Sample Dome 12" Countertop/Freestand

A: Take the countertop model if you are sampling from a counter, table or display end. Take a floor stand if the display has to stand on its own. The S12C sits on a base with a 7-inch pole, which raises the dome to browsing height on a surface that is already about waist high. Floor stands lift the same 12-inch display to roughly 38 inches from the floor, for places where there is no counter to borrow. If your sampling spot changes week to week, the countertop unit is the more flexible choice, because almost anywhere 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. Nothing else is needed for the first use, and the ice pack is included rather than sold separately. Assembly takes no tools. Parts friction fit or snap together, so one person can set it up in a few minutes.

A: Up to six hours. That is the pack, not the food. How long your samples stay in good condition depends on what they are, how warm the room is, and how often the dome gets opened. Every one of those moves faster than the pack does. Use six hours to plan a shift, keep a spare pack in the freezer, and set your own discard times against your local food safety requirements.

A: Yes. Cookies, breads, candy and other ambient items need the cover, not the cooling. Leave the pack out and the 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. Use the pack for anything with dairy, meat or cut fruit in it.

A: Twelve inches across. That is the tray, not the footprint of the base, so allow a little more counter space than 12 inches once the base and any signage are in place. For higher volume, or a display you want seen from further down an aisle, the 16-inch units give a larger presentation without working any differently.

A: The three that take the most handling are all sold separately: the 12-inch acrylic dome, the 12-inch clear tray and the 12-inch black ice bowl. Domes get replaced most often, because customers are the ones opening them. The current 12-inch dome snaps onto a redesigned hinge with no glued joints, which is what makes a swap a countertop job instead of a return. Poles, bases, sign holders, napkin holders, rubber stoppers and spare ice packs are available separately too.

A: Yes. The dome is acrylic and the bowl is food-safe ABS plastic, both intended for a food display environment. Surfaces are smooth and wipe clean, with no fabric or trapped seams to hold product. The ice pack is food safe as well. Clean by hand, wipe and sanitize. Nothing in the manufacturer's material says these parts are dishwasher safe, so do not assume it.

A: Yes. A sign holder is included and it mounts on the raised handle section of the dome. The holder is a 3-inch adhesive fitting, which puts the card at the top of the display where the customer is already looking, rather than flat on the counter competing with everything else. A napkin holder is available separately if you want napkins on the unit instead of beside it.

A: Grocers, bakeries, delis, hotels, caterers and buffet operators. Anywhere a taste sells the full-size product. The common thread is that the product has to be seen and sampled but cannot be left uncovered. A covered display gets the sampling without the exposure.

A: It breaks down flat, 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. 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.