This week in the Pizza Equipment Pros Blog, we want to talk about energy efficiency and Sustainable Food Service Equipment; is your restaurant letting hard earned $$$ get sucked up by high utility bills? The key to answering this question begins with analyzing the energy efficiency and micro-climates of your restaurant.
Energy efficiency in a restaurant means being as conscientious as possible about the equipment that you are
purchasing, the upkeep and maintenance of that equipment, and staying knowledgeable on greener business practices and innovative products and technology. We recently attended one of the many classes that the Food Service Technology Center in San Ramon, CA offers to their customers on Greener Business and Restaurant Practices, the class was titled Chill Your Bill: Refrigeration from A to Z and although Pizza Equipment Pros isn’t in the Business of selling refrigeration units, the information gained from this course was invaluable to our continuing education of Green Restaurants and how to help our customers make the switch to Sustainable Food Service Equipment.
Over the last several years Pizza Equipment Pros has partnered with the Food Service Technology Center to test our line of Cuppone Ovens for Energy Efficiency, and we are proud to say that our ovens have passed their stringent tests with flying colors! For information on the Cuppone Ovens and their energy efficiency go to our Energy Rebate page for more information.
So what exactly are micro-climates and why are these important to analyze in your restaurant? The micro-climates of your establishment are everywhere: front of house, back of house, bathrooms; every room of your restaurant likely has multiple micro-climates, all trying to do their jobs, and potentially working against one another. A restaurant micro-climate is any small area or surface that is different from other areas around it; for example an oven next to a refrigerator, the oven is trying to heat products up while the refrigerator is trying to cool products down. Knowing where your hottest and coolest points in the restaurant are, and trying to structure a better “flow” of your setup or line will help to insure that your equipment isn’t having to work double time to accomplish the same job.
At Pizza Equipment Pros we understand that purchasing a new oven or large piece of equipment for your restaurant is a major decision and investment, and that your purchase is usually a long term investment. As the years pass, newer, more energy efficient products are invented and technologies are advanced meaning that your purchasing process continues to evolve. So how do you make sure that you are making the very best investment? We have a few tips to help you out…
- Do your research: the leaders in energy efficiency and Sustainable Food Service Equipment give you unbiased reviews and statistics about the products that you are considering purchasing. Companies like Food Service Technology Center- FSTC, Energy Star, and Consortium for Energy Efficiency- CEE require that all ovens, or refrigeration units, or deep fryers that are tested for energy efficiency ratings undergo the same exact tests resulting in real facts and unbiased results.
- Test the Equipment in Person: there is no better way to know if you can put your faith in a new piece of equipment like testing the product out in person. That is why we at Pizza Equipment Pros have created a Testing Facility and Kitchen to allow potential customers to get hands on with our equipment. For information about our Test Kitchen and Travel Credits, click here.
- Talk with your Colleagues: sometimes the best advice comes from your colleagues. You may use a different dough recipe, you may live on the other side of the country, but you both have a passion for what you do, cooking pizza. Pizza Equipment Pro’s thrives off of the good reviews and word of mouth that we receive on our products. Don’t just let a sales representative tell you how great the product is, talk to the end user!
For more information or tips on Energy Efficiency, Micro-Climates, Pizza Equipment Pros energy efficient equipment, or any of the organizations mentioned in this blog, please email us at [email protected]
