When Bona began his search for a new meat-wrapping solution, he knew the stores would need to work with a local supplier who could provide support when they needed it. He began working with Domingo Contreras Jr. of DM&P Equipment & Supplies, Inc. to find their new wrappers. DM&P was founded in 2004 by Anne and Domingo Contreras who had worked for a retail supply company for over 30 years. In 2015, their son, Domingo Jr., joined them in selling and servicing retail equipment for butcher shops, delis and ethnic food stores.

According to Bona, Domingo Jr.’s knowledgeable support is what sold him on wrappers from Rice Lake Retail Solutions. Domingo Jr. took Bona to a store that was already using one of Rice Lake’s Ishida WM-Ai automatic wrapper so he could see it in action before deciding to make the purchase. Bona was impressed with both the speed and efficiency boost the WM-Ai provided, but he was most impressed with how much easier it made work for his team members. “That was the biggest reason, it just makes work easier for them,” Bona said when explaining why he chose the WM-Ai wrappers. Using automatic wrappers means his team members in the meat departments of Sun Foods and Dragon Star only need to place the loaded trays on the infeed—the WM-Ai does the rest.

Bona says the dual-range weighing feature of the WM-Ai has allowed his teams to weigh items with a finer tare weight on the trays, giving them more accurate weights and more accurate pricing. Additionally, Bona has been happy that they have the data to track how products are moving. They’ll be able to see trends and anticipate and prepare for busy cycles.

With Domingo Jr.’s help and training, Bona’s teams at Sun Foods and Dragon Star Supermarket found a way to easily wrap up every cut of beef, chicken, pork and goat for their customers. The WM-Ai automatic wrappers from Rice Lake Retail Solutions have proven to be shining stars in these meat departments.