Catering on location

The manufacturing and distribution sector can be challenging for contract caterers to navigate, but Peter Kent discusses how to manage the industry’s 24/7 shift patterns and supply and demand challenges

Many manufacturing businesses operate outside of the normal working week hours, often running 24/7 with their teams working split shifts. To ensure a consistent food and beverage offering, contract caterers need to emulate client teams by working with separate teams that hand over to each other between shifts.

Tackling hotspots

It can be challenging dealing with hotspots in the working day, To tackle this we installed our own till systems to analyse sales data on a weekly basis. This provides two key benefits:

1. Assessing the hours needed to service hotspots with the highest sales volumes; and

2. Adjusting rosters week to week to align with sector teams’ fluctuations.

Self-service tills are valuable tools to increase productivity from an hourly perspective and to enable catering teams to concentrate on the food and service delivery during times of spiked demand. This means catering teams focus on the customer experience with teams on the floor instead of fretting about the final payment process.

Off the beaten track

To keep logistics facilities – often in out-of-the-way locations – supplied properly, the supply chain needs to be sophisticated. One way to do this, which we have opted for, is to make use of a supply chain scheme that supports SMEs, with more than 70% of supply coming through remote routes.

Making commitments with these types of smaller, local and remote suppliers about order volumes ensures peace of mind regardless of peak seasonal periods. Very rarely do we experience supply issues, as the sales and supply data enable us to predict demand based on the needs of our clients.

Another way to mitigate potential supply issues is by sourcing all fresh meat from the UK. We source core line products directly from UK producers, such as bacon, cheddar, and eggs, for example.

Seasonal supplies

Focusing on UK suppliers also means catering teams can embrace seasonal menus, which is an effective way to ensure high-quality produce while respecting sustainability in farming and the environment more broadly.

To make sure food provision is always of a sufficiently high quality and is appealing to client teams, it’s important to maintain close relationships with suppliers. This allows chefs to understand the full farm-to-fork journey, what’s available and how they can best prepare to create enticing seasonal dishes.

An example of this is our relationship with one of our partners, Waste Knot, which specialises in taking surplus fruit and veg from farmers’ fields and bringing them to kitchens. Such a partnership enables catering teams to reduce food waste while also providing a hospitality experience that contributes to their own and their client’s sustainability commitments.

Best practice for location catering teams

The pandemic taught us that the unpredictable can happen and we need to be prepared, especially when providing services to sectors that remain active – such as manufacturing and logistics organisations –regardless of the pressures at the time. So teams should:

1. Include regional variety in menus by focusing on what is available from local producers in the area;

2. Be flexible to adapt to fluctuating shift patterns;

3. Invest in every business department, from chefs and baristas to those working behind the scenes in the supply chain, as well as sustainability, technology, and training. With agile and flexible working, we can design a service that works for our teams and our clients.

Electrify Your Heat

Electrification of heat – replacing fossil fuel-reliant energy sources such as gas boilers with heat pumps and electric alternatives – is best achieved by switching to heat pumps and other hybrid systems, says Robert Stevens of Integral’s Cooling Technologies Team.

Standards Of Cleanliness

Why rely on the British Standard (BS EN 15780) for cleanliness levels in ductwork and the TR19 Guide to Good Practice? Andrew Steel of Airmec Essential Services puts forward five key reasons

Key takeaways

● Typically, TR19 compliance will suffice for duct cleaning;

● In new systems, BS EN 15780 cross-references with other standards for

Key takeaways

● Air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps get heat from the outside air or directly from the ground;

● The heat is transferred into a building plant room area via plate heat exchangers;

● Heat is circulated to cooling or heating systems through pump sets;

● Hybrid systems work by pairing a heat pump with a conventional gas, liquid petroleum gas or oil boiler; and

● The heat pump provides most of the heating and hot water.

Social Connections

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Fac030423heat

The Know How learning continues at facilitatemagazine.com. Here is a summary of the key takeaways from a selection of our onlineonly articles

● Ventilation system specifiers, installers, commissioning engineers, cleaning specialists and facilities managers must all have unambiguous guidance on cleaning standards, procedures, and validation; and

HVAC systems;

● Crucially, BS EN 15780 defines the frequency of risk assessment surveys, the basis of all good management to address current risk;

Social housing FMs should quiz broadband providers on five important factors, says 4th Utility’s Jimmy Acton

Key takeaways

● Full-fibre broadband has taken over the market, replacing copper cables, as it directly provides properties with faster, more reliable internet with less interference;

● Post-Covid, broadband is as important as other key utilities like water, gas and electricity so check if social tariffs are provided;

● Ensure there is additional support or added value from your broadband provider such as installation engineers that care about the residents;

● Good infrastructure is key, especially for those living in multiple dwelling units; and

● Maximise residents’ wellbeing through broadband, even if only in a community room or reception area.

● Read the full article at tinyurl.com/Fac030423broadband

● When building managers can more easily understand their obligations, they can manage their overall running costs.

Read the full article at tinyurl.com/ Fac030423-duct

60 Ian Tidwell explains how SBFM is helping the long-term unemployed into jobs