On the surface it might appear in store production will produce spectacular profits. BUT, Did you ever take a moment to think where that statement comes from? – The manufacturers of in-store ice machines. What do they include in their figure? Only the variable costs – water, electricity, bags and some labor. How about the cost of the Ice maker, the storage freezer, the store space, the maintenance on the equipment, personal property taxes, insurance, shrinkage and the cost of money? How many bags must you sell to pay off the equipment purchases and how long does it take? 4 years, 5 years, sometimes 6 years or more. It varies with the number of bags you sell.
Freezing only slows down the rate of bacterial growth. Studies show that ice can be contaminated with E-coli, Salmonella, Staph, Yeasts and molds amongst other pathogens. Ice machines that look like the above because they are not cleaned and sanitized weekly, have great potential to make your customers sick. And then there is the food safety training necessary for employees who might be bagging the ice for sale. Handling of the ice can cause contamination if proper hygiene and sanitary handling procedures are not followed. Recorded outbreaks traced back to infected workers have included Salmonella, hepatitis A and E. coli. Why take this huge risk?
Did you know that most ice machine carbon filters remove the chorine from the public water supply coming into the machine? With no chorine, a disinfectant, in the water freezing into cubes, the wet environment of the ice machine surfaces grow mold, slime and bio-films quickly, all that are potentially harmful if consumed.
Stock bags purchased from commercial supply houses do not meet Federal labeling laws. Note the bag on the picture, there is no manufacturers name and contact information and the drawstring is not considered to be ‘sealed tightly’ Plus, since ice packaging is a food contact surface, can you guarantee it is FDA approved food grade? All these issues need to be taken into consideration for the safety of the consumer purchasing this product from you.