Customers' orders are assigned for shipping purposes to one
of Menu's three plant locations. Certain products are shipped
between plants in order to more efficiently manage shipments to
large customers by combining products produced in different plants
into a single customer shipment. Menu believes that it is the
only private-label wet pet food manufacturer with three manufacturing
facilities in North America, and can thus allocate an order between
any of its plants based on capability, product cost, material
availability, freight cost and available production capacity.
Since the major retailers in the United States are increasingly
multi-regional or national in scope, Menu's ability to serve them
from three locations provides it with service and freight cost
advantages compared to other single or two plant private-label
competitors. Menu believes that the flexibility and depth of its
infrastructure is such that it is the only private-label wet pet
food manufacturer in North America that is providing national
retailers with cross-continental service and complete product
lines in all significant packaging configurations.
