Business is Cooking at Food Centre.It's a sweltering swel·ter·ing adj. 1. Oppressively hot and humid; sultry. 2. Suffering from oppressive heat. swel afternoon in July, but Premala Mutukistna is too busy preparing her next batch of mango mango (măng`gō), evergreen tree of the Anacardiaceae (sumac family), native to tropical E Asia and now grown in both hemispheres. The chief species, Mangifera indica, is believed to have been cultivated for about 6,000 years. chutney chut·ney n. A pungent relish made of fruits, spices, and herbs. [Hindi ca  n to notice the heat.
Her husband Bob also seems unaffected as he fills slim bottles with original cilantro hot sauce. Both products are top sellers for Premala's Spicy Sensations Inc., the couple's company that specializes in Indian hot sauces, chutneys and spices. The Mutukistnas don't work in their own kitchen. After several years of manufacturing their half-dozen products in a commercial kitchen at the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, Bob and Premala are comfortable among the stainless steel stainless steel: see steel. stainless steel Any of a family of alloy steels usually containing 10–30% chromium. The presence of chromium, together with low carbon content, gives remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. ovens and mixers. "We couldn't have made so much progress without the Food Centre," says Bob. "It would have been too risky to set up our own processing plant, and because of the size of our business, we would be paying for space and equipment without using the facility on a daily basis." Instead, the Mutukistnas only pay for days they use the federally-approved kitchen, located in the Peterson Building at the University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S) is a coeducational public research university located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The University is celebrating its centennial year in 2007. . There, they receive technical assistance, laboratory analysis of products, and assistance in sourcing ingredients. The Food Centre also links them to food processors who want to "co-package" products, along with packaging and display firms, food safety training and with business and marketing experts. The Food Centre's concerted efforts have paid off. Clients such as Premala's Spicy Sensations are flourishing while the Food Centre has become a powerful resource tool for Saskatchewan's food processors since its 1999 opening. Backed by more than $13.8 million in funding from the Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund, the Food Centre is a cooperative venture between the Saskatchewan Food Processors Association, Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, and U of S. The Food Centre offers interim processing, training, technical assistance, business development, new product development, research, marketing expertise and human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. development for food processors. "Our goal is to try to select a team of resource people who can help each client meet particular challenges in the industry," explained Food Centre president Dan Prefontaine. The latest sign of the Food Centre's success was the September grand opening of its new, 10,000-square-foot pilot plant in Saskatoon Saskatoon (săskət  n`), city (1991 pop. 186,058), S central Sask., Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. .
The new, federally-inspected facility now enables the Food Centre to
accommodate all agricultural processing sectors on a much larger scale.
The plant became federally registered for meat products in July and in the near future the Centre will be certified See certification. with Hazard Analysis A hazard analysis is a process used to characterize the elements of risk. The results of a hazard analysis is the identification of unacceptable risks and the selection of means of controlling or eliminating them. and Critical Control Point Systems (an international food safety program), will be registered for organic products and may achieve European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community (EU) status. "No other Canadian interim processing facility has applied for EU status for processing products like sausages, hams and bacon," said Prefontaine. "This facility will provide new opportunities for processors in world markets, and it will also allow them to export into test market areas that were inaccessible inaccessible Surgery adjective Unreachable; referring to a lesion that unmanageable by standard surgical techniques–eg, lesions deep in the brain or adjacent to vital structures–ie, not accessible. See Accessible. before now." The Centre's expanded facilities ensure that food processors don't have to delay their dreams about exporting products. "With the Food Centre's help, a Saskatchewan business like ours can compete with foreign businesses and replace imported products with our own," said Bob Mutukistna. "That's tremendous progress." The Food Centre provides a full menu of services for Saskatchewan processors. "Now, all of our resources fit together in an attractive package for Saskatchewan food processors," adds Prefontaine. "We can ensure that their products are excellent, we can provide a choice of places to process products, we can help them with marketing, and at the same time, we can help them build their businesses for the future." |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion