Food safety has been making headlines in recent years, and while currently living amidst a global pandemic, food safety is incredibly pertinent. High profile incidents within the foodservice industry have caused damage to the reputations of several national brands. While some of the incidents are traced back to food sourcing, many of the headlines involving restaurants are connected to poor temperature management, which is easily avoidable.
Technology in the foodservice industry enables foodservice companies to efficiently and effectively navigate food safety compliance requirements.
The Dynamic Duo— Foodservice and Technology
Technology is reinventing food safety protocols, increasing energy efficiency, and reducing labor costs for many businesses already, and it is only going to continue to expand its outreach. There is a growing number of methods food suppliers, processors, and retailers are using to increase operational efficiency and financial growth with technology.
The Internet of Things (IoT) in the foodservice industry helps businesses manage every aspect of the food supply chain from wholesale food supplies to take-out at your favorite restaurant. IoT is vital in the digital transformation of the foodservice industry, and it is changing the way businesses approach traditional methods for monitoring food safety.
Improve Food Safety with Technology
Automation is vital to transforming food safety protocols. Foodservice retailers and restaurant owners can use intervention tools such as store sensors to automatically log temperatures of prep areas, fridges, freezers, and other equipment. These technologies protect against foodborne illness and secure inventory by ensuring that food storage areas remain temperature compliant.
Revolutionizing Refrigeration with Smart Sensors
A sensor monitoring system can save restaurants thousands per month. They not only reduce food waste; they increase the energy and time efficiency of your business. You can track energy consumption across your business and find out where you have opportunities to reduce usage while saving employees time by automating processes and increasing workflow.
Every restaurant must monitor temperatures in refrigeration units and maintain records of those readings throughout business hours. The problem is that foodservice is a fast-paced, time-sensitive business, and the temperature logging is a manual process. Manually checking and recording temperatures during a lunch rush is disruptive to the workflow and sometimes does not happen.
This pain point is where technology can help. With smart devices that actively monitor refrigeration and holding temperatures 24/7, food service businesses can ensure that food temperature is always within a safe range without wasting labor on manual monitoring. Owners and managers can receive instant alerts by email or mobile app when temperatures creep out of range. A complete monitoring solution also provides the reporting necessary to help ensure regulatory and HACCP compliance even during that big rush.
In addition to maintaining complete and compliant records, automated monitoring devices can save over restaurants over $50 per month in labor cost per refrigeration unit by eliminating manual recording of temperatures. Most restaurants contain 4 or 5 units at a minimum, which adds up savings over a year. For franchises with 10 or 100 stores, the savings and increase in efficiency can be staggering. Imagine 50 stores with five units each; we are talking 250 refrigerators at $50 savings each, totaling over $12,000 per month.
Hope for the Best but Always Be Prepared
Thomas Woodward, Vice President of Operations at Lariat Lodge, states, “In any new operation, I would absolutely advise getting these sensors installed in your coolers.” Lariat Lodge is one of the many customers in the foodservice industry that we have partnered with to create a dynamic solution to meet their unique needs.
Restaurants, cafeterias, grocery stores, convenience stores, caterers, event venues, hospitals, pharmacies, food production facilities, and meatpacking and dairy facilities can all harness the power of IoT. Users can easily monitor refrigeration systems anytime, from anywhere, while dramatically improving product quality, regulatory compliance, and safety. But sensor-driven solutions go beyond foodservice. They can be utilized for pest control, motion detection, door monitoring, carbon dioxide detection, and hundreds of other issues.
At Bauen Solutions, we are committed to delivering a superior monitoring solution that supports all of your needs. When you partner with us, we guarantee around the clock compliance, actionable alerts, analytics and reporting, and immediate cost savings. We always hope for the best, but we help you prepare for any curve thrown your way.
