Creativators
Texas Hold'em. Photo courtesy of Beef Checkoff.
History
Gene Gagliardi, President and CEO af Creativators, has spent over fifty years in the food industry.
Gagliardi started his career at the age of six working in the family meat business, Gagliardi Brothers formerly of Philadelphia and West Chester, PA. During the 1950' s Gagliardi Brothers
experienced tremendous growth as the forerunner of the portion control product line, developing products for industry leaders such as McDonalds, Burger King, Burger Chef, Gino's and Pizza Hut. It was there that Gagliardi gained national recognition in 1969 for the invention of Steak-umm.
In addition to product development, Gagliardi pioneered much of the equipment design that is still used today to manufacture Steak-umm and other meat products. Steak-umm's tremendous success catapulted company sales from $10 million in 1969 to $63 million in 1980.
Steak-umm is still the nation's leading thinly sliced steak sandwich -- the essence of the Philadelphia cheese-steak.
In 1980 Gagliardi Brothers was sold to the Ore-Ida Division of H. J. Heinz, and in 1987 upon expiration of his non-compete
contract, Gagliardi founded Designer Foods, formerly headquartered in Chadds Ford, PA. As CEO of Designer Foods, Gagliardi created another national sensation, Popcorn Chicken, which was licensed exclusively by Kentucky Fried Chicken and introduced as a promotional menu item in 1992. Popcorn Chicken quickly became the fast food giant's most successful "in and out" promotion in their fifty two year history.
Company sales grew to $28 million in 1993, the year Gagliardi left Designer Foods to found the company, Visionary Design. Headquartered on his 570 acre farm in Atglen, Chester County, PA,
Visionary Design was started to perpetuate Gagliardi's creativity and innovation in the development of unique food products. In less than one year, Gagliardi's creation, Popcorn Fish, had been developed and licensed by Iceland Seafood Corporation.
While working as consultant for the N.C.B.A.s R & D Ranch, located on his farm in Atglen, PA , Gene Gagliardi designed the Beef Value Cuts.
Among them are the Petite Tenders, Ranch Steak and the Flat Iron Steak, which, together with the R & D team of Tony Mata, Ken Johnson and Joe Di Pippo, and under the leadership of Mark Thomas and Carl Blackwell, were introduced to Chris Calkin of the University of Nebraska , during a scheduled beef cutting demo on February 22-23, 2000 .
More recently he developed a meat cut which won the 2008 national Research Chefs Association's Big Beef Innovation Contest. The Texas Hold'Em* is a grillable shortrib which is scored to the bone.
Gagliardi's newest company is Creativators LLC.
*Texas Hold'Em Patent Concept owned by JBS.
What We Do
Value-Adders
"We make buy products out of by-products."
Q. What do Steakumms™, KFCs Popcorn Chicken™, Spare the Ribs™, Bojangles Buffalo Bites™, and the N.C.B.As Beef Value Cuts such as the Flat Iron Steak, Petite Tenders and Ranch Steaks have in common?
A. We created them using the under-utilized, excess raw materials that had minimal value and transformed them into new and highly profitable and often patentable products.
•Our expertise is in helping to solve the problem that every company has - how to add value to under-utilized raw materials.
•Our products are recognized nationally and even globally.
•Our 50 years of experience in creating value-added products = High return/low-cost marketable products for our clients.
•Creativators has pioneered the development of a broad range of innovative products from red meats, seafood, poultry, vegetables, etc. We originated the beef value cuts for the N.C.B.A.
We'd like to set up a meeting with you, at your convenience, to discuss what you are presently doing about your low cost by-products, and how to add value to them. We welcome the opportunity to prove to you that this can be done! Please click on our Contact page to get started. Thank you for taking the time to review our information. We look forward to working with you in the future.
Gallery
Photo Courtesy of the Beef Checkoff Patented Concept owned by JBS
Guard Dog Safety Hot Dog Cutter Patented Concept owned by JBS
Article In USA Today
courtesy Beef Checkoff.
Patented Concept owned by JBS
Contact Us
Address:
Creativators, LLC.
4917 Homeville Road
Cochranville, PA 19330
Tel:
1-717-529-3178
Fax:
1-717-529-9010
Eugene D. Gagliardi, Jr., inventor
Frank Oas - Creative Center Coordinator
frankoas_epix.net
Susan Battaglia - Administrative Coordinator
creativators_epix.net
Safety Cut - Hot Dog
Why the market needs a Safety Cut Hot Dog..
The Safety-Cut Hot Dog is scored with eight lengthwise cuts leaving a ¼ center core, keeping the hot dog intact. This Safety-Cut modifies the hot dog, reducing the likelihood of choking. When a Safety-Cut Hot Dog is eaten, each bite is automatically a smaller, safer shape to swallow. Heating and serving the hot dog remains the same.
Many pediatricians say that hot dogs can be dangerous for children
Four safety experts reported in The Journal of The American Medical Association, that hot dogs are the leading cause of fatal choking in children. Several characteristics, they felt, influence a foods chance of penetrating the defenses of the mouth and pharynx. Foods that are round or cylindrical and pliable or compressible, most effectively plug the airway.
Hot dogs have smooth, slick surfaces are cylindrical and compressible, do not break apart easily and are upper-airway-sized. Thus, hot dogs pose a special asphyxiation hazard in young children.
The article further reports that, in the case of an identifiable product hazard, the most effective preventative measure is modification of the product to eliminate unsafe characteristics.
With this in mind, Creativators has engineered the Safety-Cut Hot Dog to give parents an easy way to reduce the hazard of their loved ones choking on hot dogs. Even kids cant tell the difference! Parents will rest a lot easier.
Patented Product Proprietary Protection in the marketplace
The Safety Cut Hot Dog is a safe hot dog concept that would reduce the likelihood of choking on a hot dog the leading cause of fatal choking in children under 12 years old. The product and the Safety-Cut concept would be protected under the patent for the Guard Dog™ Safety Cutter.
New York Times Article 5/24/10
Creative, Innovative Concepts for the Food Industry
"Whatever makes a person creative, makes them creative in everything they do."
--Eugene D. Gagliardi Jr.
© 2010 Creativators LLC
