Grocery Retailing has been transformed into a hyper-competitive, ultra-consolidated, and brutal business environment, chronically short of skilled labor for signature departments, including fresh Meat and Poultry.  Many traditional practices, such as employing in-store butchers to prepare consumer cuts and portions in the backroom, were not cost-effective, and represented too much risk in this 24/7 world.  If you're determined to run lean and mean, butchers are a luxury.

The shift by Retailers to a pre-packaged, 'Case-Ready' format for Meat & Poultry moved processing and primary packaging operations upstream to regional suppliers.  And as the Case-Ready Revolution took shape, new closed-loop links in the Meat & Poultry supply chain were forged.  Starting in 1992, Tosca Limited seized this remarkable opportunity to offer solutions precisely structured to meet the needs of all players: dedicated rental pools of custom-designed returnable containers; management informed by industry expertise; and a broad suite of Team-based support services.

Initially, Case-Ready strategies demanded innovative new primary packaging, engineered to significantly extend product shelf-life, while reducing shrink and out-of-stocks at the store level.  Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) systems were created to deliver the 'fresh is best' appearance, and clean, leak-proof packages desired by safety-conscious consumers.  But the economic and quality 'edge' conferred by high-level primary packaging demanded a foundation of superbly functional secondary packaging.  Protection of the primary package, stacking strength, ergonomic handling, and loading efficiencies were now essential criteria for the selection of distribution packaging.  Tosca, in partnership with the second largest Retailer in the country, and together with a select group of other major Retailers and their suppliers, evaluated the available Returnable Plastic Containers on the market, and opted for the development of a custom container for the application.

Container selection was vital to the success of Tosca's rental pool of Case-Ready RPC's.  But the key elements in the value proposition offered by Tosca were the concept of 'dedicated' pools of returnable containers, and a unique incentive price structure.   Dedicated rental pools from Tosca provide industry-specific solutions for closed-loop systems in high-value markets.  With Tosca, containers are rented on a 'per use' basis, along with cleaning/sanitizing, fleet management, and maintenance services necessary to meet customer requirements, and support the pool.  Tosca's customers know all the costs involved, and are rewarded when efforts are made to achieve greater efficiencies.  It's a basic equation for pulling the costs out of distribution packaging: more turns, plus more efficiencies, equal less cost.  And as the savings roll in for Case-Ready, Teams from Tosca are working to provide customized RPC rental solutions across the Meat & Poultry supply chain.  Stay tuned for 'coming attractions'!