SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING
FOODSTUFFS TO A CUSTOMER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to systems and methods providing foodstuffs to a
customer. Embodiments of the invention have been particularly developed for use in a
retail environment in the context of preparing, packaging and vending seafood and
poultry. While some embodiments will be described herein with particular reference to
that application, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to such a field of
use, and is applicable in broader contexts.
BACKGROUND
Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should in no
way be considered as an admission that such art is widely known or forms part of
common general knowledge in the field.
In a supermarket environment, seafood is conventionally sold on a weight basis. A
customer designates an approximate quantity of a desired seafood product, such as fish,
an operator collects and weighs the desired quantity, and that desired quantity of
seafood product is provided to the customer in a plastic bag and/or wrapped in paper.
There is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for providing
foodstuffs to a customer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of
the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.
One embodiment provides a method for providing foodstuffs to a customer, the
method including:
providing an oven safe package;
inserting into the package a customer-selected primary foodstuff in a customer-
designated quantity;
identifying a customer-selected sauce;
operating a sauce dispensing station thereby to dispense a calculated quantity of the
customer selected sauce into the package, wherein the sauce dispensing station is
configured to dispense sauce in predetermined units, wherein the calculated quantity is
an integral multiple of the predetermined unit, the designated quantity, and a sauce-
specific multiplication factor for the customer selected sauce;
operating a heat-sealing station thereby to heat-seal the package;
providing the sealed package to the customer, such that the customer is enabled to
cook the primary foodstuff and sauce together in the package using an oven.
One embodiment provides a system for providing foodstuffs to a customer, the
system including:
an oven safe package into which customer-selected primary foodstuff is insertable
in a customer-designated quantity;
a sauce dispensing station configured to dispense a calculated quantity of a
customer selected sauce into the package, wherein the sauce dispensing station is
configured to dispense sauce in predetermined units, wherein the calculated quantity is
an integral multiple of the predetermined unit, the designated quantity, and a sauce-
specific multiplication factor for the customer selected sauce; and
a heat-sealing station configured to heat-seal the package containing the primary
foodstuff and the sauce, such that the customer is enabled to cook the primary foodstuff
and sauce together in the package using an oven.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment”, “some
embodiments” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or
characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one
embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one
embodiment”, “in some embodiments” or “in an embodiment” in various places
throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,
but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be
combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the
art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.
As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives
"first", "second", "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that
different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply
that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially,
in ranking, or in any other manner.
In the claims below and the description herein, any one of the terms
comprising, comprised of or which comprises is an open term that means including at
least the elements/features that follow, but not excluding others. Thus, the term
comprising, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to
the means or elements or steps listed thereafter. For example, the scope of the
expression a device comprising A and B should not be limited to devices consisting
only of elements A and B. Any one of the terms including or which includes or that
includes as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the
elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is
synonymous with and means comprising.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only,
with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
schematically illustrates a method according to one embodiment.
schematically illustrates a system according to one embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Described herein are systems and methods for providing foodstuffs to a
customer. These are particularly directed to the provision of foodstuffs such as
seafood, poultry and meat to customers in an unpackaged food retail environment (for
instance, a fishmonger or fishmonger service counter of a supermarket). In overview,
the technologies disclosed herein allow a customer to order a primary foodstuff, such
as a piece of fish, and select a sauce for that primary foodstuff. The primary foodstuff
and sauce are combined in special cook-in packaging which is sealed and provided to
the customer. In this manner, the customer takes the packaging home, and places it
directly into an oven when desired for cooking purposes.
Embodiments are described by reference to methods 100 and 150 of
These illustrate methods performed by a customer and a retail representative
respectively.
