Founded in 1926 in Monroe, Wisconsin as a mail order company selling cheese products, The Swiss Colony, Inc. grew to become one of the world’s largest and most successful catalogue, mail-order and electronic retail companies. In 2010, the corporate name was changed to Colony Brands, Inc. to better reflect the company’s position as a parent company for its extensive portfolio of food and non-food catalogues, internet and subsidiaries. Today, Colony Brands is one of the largest direct marketers in the United States, known for its cheese, sausage, chocolate, fruitcakes, and other food products as well as extensive offerings in furniture, home decor, apparel, entertainment products, and electronics.
Colony Brands owns many different catalogue companies, including Ashro, Montgomery Ward, The Swiss Colony, Wisconsin Cheeseman, Midnight Velvet, Home at Five, Ginny’s, Monroe and Maine, Country Door, Tender Filet, and Seventh Avenue. The Swiss Colony, LLC subsidiary – the largest subsidiary of Colony Brands – continues to sell cheese, pastries, sausage and other food and gift items to the general public and retail businesses through the Swiss Colony catalogues and web site.
Entering the Retail Market
Some 2 years ago, Colony Brands decided to replace its existing and aging recipe management processes. “Although our current system had served us well in the past, it could no longer deliver the features and capabilities we needed to remain competitive, especially as we were expanding the retail side of our business,” explained Michelle Frame, Colony Brands’ Food Innovation Director. “Our entry into the retail market meant that we had to meet competitive price points and undertake least cost formulation, something that our existing recipe management process could not provide.”
In addition to its current outmoded system, Colony Brands also relied heavily on Excel spreadsheets, particularly in Research and Development, to develop new recipes and refine existing recipes to meet the very tight costs demanded by the retail markets. “These procedures were open to error,” said Michelle Frame. “Even with the best care in the world, user errors were made in manually entering and manipulating data, and once a new recipe had been developed, there were further opportunities for error when the final information was rekeyed into our recipe management system.”
A solution that ticks all the boxes
Having researched the recipe management systems market, Colony Brands evaluated offerings from a number of suppliers before deciding to partner with FoodChain ID. “We had two key requirements,” continued Michelle Frame. “Our new recipe management system had to be super user-friendly. We are a catalogue, mail order and electronic retail business, not an IT company and our staff had to be able to hit the ground running with any new solution. We also wanted a solution that was simple to install and did not have to be customised before it went live as it was urgently needed by R&D.
FoodChain ID’s Recipe Management System ticked all of the boxes. Developed and enhanced over the years in line with evolving markets and requirements from its customer base, FoodChain ID’s Recipe Management System drives the recipe lifecycle from new product development through to end-of-life, managing recipes
across any number of production sites, improving efficiency and legislative compliance.
“From the outset, we could see measureable benefits and improvements,” added Michelle Frame. “HG shed new light on our existing recipes, allowing us to refine and improve these by standardising on a smaller number of ingredients – saving money and ensuring that we could meet competitive price points. We can now also undertake least cost formulation when developing new recipes and can compare these against current recipes to achieve commonality across ingredients and eliminate further unnecessary costs.”
Colony Brands has found FoodChain ID’s Recipe Management System to be particularly beneficial in the development of new recipes. Increasingly, retail customers were requesting that existing lines be extended via the introduction of new flavours and it was critical that these customer driven projects met stipulations for lower calorie content and pricing. Previously, such requests would have required substantial effort and analysis before going to market, but thanks to the new system, Colony Brands can respond to retail customer requests quickly, efficiently and at a price point that ensures a profit margin across the supply chain.
iPad – a new and exciting initiative
FoodChain ID and Colony Brands continue to work closely together with FoodChain ID servicing routine support issues, providing advice and developing enhancements as Colony Brands extends is use and reliance on the Recipe Management System. A new and exciting initiative has been the development of an iPad application, integrated tightly with the Recipe Management System to eliminate paperwork on the floor and further improve speed to market. “We are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs, improve existing recipes, introduce new products and respond rapidly to our customers’ ever evolving requirements,” explained Michelle Frame. “Our innovative iPad application will substantially reduce paperwork, minimise the chances of error, ensure that we continue to standardise on the quantities and types of ingredients and maintain our competitive advantage.”
Since implementing the FoodChain ID Recipe Management System, the relationship between Colony Brands and FoodChain ID has gone from strength to strength. Installation is a quick and easy process, allowing Colony Brands to install the system on new PCs in a few minutes. The system has exceeded Michelle Frame’s requirements in terms of user-friendliness, allowing staff to concentrate on the development of new recipes using least cost formulation to ensure competitiveness in the new markets. “Our partnership with FoodChain ID has been extremely successful,” concluded Michelle Frame. “Our new solution has brought our recipe management into sharp focus, helping us remain competitive as we move forward in increasingly evolving markets.”
Benefits
- Solution streamlined entry into the retail market, allowing Colony Brands to meet competitive price points and undertake least cost formulation
- Easy to install. No customisation necessary before going live
- Measureable benefits realised from the outset. Solution shed new light on existing recipes, allowing them to be refined and improved by standardising on a smaller number of ingredients
- Colony Brands can now undertake least cost formulation when developing new recipes and compare these against current recipes to achieve commonality across ingredients and eliminate further unnecessary costs
- Existing lines be extended via the introduction of new flavours, lower calorie content, etc. to meet customer requests quickly, efficiently and at a price point that ensures a profit margin across the supply chain.
- iPad application, integrated tightly with the Recipe Management System, eliminates paperwork on the floor and further improves speed to market.
- Improved relationships with suppliers and customers
- Ensures adherence to international legislations and customer requirements
- Enables compliance with various quality inspections and audits required by international customers
