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Olympia Food Industries, a manufacturer of specialty food items for distribution to restaurants and supermarkets, recently transformed a vacant factory on Chicago's Southside into the world's largest pita bread manufacturing facility. Flooring would prove to be a major challenge. Valspar and Concare, Inc., a concrete floor repair and restoration contractor in Melrose Park, Illinois, stepped up to get the job done right.

Dubbed the "Pita Pan" building by Olympia Food Industries owners Andre and Kostas Papantoniou, the 60,000-square-foot building underwent a total renovation from floor to ceiling. Olympia invested more than $4.5 million in upgrades and construction, along with another $15 million for the state-of-the-art equipment necessary for manufacturing pita bread, flat bread and cheese-filled breadsticks.

General contractor Coral Enterprises Inc. hired Bill Wallrich of JWW Builders & Consultants to oversee the renovation. Wallrich worked closely with Concare, Inc. on one of the toughest tasks the renovation crew faced: installing a flooring system strong enough to withstand sweltering hot baking ovens, near 100% humidity, steam cleaners applying 220°F heat, holding freezers that dipped below -10°F, and a spiral freezer kept at -40° F in the ultra-sanitary food processing areas.

According to Wallrich, standard epoxy flooring was out of the question because it does not effectively control contaminants commonly found in food plants. Without control measures, contaminants such as fungi and mildew will degrade concrete surfaces over time and threaten hygienic compliance.

Valspar Has It Covered
Concare, Inc. recommended a combination of Valspar flooring products, including the installation of 12,000 square feet of Flowfresh RT for the mixing, proofing, preparation and cooking areas subject to USDA sanitary requirements. Flowfresh floors, which utilize proven Flowcrete technology, currently cover millions of square feet in the most demanding production facilities around the world. Flowfresh RT, a non-slip, heavy-duty rake and trowel system, includes built-in high performance antimicrobial additive that inhibits the growth of bacterial odors and guards the floor against degradation from microorganisms.