Organising your refrigerated or freezer trailer in a busy work environment is essential. Whether it’s a festival, a wedding or a restaurant in rush hour, staying on top of your storage will help you in the long run. Events can be notoriously busy. Festivals are starting to reopen again and weddings are already nerve-wracking and jam-packed. We are here to help you save space and time over a busy work day.
Food categories
Mixing different ingredients in storage can lead to the spread of bacteria and illness. Pre-prepared food items should be stored above raw meat, seafood and dairy products. By preventing leakage from raw foods onto food stored on lower shelves, you will lower the risk of cross-contamination. It will also become easier to find foods in rush periods.
Typically, foods that don’t need cooking will go on the upper shelves, followed by dairy products in the middle and raw meat products on the bottom shelf. This is the general layout of a domestic fridge but it would be beneficial to apply the same basic strategy to your refrigerated trailer or van.
The Importance of Labelling
Labelling your food is essential for staying on top of a busy workload. When you are in a rush or in the middle of a multi-day event, you will save a lot of time if you are able to instantly find what you are looking for. This includes ‘best before by’ dates and indicating how much of each food you have so you know when you’re going to run out.
Frozen foods do not produce much aroma and similar looking foods can be easy to mix up. There are also potential allergens that need to be signposted for example:
- Gluten – cereal, wheat, bread, cake, pies, beer
- Dairy – eggs, milk
- Seafood – crustaceans, fish, molluscs
- Nuts – peanuts, walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites – preservatives found in soft drinks, wine, sausages, burgers, dried fruit and vegetables.
- Mustard
- Celery
- Sesame
- Soybeans
- Lupin
Allergens can affect a person’s diet as well for example:
- Vegetarianism – does not eat meat
- Veganism – does not eat meat or dairy products
- Pescetarianism – does not eat meat but does eat fish
- Coeliac – does not eat gluten
- Dairy free
Protecting the needs of the customer is the most essential aspect of food service. Accidentally delivering them a food they are allergic to or doesn’t meet their dietary requirements is potentially harmful. Great care must be taken when labelling to ensure the safety of your customers.
Benefits of Reusable Containers
Finding the best container for your foodstuffs can be a challenge. We suggest reusable options. It will help save you money and benefits the environment.
- Plastic bags – save a lot of space, especially when vacuum sealed.
- Tupperware – Sturdy and durable; free of BPA, an industrial chemical used in hard plastic that can be harmful in the long-term.
- Glass jars/containers – long-lasting and resistant to corrosion that won’t break down like plastic does. Made from non-toxic materials.
Making the most of reusable containers minimises waste and pollution and reduces the demand for raw materials. This helps your business to become more sustainable.
Portion Size
Organising your food based on portion size can make a huge difference to the speed at which you can plate or box it up and get it out to customers. This will help save you an immense amount of time when serving in a busy environment. Planning out portion sizes also helps your staff. Without having to worry about portion control, your staff will be able to devote their attention to other tasks
Imagine you are in the middle of rush hour. You have a dozen orders on the docket and more coming in all the time. Going to your fridge or freezer trailer and finding just the right portion size already prepared and ready for cooking or serving will be a lifesaver. Controlling portion size in a high pressure environment will help alleviate stress and make you and your team more productive.
The Storage Available in Our Trailers and Vans
Our trailers come in multiple sizes, the better to suit our clients’ needs. We can supply 8ft single axle chillers; 10ft twin axle chillers, 12ft twin axle chillers, 8ft single axle freezers and 10ft twin axle freezer trailers. Shelving in our trailers and vans are optional. We can provide shelving to one or both sides, depending on your requirements.
It is important not to overstock your trailer or van. With less air circulation comes a higher risk of wastage. For more information on the exact dimensions of our products, you can refer to our Trailer Range page.
Making sure your refrigerated trailer or van is stocked to optimum efficiency will go a long way to helping you maintain order at work. Storing food correctly and responsibly will help you and your staff and will benefit your customers greatly.
For further information, you can consult our articles on how cold your trailers should be and what you get when you purchase one of our refrigerated trailers.
In Conclusion
Following these handy tips will ensure that you not only get the maximum space from your commercial freezer trailer but you will also have the speediest and safest ways to access all of your food ingredients. Organisation is critical to a well-running kitchen, no matter what type of kitchen it is. Events can be notoriously busy, especially with festivals reopening this year. Weddings can be a nerve-wracking experience for the bride and groom. Being organised and understanding the speed at which everything needs to be produced can take a huge load off their minds and ensure great reviews of your service.
If you wonder what the difference between taking a regular fridge or a commercial fridge to your event, read this article. Commercial fridges and freezers are built for a lot of door opening and closing. A regular fridge/freezer can potentially struggle to keep the temperature low enough to keep your foods at safety standard. For a long day in the summer sun, that could be a game-changer.
If the temperature of your freezer drops too much, your food will quickly become spoiled and potentially accumulate harmful bacteria. Hiring a commercial fridge trailer, not only gives you substantially more space but they are built with safety in mind.
If you require any further information, please feel free to contact us for a chat about your refrigeration requirements.