When it comes to schools, an efficient, optimised kitchen is vital for the smooth running of operations. To ensure that the kitchen is maximising efficiency, it’s important to enter into the best commercial catering contract available. Your contract catering firm will manage your contract for 3 to 5 years, so choosing the best one for your school’s needs is vital. In this post, you’ll discover 3 important factors to consider before your next commercial catering contract.
Does the Contract Include a Fit Out?
Often, contract catering includes a kitchen refurbishment as part of the terms. This may include a refit of all equipment as well as an upgrade to the existing infrastructure.
This commercial kitchen update is vital to keep the facilities up to date and running smoothly. So make sure you understand what is included as part of this service.
Maximising Your Commercial Kitchen Refurbishment
A school kitchen is used heavily for short periods during the day. These are break and lunch (oftentimes breakfast as well). As a result, schools have only a short window of time to get a lot of bodies in, served and fed, meaning that they require a fully optimised kitchen set up.
When it comes to layout, make sure that any refit takes into account the mirroring responsibilities of queueing and serving. You need the kitchens prime equipment close to the serving window maximise freshness and nutritional value while making sure that a steady queue of bodies moves through seamlessly to avoid food going cold or stale.
You will also have to consider the space available. Do you have room for all the necessary equipment to feed the number of bodies you have? Perhaps you require a new design that can creatively make use of a small footprint?
If so, this is where an external kitchen fit-out company can add real value. An optimised design and state of the art equipment will improve kitchen operations significantly, helping your kitchen staff focus on giving excellent food and service to pupils.
Commercial Kitchen Refit Budget
Make sure you understand the budget allocated to a kitchen refit as part of your contract catering. The choice and standard of equipment that can be provided or installed will inevitably be dictated by the budget that the catering company has to spend.
School kitchens run best when fitted with modern equipment that helps the staff give the best standard of service possible. So, make sure the catering contract you acquire allocates a proportionate investment to new, modern equipment.
Does the Contract Catering Include Training?
Perhaps most importantly, look for a catering contract that provides trained staff that are versed in the automation needed in a school kitchen. Overly complicated methods and equipment might look sophisticated, but usually slow a commercial kitchen.
If you already have a team of staff, ensure the new equipment comes with training so all staff members are confident in operating the new facilities. This will help reduce downtime and keep the kitchen running smoothly.
Check out our work from a recent school catering project we did at St Helens school in Watford.
