Sometimes big things come in small packages. Country Maid Inc.’s Butter Braid® brand pastries are a perfect example. The West Bend, IA company has been rolling out delicious dough products for the fundraising industry since 1991, and these tasty pastries have helped non-profit groups raise over $200 million and counting. In order to keep up with demand, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, Country Maid leaned on Van Meter Inc.’s automation expertise.
Challenge
Country Maid has come a long way since doing everything by hand in founders Ken and Marlene Banwart’s basement. When it grew into a state-of-the-art production facility, it was looking for a way to increase efficiency without losing product consistency. It also needed to remain in compliance with FDA regulations.
“A lot of the regulation that we are governed by is through the FDA,” explained Country Maid Systems Engineer, Marc Banwart. “Several years ago they passed the Food Safety [Modernization] Act, and with that came a lot of need to be able to produce records of batch histories.”
