Meat + Poultry - August 2007 - 40

HORIZON PRODUCTS

sor's equipment must be able to adjust
to apply the various burger molds.
"Think of a typical production process that's running 6-inch widgets," Hile
explains. "And the next customer comes
in and needs 8-inch widgets. There
has to be a quick change in machinery. And that's what we need because
our molds are so unusual. They're not
round or square."
After processing, the burgers are
shipped to Great Lakes Cold Storage,
located in Solon, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. The partners opted to not hire a fulfillment company, and instead perform
the packaging and shipping themselves.
Horizon sells the burgers in 5-pound
(15 burgers) boxes for $29.99.

Taking their time
Czyzak and Hile began the marketing
process slowly to build a foundation,
selling only the Buckeye Burger and
the Irish Burger. It helped that those

two molds represent two of the mostpopular teams in northeast Ohio. (Incidentally, Hile has master's degree from
Notre Dame.)
After approaching several restaurant
operators with their products, Buckeye
and Irish Burgers began showing up on

"I think the world of the
concept. Once they
get the word out about
the product, they can
go across the country
with it."
a few menus. They also attended Ohio
State football games and sold the Buckeye Burger to tailgate partiers. They established a Web site (www.horizonburgers.com) in the summer of 2005, which
spurred additional business.

(Ei w dBIfurd

Horizon capitalized enormously off
the Ohio State football team's success
last year. The Buckeyes went undefeated and played Florida for the national
championship. During the hype leading
up to the title game, the media spotlight found the Buckeye Burger. The
Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal, two newspapers
in Northeast Ohio, printed stories and
photographs about the Buckeye Burger.
A popular Cleveland radio station morning team invited Czyzak and Hile on
their show to grill some burgers. The
media exposure sparked more business
as Ohio State-happy fans ordered the
burgers in droves
"The timing was great," Hile says.
Horizon sold out of Buckeye Burgers in four days. Ohio State fans from
throughout the country ordered the
burgers for football parties. "We were
shipping to Florida, Texas, California,
Arizona and Missouri," Hile says.

Weigh, price, label

M A R E L FOOD S Y S T E M S

At speeds that will amaze you
AEW Delford 8160 Weigh Price Labeler
We think our weigh price labelers are the fastest in the
world. They run at speeds of up to 160 packs/min. for
long periods so they're ideal for meat, cheese and other
products that must be wrapped, weighed and labeled
quickly and accurately. They regulate their own speed and
orient packages precisely for perfect label positioning
and printing with ultra high quality print heads. Weighing,
pricing and labeling have never been so good - or so fast.

Marel Food Systems * 9745 Widmer Road * Lenexa, K ansas 66215 * Tel: 888 888 9107
44

MEAT&POULTRY

August 2007

www.MEATPOULTRY.com

http://www.horizonburg http://www.ers.com http://www.MEATPOULTRY.com

Meat + Poultry - August 2007

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