Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 28492

What to look for

FOOD TRANSPORT

THERE are many ways of moving freshly made food products through the catering chain, from Gastronorm containers and meal trolleys within catering premises to insulated boxes and mobile handling systems when meals need distribution to external service points, whether outdoor events or satellite catering unit at hospitals, schools or factories.

Key components in modern meal delivery systems include:

l Hot line and cold line trolleys (or combinations) for holding meals in bulk (usually gastronorm containers with lids) or in trayed/plated form. These are plugged into the mains for loading in the kitchen and then unplugged, moved to a remote service point/satellite kitchen and re-connected to hold the food until required.

l Insulated boxes, made in a variety of sizes most typically in polypropylene, polyethylene or sheet steel with double wall construction containing an insulated layer such as polyurethane foam. These enable hot foods to retain their temperature for up to seven hours provided the container is full and the lid is kept shut. Where cold or frozen food is to be transported, frozen-down eutectic plates slotted into appropriate space within boxes maintain low temperatures.

Most container systems are designed for interstacking and available with compatible handling systems. Equipment needs to be planned as part of a total movement and storage system rather than as a piecemeal sequence of operations, with full compatibility between equipment in order to achieve adequate means of temperature control at all stages of the chain.

Trolley systems

Many systems exist for transporting hot and/or cold meals to the point of service in hospital wards, nursing homes and function applications. On-board systems keep trolley contents at a steady temperature (hot or cold line trolleys) or regenerate individual trays or plated portions. Some trolleys also have servery tops for dishing meals onto plates, with bains-marie/overhead lamp fitments or refrigeration wells.

What to buy

Food transport

Cart= hot meal carts; Cont= insulated meal containers; Tray= meal trays; Trol= meal service trolleys; Gast= gastronorm pans

SUPPLIER CART CONT TRAY TROL GASTRONORM PANS

(ins) steel ceram plast

BGL Barrett Gray l l l l l l

Bourgeat l l l l l l

Bonnet Cidelcem l l l l l l

Cambro l l l l l

Frialator l l

Grundy Catering l l

Hobart l

MPD(UK Sales) l l l l l l

Malibu Corp l

George E.Neville l

Primeware Ceramics l

Rubbermaid l l l l l l

Samuel Groves l

The Stewart Company l

Viscount l l

Welbilt l

Zanussi l