Functional block 101 represents a process whereby a customer selects a primary
foodstuff, being a raw primary foodstuff. A “primary foodstuff” is the main foodstuff
present in a meal. For the present purposes we consider primary foodstuffs in the
context of meats (including seafood and poultry within that category), and the specific
example of fish is provided. It should be appreciated that this is not intended to be
limiting, and that other primary foodstuffs (such as vegetables) may be present in other
embodiments. The primary feedstuff is distinguished from secondary foodstuffs such
as rice, pasta, vegetables to be eaten with meat, and so on. For the sake of example,
assume that a range of possible primary foodstuffs are presented to the customer in a
display, as is common in a butcher, fishmonger, supermarket counter, or the like.
Functional block 102 represents a process whereby the consumer designates a
quantity of the primary foodstuff (a “customer designated quantity”). This may occur
in a variety of ways, including specifying a weight (or approximate weight),
measurement (e.g. “a handful” or the like), number of units (e.g. “two salmon fillets”),
or the like. Functional block 103 represents a process whereby a retail representative
obtains the customer-selected primary foodstuff in a customer-designated quantity.
This may include negotiation with the client over the quantity, thereby to ensure an
appropriate amount is obtained. The retail representative optionally weighs the
primary foodstuff at this juncture, or later in the process, depending on store policy.
Functional block 104 represents a process whereby the retail representative
provides an oven safe package. In the present context, the term “oven safe” refers to a
package that is able to be used for cooking in a conventional or microwave oven.
Some embodiments use packages that are safe for use in conventional (non-
microwave) ovens, some embodiments for microwave ovens only, and other
embodiments use packages safe for both. In the case of packages safe for use in
conventional ovens, the packages should be able to withstand temperatures in excess of
150 degrees Celsius. In one embodiment, the oven safe package is a package such as
various products marketed by Papers Paviot, for example under the ALPALMER
range, such as those distributed under product codes BBR4G and/or BBR5G at the
time of filing this specification. This package may be obtained from a roll, dispensing
device, or other package storage arrangement.
Functional block 105 represents a process whereby the retail representative
inserts, into the package, the customer-selected primary foodstuff in the customer-
designated quantity. In some embodiments weight is determined at this juncture.
Functional block 106 represents a process whereby the customer selects a sauce
from a selection of available sauces. These sauces are, in the present embodiment,
stored for dispensing via a sauce dispensing station. The retail representative identifies
the customer-selected sauce at 107. As used herein, the term “sauce” is used to
describe a substantially fluid foodstuff which is added to a primary foodstuff thereby to
add to factors such as flavor and/or texture. This may in some cases include flavored
butters and the like.
The sauce dispensing station is configured to dispense sauce in predetermined
units, for example a set measure of volume per press of a dispensing control (such as a
pump-action nozzle). In one embodiment the sauce dispensing station includes a
plurality of dispensing nozzles, each having a respective dispensing control. Each
nozzle is coupled to a connector, which is configured for fluidly connecting the nozzle
to a source of sauce (such as a bottle or the like). The source is replaced or replenished
as required.
Functional block 108 represents a process whereby the retail representative
operates sauce the dispensing station thereby to dispense a calculated quantity of the
customer selected sauce into the package. The calculated quantity is an integral
multiple of the predetermined unit, the designated quantity, and a sauce-specific
multiplication factor for the customer selected sauce. The sauce-specific multiplication
factor is defined for each sauce. For example, this may define a number of presses of
the dispensing control for a unit quantity. Preferably, the sauce-specific multiplication
factor is defined on the basis of suggested cooking quantities for the sauce and primary
food product. In one hypothetical situation the predetermined unit is 30mL (much like
for a one-shot spirit dispensing apparatus), the multiplication factor is “two-presses per
fish filet”, and the designated quantity is four fillets. In that case, the operator presses
the dispensing control eight times, thereby to dispense 240mL of sauce into the oven-
safe cook-in package. In another hypothetical situation the predetermined unit is
10mL, the multiplication factor is “four-presses per kilogram”, and the designated
quantity corresponds to one kilogram. In that case, the operator presses the dispensing
control four times, thereby to dispense 40mL of sauce into the oven-safe cook-in
package.
