Installing three-door chillers in your establishment is a sound business decision for several reasons. These commercial fridges will improve your product quality, as they maintain consistent cooling, which protects your stock from varying external temperatures. Non-compromised product, in turn, is beneficial in driving sales and providing customers with high-quality goods. They also happen to be effective storage solutions, taking up minimal space to store on location and display large amounts of product.
But business owners generally take these types of equipment for granted too, assuming that they are only for display and storage. Extending the lifespan of a three-door chiller and ensuring a steady level of quality products, depends on proper maintenance and cleaning. This also includes stocking and organising the fridge correctly. And although packing stock correctly may seem unnecessary, it is a rather valuable exercise.
Honar Refrigeration suggests following these tips as a guideline on how to increase the productivity and lifespan of a three-door chiller fridge:
1) Ensure There Is Adequate Spacing Between Items
Business owners who do not have enough commercial fridges to store their stock tend to haphazardly pack to try and fit all their products in. This results in an overstuffed fridge, with limited ventilation as there is not enough space for air to circulate, which affects the quality of the products. Not only can this impact the performance of your fridge in the long run, but it can also cause a serious malfunction. Pack so that there is enough space along the walls and space out items for proper airflow.
2) Follow A FIFO Method With Goods
Ignoring shelf-life dates can be detrimental to your business and customers - this is an important factor to consider especially with food products. Regardless of the stocking system used in your business, it is advisable to use a FIFO or First-In, First-Out method for your commercial fridges. More often than not, employees pack the oldest products in the back or bottom rather than the front. Not only is this a waste of money on the stock as it will need to be thrown away after it’s shelf-life expires, but it can also end up staying in the position for too long. This increases the chance of ice build-up, which will eventually affect your operating fridge and will come with expensive bills for repairs or replacements.
3) Store Meat Correctly
Although it may seem like the better business decision to store meat products upfront of a commercial fridge, to quickly sell because of their limited shelf-life dates, there is risk attached to this. Keeping them on higher shelves or levels can result in spills which can be a hassle to clean. This can also then lead to cross-contamination of other products. Therefore, we suggest either allocating a separate commercial fridge for meat products or placing them towards the back or bottom of the fridge to avoid spreading bacteria from spills.
By maintaining the cleanliness of three-door chillers and ensuring that the organisation is prioritised, businesses can look forward to the cost-saving benefit as a result. Disorganisation leads to fridges working harder, and this will affect the longevity of the equipment. The possibility of excessive bills in the future due to repair work will arise, and so, it is crucial to understand the importance of proper storage and use of commercial fridges.
Honar Refrigeration is an industry leader in providing and servicing three-door chillers and other types of commercial fridges. For more product information, service enquires, or support – speak to us.