Besides food waste, an issue that is top-of-mind for many restaurateurs is their labor expense.  Warewashing is one area where many foodservice operators can reduce labor costs with fairly minimal investment.  Adding a glass washer to your bar sink saves labor in several ways.  First, the glasses don’t need to be racked and moved to a dishwasher; eliminating this step also reduces breakage.  Then there’s the benefit of cleaner glasses and fewer returned drinks with dried-on lipstick or food pulp.  That’s because the bar sink glass washer’s brushes scrub off food and lipstick residue more effectively than undercounter glass washers—and at a fraction of the cost of a large warewasher.  Besides saving on labor, glass washers are easy to install, fitting into most bar sinks and requiring no special plumbing or electrical hook-ups.

    In some cases, of course, you need to use a larger upright or undercounter warewasher.  In those instances, you can realize savings simply by upgrading your glass racks.  Carlisle’s Opticlean Newave TM glass racks have all the durability of standard glass racks, but they hold 20% more glassware.  That means fewer loads are necessary, and that saves you money on the labor, detergent, and water/electrical costs of running the dish washer.  The curved design of the Newave TM glass racks also holds the most popular sizes more securely than standard racks, reducing breakage.  To find out if a Newave TM glass rack will fit your glassware, give your Serv-U sales associate a call at 1-800-797-3788.  For standard glass racks, just locate your glassware here on www.servu-online.com by using the search function in the top left corner of the screen.  The matching glass rack will be listed as an accessory at the bottom of your glassware’s product page.  Getting the best glass rack for your drinkware is important to reducing mechanical shock and breakage, so don’t hesitate to call with questions.

    For a relatively small investment in a quality food prep machine, your kitchen can prep food at 3 to 5 times the rate of hand cutting fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and meats.  You’re also assured consistent, professional-looking cuts every time without all the wear and tear on your hands.  While automatic machines are available, manual food prep machines work very well at a fraction of the cost.  Many machines even perform multiple tasks.  A great example of this is the King Kutter TM (REDK-6003 and REDK-6004); for just $113, you get a manual food prep machine that can shred, string, julienne, grate, slice, and chop fruits, vegetables, and cheeses.  And there’s a machine for just about any task.  A quality wedger can be had for under $200, and can be used to wedge potatoes, lemons, limes, oranges, apples, and more.  There are some automatic food prep machines that require a larger up-front investment, but carry significant advantages, such as a potato/vegetable peeler (the UVXK-1000, $1340).  It has a 20-lb capacity, and peels vegetables faster than by hand and with little waste, great for high-volume peeling.  Similarly, for some applications, only a high quality food processor will do.  Though they run between $900-$1500, plus blades, food processors work extremely quickly and effectively on all manner of food product.

    Most diners never see the back-of-the house, but that’s where you can make strategic investments to achieve more consistent plates and better labor efficiency.  Investments in glass washers, glass racks, and food prep machines can all bolster your restaurant’s bottom line.  For more information about the benefits of these items, see our additional links below.

Additional Links:

Bar Maid: Why Glass Washers?