
Check out this video to see how easy they are to use. Thanks to Roger Austin of UK Bag Supplier William Jones Packaging for contributing this video.
Plastic prices might finally begin a downward slide..
News around the recent Interpack exhibition in Dusseldorf seemed to indicate a further 15% expected rise in the cost of Polyamide (nylon) granulate but it seems other plastic prices may have levelled out.
Story is that the Chinese have been a huge consumer – paying over the odds and leaving the West with supply/demand issues - but that they have been building local production capacity. As this comes on stream (we have no timetable) prices are expected to head South giving us all a welcome reduction in cost base, we hope.
The basic cause of unwelcome price fluctuations – more properly described as unjustified upward movements – is and has been the lack of competition between the producers of plastic granulate.
A situation food packaging and food production businesses have never experienced, we think!
A bit of historical background…
Modern production methods and hygiene standards, reliable packaging and the cold chain have brought down the cost of perishable food in real terms, allowing the consumer an ever widening choice of meat products, well packaged and presented.
But of course it wasn’t always so.
Below are some excellent pictures in poster form of pork slaughtering in Cincinnati towards the end of the 19th century. The four pictures are titled “Killing, “Cutting”, “Rendering” and “Salting”. They were exhibited by the Cincinnati Packers’ Association at the International Exposition in Vienna in 1873.
These depict pretty good standards for their day. About 30 % of pork was produced in the Midwest around that time.
However the industry generally was unregulated in the USA. The turning point came with the work of a young man named Upton Sinclair (1878 – 1988) who, in time, became the prolific author of over 90 books.
He researched the conditions in the Chicago stockyards, immersing himself in life there and when he published The Jungle in 1906 it became a bestseller. The book exposed the unsavoury, unhygienic and often inhuman conditions in graphic detail, as seen through the eyes of an immigrant Lithuanian worker named Jurgis Rudkus.
It directly caused President Theodore Roosevelt to order the setting up of the Food & Drug Administration (the FDA) and the introduction of federal inspection standards for the meat industry.
The picture is published on Wikipedia and if customers contact us we will be happy to send on an A4 laser print.
“The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair is available on amazon.com
Blog Feed
