Milling & Baking News - July 20, 2004 - 35

H E A L T H

Subway honors Caravan Foods for
development of chain's wraps
MILFORD, CONN. - Bakery suppliers
have scrambled during the past year
to find ways to help customers quickly
develop and launch new products that
fit low-carbohydrate diets. For Caravan
Foods Products, this effort was rewarded
with recognition from a blue- chip customer - the Subway restaurant chain.
Totowa, N.J.-based Caravan recently
received Subway's 2004 New Product
Development award for its work at
breakneck speed in developing and rolling out tortillas for the restaurant chain's
Atkins-friendly wraps.
"Caravan was the driving force behind
the development of our wraps," said Mark
Christiano, baking specialist for the Subway research and development department. "From first look, last September, to
a nationwide rollout in January, Caravan
was totally committed to working around
the clock to get this product out within a
time frame that was about one year shorter
than what we usually require."
Caravan received the award at a recent meeting of the North American Association of Subway Franchisees in Las
Vegas. Subway, based in Milford, Conn.,
credited Caravan for "developing the
mix used in the production of the chain's
wraps and for serving as mentor to the
chain's bread suppliers with regard to
their training in the handling and production of the product."
The point man at Caravan for the wraps
was John J. Eberts, the sales representative
for the Subway account for six years. As a
maker of dough conditioning systems for
Subway sandwich bread, Caravan sells
its products to makers of frozen dough
rather than directly to Subway.
Still, Caravan has had direct contact
with Subway, Mr. Eberts said.
"We sell to frozen dough producers,
but we work with Subway to be sure
the bread is everything they want it to
be and that they have the control they
want," he explained. "The conditioning
system is the magic that makes the bread
perform the way it must."
Because of this ongoing interaction,
Mr. Christiano approached Caravan in
September for help with a low-carbohydrate strategy. This strategy originally
was focused on a sandwich, not a wrap,
Mr. Eberts said.
Ultimately, though, the company decided that wraps were the direction to take.
Mr. Christiano told Mr. Eberts that the
company was receptive to wraps, but the
first Caravan formulation had too high a
carbohydrate count per serving.
"So we began developing a tortilla
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W E L L N E S S

have happened," Mr. Eberts said. "Tom invented the product, and Nick was the field
guy who did the startups in each of the tortilla plants and dealt with the production
challenges this new product presented."
Because the customer was Subway
and not a mom and pop shop, the sheer

that would work for Subway," Mr. Eberts said. "We came up with the wrap
the company offers today."
With demand for
low-carbohydrate
products swelling,
Subway asked Caravan to move quickly.
"Over the balance
of 2003, we prepared the tortillas
so that the wraps
could be launched
throughout the Subway chain across
North America," he
said. "That's about
18,500 stores."
Technical hurdles
faced by Caravan in
developing the new
wraps were considerable, Mr. Eberts said.
"The biggest chal- Caravan was honored by Subway for its work in developing wraps for the
lenge was breaking sandwich chain.
the paradigm held
by flour tortilla makers because the volume of product needed for the initial
formulation of regular flour tortillas is rollout proved extraordinary.
exactly the opposite of these low-carb
"We had six different tortilla manutortillas," he said. "By that, I mean regu- facturers simultaneously producing for
lar flour tortillas use low-protein flour Subway," Mr. Eberts said. "The Jan. 1 naand high shortening levels. That makes tional launch required four weeks worth
the dough very obedient to the hot of production from each facility in order
press. The low-carb tortilla uses an im- to fill the pipeline."
mense amount of protein and resistant
Mr. Christiano was involved throughstarch to wrap around a large amount of out the development process, making
fiber, deadweight. The dough rheology sure that Caravan was moving in a
is completely different."
direction Subway desired. The finished
On a practical basis, this difference product contains a net carbohydrate
meant that the dough requires double content of five grams per 70 gram tortithe mixing time of regular flour tortilla lla. Subway was pleased.
dough and carries twice the water (100%
"We have the best-tasting, carb-conon a flour-weight basis versus 55% for trolled wraps in the world," Mr. Chrisregular tortillas).
tiano said.
"That presented a very wet dough
The introduction has meant big busithat scared the heck out of the tortilla ness for Caravan, which sold 5 million
producers," Mr. Eberts said. "We needed lbs of mix in the eight-week period beto show them how to handle it much ginning in December and extending into
differently than a flour tortilla. Because January. Sales ebbed when Subway teleof the moisture, they had to bake 30% vision advertising stopped in mid-Feblonger than regular tortillas. So that ruary, but with a new campaign under
presented challenges getting the lines way, wrap sales have increased again.
speeds right for the optimal bake."
Caravan also is developing versions
Mr. Eberts said many members of of its wrap for Australia and Europe for
the Caravan team contributed to the Subway.
development of the wrap. His own
"This presented a new set of chalbackground in baking, most recently at lenges due to the ingredient restrictions
Lender's Bagel Bakery, certainly helped in these countries, but Caravan has done
as well. He gave particular credit at it," Mr. Eberts said. Rollout in these
Caravan to Tom Mitchell, a research countries will take place in late August.
and development technologist, and Nick
Mr. Eberts said Subway currently is
Scheurer, the tortilla product manager.
working on line extensions for its wraps
"Without these two guys, it never would but declined to elaborate further. MBN
Milling & Baking News, July 20, 2004 / 35

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