Sample Dome 12" Countertop/Freestand

A: Choose the S12C countertop model if you are sampling from an existing counter, table or end cap, and a floor stand if you need the display to stand on its own in an aisle. The S12C sits on a base with a 7-inch metal pole, which lifts the dome to browsing height on a surface that is already about waist high. The floor-stand models raise the same 12-inch display to roughly 38 inches from the floor, so they work where there is no counter to borrow. If your sampling location moves week to week, the countertop unit is the more flexible of the two because almost every venue has a surface it can sit on.

A: A clear acrylic dome, an insert tray, a black ice bowl, a reusable ice pack, a 7-inch metal pole with its coupler, a base and a sign holder. That is a complete working display. There is nothing further to buy before the first use, and the ice pack is included rather than sold separately. Assembly needs no tools. The parts friction fit or snap together, so a member of staff can put it together on the floor in a few minutes.

A: The reusable ice pack stays frozen for up to six hours. That figure is the pack, not the food. How long your samples stay safe depends on the product, the room temperature and how often the dome is opened, all of which move faster than the pack does. Treat the six hours as a maximum for planning a shift, and set your own discard times against your local food safety requirements. Keep a second pack in the freezer if you are sampling all day, and swap rather than waiting for the first to soften.

A: Yes. Cookies, breads, confectionery and other ambient products need the cover, not the cooling. Leave the pack out and the insert tray sits lower in the bowl, which is fine for dry goods. The dome still does the job it is really there for, which is keeping dust, airborne contaminants and customers' hands off the product. Keep the pack for anything with dairy, meat or cut fruit in it.

A: Twelve inches in diameter. That is the working surface of the tray, not the footprint of the base, so plan counter space slightly larger than 12 inches once the base and any signage are in place. For higher-volume sampling, or where you want the display visible from further down an aisle, the 16-inch units give a noticeably larger presentation without changing how they work.

A: The three parts that take the most handling are all sold individually: the 12-inch acrylic dome, the 12-inch clear tray and the 12-inch black ice bowl. Domes get the roughest treatment because customers open them, so that is the part most often replaced. The current 12-inch dome uses a redesigned hinge that snaps onto the bowl with no glued joints, which is what makes a swap a counter-top job rather than a warranty claim. Poles, bases, sign holders, napkin holders, rubber stoppers and spare ice packs are also available separately.

A: Yes. The dome is acrylic and the bowl is made from food-safe ABS plastics, both chosen for direct contact with a food display environment. The surfaces are smooth and wipe clean, with no fabric, seams or hinges that trap product. The ice pack is likewise food safe and wipes down with everything else. Cleaning is a manual wipe and sanitise. Nothing in the source material states that these parts are dishwasher safe, so do not assume it.

A: Yes. A sign holder is included, and it takes a small card at the top of the dome where customers look first. The holder is a 3-inch adhesive fitting. Once it is on, the card is at eye level with the product rather than flat on the counter competing with everything else. A napkin holder is available separately if you want serviettes on the unit rather than beside it.

A: Grocers, bakeries, delis, hotels, caterers and buffet operators, which is to say anywhere a sample sells the full-size product. The common thread is that the product has to be seen and tasted but must not be left open. A covered display gets you the sampling without the exposure. For our wholesale customers it is usually a repeat line rather than a one-off, because the domes and trays are consumable in practice.

A: It breaks down into flat parts, so it stores in far less space than it occupies in use. The pole separates from the bowl and the base, and the dome unclips. What is left stacks on a shelf rather than needing a dedicated corner. That matters if you sample seasonally, because the unit spends more of the year in storage than on the floor, and stored parts survive better than assembled ones.