COVID-19 has battered the restaurant industry. Since March 1, the industry has lost more than 3 million jobs and $25 billion in sales, and roughly 50% of restaurant operators anticipate having to lay off more people in April, according to the National Restaurant Association.
The impact is severe on multiple fronts. Stay-at-home orders throughout the country have forced many restaurants to close. Others have converted to takeout only, with a skeleton crew of staff in the short term. As restaurants regroup and try to weather financially painful time, three priorities are clear: Safety, cleanliness and labor efficiency in the kitchen is still paramount.
Restaurant Technologies brings stability and safety to restaurant operations by managing the kitchen exhaust system. Its products and systems solve for airborne grease by either eliminating or slowing build-up, which reduces fire hazard risk and cleans the kitchen environment on a daily basis.
The problem is real
No matter the state of the industry, fire will always be a serious threat to restaurants. According to NFPA, foodservice businesses reported an estimated average of 7,410 structure fires between 2010 and 2014. These fires resulted in associated annual losses of three civilian deaths, 110 civilian injuries and $165 million in property damage, with cooking equipment being the leading cause. Airborne grease is fuel for a fire, and it does not take much for a small fire that started at a cook surface to spread into the hood and flue, where the fire becomes much more challenging to fight.
Constantly clean without hood cleaners
The AutoMist® system, designed by Restaurant Technologies, is an automated cleaning system that encourages safety and helps to reduce fire risk—with no added staff. It cleans the hood and flue every day with a powerful spray mixture of detergent and water to prevent hazardous grease buildup. Sprayers installed along the hood and up the flue to the exhaust fan help to thoroughly clean at every turn. Meanwhile, the delivery system automatically controls when cleaning is initiated, meaning a manager never has to think about it or schedule a hood cleaning with third-party cleaners.
Another benefit of AutoMist, particularly during the pandemic, is that there is no significant labor component. While extra staff helps in many areas of the restaurant, less is more when it comes to the automated hood and flue cleaning system. When traditional hood and flue cleaners send in a cleaning crew on a quarterly or semiannual basis, these crews typically close the kitchen to scrape or wash away grease with harsh chemicals, leaving behind a mess or damaged equipment. AutoMist, on the other hand, requires no down time.
AutoMist will bring new, smart & value-added innovation to your operations, streamline vendor exposure, enable a constant clean environment, increase safety of employees while reducing casualty insurance premiums and does not require up-front capital investment.
Proactively stop the grease
Don’t wait to fight back again airborne grease. Instead, stop the grease at the source with Grease LockTM. Grease Lock filters up to 98% of the airborne grease in a high efficiency disposable filter pad before the grease enters the vent hood. Unlike traditional metal hood filters, Grease Lock provides a first line of defense, drastically reducing the accumulation of grease and fire risk within the hood and flue. The filter pad is constructed of an all-natural, flame-resistance fiber that is sustainable and offers the perfect balance between grease filtration, airflow and fire safety.
Additional benefits of Grease Lock include:
- Reduce hood cleanings—75% reduction in third party hood cleanings
- Saves labor—metal hood filters may now only need to be cleaned once per month
- Protects rooftop—educes grease build-up on rooftop and roof-mounted HVAC equipment
- Saves water—save up to 13,000 gallons of water annually per location
- Fewer chemicals needed—reduces the need for using chemicals for everyday cleaning
- Easy DIY install—simply replace the old metal hood filters with Grease Lock
- Compatible with AutoMist and most hood manufactures
Grease Lock’s hood filter innovation enables labor and cost efficiencies, increases fire safety and cleanliness of hood and flue system.
Restaurants are weathering a tough time right now. Don’t let airborne grease add to the problem. Instead, upgrade airborne grease management practices today to help prepare for the day when the crisis abates.
This post is sponsored by Restaurant Technologies