Functional block 109 represents a process including the retail representative
operating a heat-sealing station thereby to heat-seal the package. In other embodiments
alternate sealing approaches are used, including adhesive and/or pressure-based sealing
approaches. It will be appreciated that the sealing approach depends on the nature of
the package.
Functional block 110 represents a process including pricing the proposed
customer purchase (being the primary foodstuff and sauce contained within the
package). In the present embodiment, this includes operating a pricing device, which
includes one or more inputs (such as scales, buttons, and so on) and one or more
outputs (such as an adhesive label printer, token printer, and/or visual display). The
retail representative operates the pricing device thereby to input data indicative of the
designated quantity of primary foodstuff and the calculated quantity of sauce. In some
cases the data indicative of the calculated quantity is defined by the multiple of
predetermined units. For example, in some cases the operator inputs the number of
presses of the dispensing control, along with a code identifying the sauce. In some
embodiments the pricing unit is responsive to the input for printing a pricing label
indicative of a total price for the designated quantity of primary foodstuff and the
calculated quantity of sauce. This is optionally used at checkout to charge the
customer an appropriate value.
Functional block 111 represents a process including the retail representative
providing the sealed package to the customer. The customer then purchased the
package and contained foodstuffs and sauce, takes the package home (or to another
location), and either places it into an oven for immediate cooking, or refrigerates the
package for cooking at a later point in time. In either case, the customer is enabled to
cook the primary foodstuff and sauce together in the package using an oven at 112.
Preferably, cooking instructions are printed on the package (for example approximate
cooking times and temperatures for certain quantities of primary foodstuff).
In some embodiments, the method includes inserting a further calculated
quantity of a secondary foodstuff into the package. A secondary foodstuff may include
a garnish, vegetables, pasta/rice/similar, or the like. In broad terms, this is a further
foodstuff to be cooked in the package with the primary foodstuff and sauce, thereby to
result in a more complex meal being prepared in the package.
illustrates a system according to one embodiment, thereby to
schematically illustrate physical components and resources available in a retail venue,
and accessible by a retail operator. The operator has access to primary foodstuffs (such
as meat or poultry) and in some cases to secondary foodstuffs (which may include
vegetables, garnishes, butters, or the like). At the request of a customer (or in an effort
to provide pre-packaged meals based on anticipated customer demands), the retail
operator places a specified quantity of primary foodstuff 201 into a cook-in package
202. Where relevant, a quantity of secondary foodstuff is also inserted into the
package, preferably in a quantity determined relative to the quantity of primary
foodstuff.
The operator then inserts a sauce into package 201. In the present embodiment,
this includes operating a sauce dispensing apparatus 204, which includes a plurality of
dispensing nozzles 205, with each nozzle being configured to dispense a predetermined
unit of sauce (from a respective sauce container 206 which is replacably mounted to
the nozzle) each time the nozzle is activated. For example, activation may be via a
button which actuates a mechanism that is configured to release a measured quantity of
sauce. The package is sealed using a heat seal device 208.
In this embodiment, a POS weighing device 210 is coupled to a printer 214, and
is used thereby to print one or more tags (for example adhesive barcode tags) thereby
to allow pricing to be applied to package 203. Device 210 includes a weighing plate
211, buttons/controls 212, and a display 213. In some cases the buttons are used
thereby to input a quantity of sauce that has been (or will be) placed in package 203,
thereby to enable calculation of price. In some cases device 204 is in digital
communication with device 210 thereby to provide such information automatically.
It will be appreciated that the present disclosure provides useful systems and
methods for providing foodstuffs to a customer. In particular, by providing a primary
foodstuff and accompanying sauce (in specifically measured quantity) into a cook-in
package, a customer is enabled to prepare a meal with minimal mess and effort.
In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth.
However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without
these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and
techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of
this description.
While there has been described what are believed to be the preferred
embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and
further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the
invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as falling
within the scope of the invention. For example, any formulas given above are merely
representative of procedures that may be used. Functionality may be added or deleted
from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks.
Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present
invention.