Ghost kitchens continue to change the foodservice landscape, allowing concepts to fill in their footprints and move into areas that may not otherwise be viable via brick and mortar locations. Seeing an opportunity, many ghost kitchen operators have seemingly appeared out of nowhere to rent kitchen space not spooked by this new opportunity.

At this point in the pandemic recovery, most restaurants have opened their doors. And schools, corporate cafeterias and other non-commercial foodservice operators find themselves in the process of preparing for reopening. Restarting a kitchen’s hot side presents one set of challenges, while refrigeration and cleaning equipment have another.

Whether they’re behind the counter or in the dining room, soda dispensers are a staple of the modern restaurant. With the amount of use a machine gets every day, keeping these units clean and operational is absolutely essential.

Office buildings, schools and events venues that aren’t already open will likely resume operations in the coming weeks and months. These restarts will include commercial kitchens for cafeterias and food vendors.

Planned maintenance. The words make sense at first glance, but think about them for a moment and they raise some questions: What does a planned maintenance agreement cover? How should operators choose a planned maintenance provider? And are these deals really worth the cost?

Foodservice operators looking to purchase new equipment can turn to service agencies for guidance on energy efficiency, reliability and more. 

Even the most basic rotating rack oven requires a significant upfront investment from foodservice operators. These operators should take a few basic steps to make sure that investment pays off over the long-term.

With the business environment slowly plodding along, a growing number of foodservice operators continue to repair rather than replace their foodservice equipment. In order for this money-saving step to truly benefit the business, however, foodservice operators should invest in planned maintenance for their equipment.

Charbroilers are one of the most straightforward pieces of foodservice equipment but servicing them should not be taken lightly.

Some quick tips for maintaining charbroilers.

Foodservice operators benefit from proper equipment training.

The increased temperatures and bump in summer business can cause trouble with refrigeration equipment but it doesn't have to. 

A guest will visit a restaurant for the first time either by choice or by chance. But any subsequent visits are all by choice. That's why, when trying to earn repeat business, which is so important to all of us, no detail is too small for us to overlook. And we choose to partner with vendors that share this philosophy.

In response to the slower-than-expected business climate, foodservice operators can look to their service agents for ways to lower operating costs.

As they tried to ride out the recession, many foodservice operators cut back on planned maintenance of equipment and some even looked to buy used foodservice equipment. Here are a few tips on how foodservice operators can re-start a planned mainteance program and what they should look for when buying used equipment.

Veteran service agent Bruce Peeling shares some basic foodservice equipment maintenance tips that will help ensure an item continues to function at peak efficiency.

When trying to create an environmentally friendly foodservice environment, most operators take the proper first step of specifying energy-efficient equipment. What often gets overlooked, though, is the fact maintaining an energy-efficient environment is much more of an ongoing process that requires proper cleaning and maintenance of equipment.