Sarah Lee’s Award-Winning Cheesecake Bites

Sara Lee’s award winning Cheesecake Bites went national six months into their test market phase of production. Attributing this success to an expert team of engineers, product managers and production line employees, Sara Lee was able to turn a hot product idea into a national phenomenon virtually overnight.

In an industry that is continually test marketing new product ideas, Sara Lee has found a solution that significantly cuts turnaround time. Creating the best recipe is important, but finding the correct equipment and getting the production line up and running is the most critical for timely results. Sara Lee chose to utilize rental equipment in order to save time and money. They saved six months lead time and $4 million by renting and reconditioning used equipment instead of purchasing new machinery. Sara Lee rented from the Frain Group, Cartpac’s parent company, in order to get their production line up and running quickly. With time and production efficiencies imperative, Sara Lee employed Frain’s Cartpac Division to modify the equipment to fit their specific sizing needs. When asked if Cartpac met their lead time and pricing needs, Fred Russell, Project Manager for Sara Lee, did not hesitate to respond.

“New equipment, a new wrapper, for example, would have taken approximately six months to purchase . . . . Used equipment from the Frain Group, along with reconditioning performed by Cartpac, was completed in 45 days.”

According to Russell, Sara Lee has utilized Cartpac before and will do it again, not just for test marketing, for other needs as well. By having equipment reconditioned by Cartpac to fit their specific needs, Sara Lee significantly saved lead time and money.