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Food Equipment News Thursday, February 7, 2019 2 2 Not All Food Safety Management Systems Are Created Equal Digital food safety systems offer a recipe for success in the modern restaurant, but only if you choose a system with the right ingredients. In fact, a digital system can end up costing you more money if you choose and use a system that turns out to be a poor fit or fails to meet your needs. But how do you figure out which system is the right one? Here's a handy "check- list for checklists" with the most impor- tant criteria to consider. It should have a user-friendly design. If the app is harder to use than pen-and- paper, it will fail to deliver its intended benefits. The app should offer a clear, clean design with prompts; auto-advance between entries to minimize user interac- tion; automatically pull in readings from handheld probes and wireless sensors; and so on. Bottom-line: make sure users don't spend more time managing the app than managing the checklist. It should be fast. Ideally, your kitchen staff should be able to get through an average digital check- list in just a few minutes. No single entry should take more than seconds to com- plete. It should require only minimal training. Completing a checklist isn't rocket sci- ence, so if it takes an engineering degree to figure out how to work the system, it's too complicated. Look for a system that users can understand within the first few minutes of using it. It should do things you can't when using pen-and-paper. Unfortunately, many products simply move checklists into the digital space without actually improving on them. The app should lever- age the smart device being used, e.g., allowing users to snap photos. It should facilitate employee success. One thing a digital checklist can do that a paper one cannot: offer contextual prompts. For example, if a temperature is out of spec, the app itself should be able to suggest corrective actions. It should automatically and securely log all information to the cloud. This step is where a digital solution really begins to shine. It should upload check- lists to a centralized cloud where users all across the organization can access infor- mation from role-based dashboards. It should offer above-unit visibility. Once the data is in the cloud, your organ- ization should be able to parse it into actionable information across all stores. This functionality is strangely rare, but it's a must-have to maximize the benefits of a digital solu- tion. It should automatically alert you to anomalies. If something is amiss – any- thing from a dubious data point to an entry that exceeds some threshold – the system itself should be able to generate automated alerts via email, text or even voice according to customizable rules. With the right checklist, restaurants can streamline their kitchen operations, improve their food safety profile, and save time and money. But before you dive into digitization, make sure you're getting the right features and functionali- ty to successfully achieve those out- comes. Visit CM Systems at booth #1092. For more information, go to www .compliancemate.com, call 678.526.4628 or email info@compliancemate.com. Blendtec: Quality Can't Be Outsourced What does it mean to be an American company? At Blendtec, it means keeping everything – from brainstorming new ideas to building blenders to shipping them out – all in its 275,000 square foot facility. Blendtec takes pride in providing jobs in its hometown of Orem, Utah, and Blendtec's employees from engineers to manufacturing to marketing and cus- tomer service all take pride in being a part of the world's most advanced blender. Keeping everything under one roof is the best way to meet the compa- ny's stringent quality standards and exceed its customers' expectations. Blendtec does all it can in-house, and the few things that it doesn't do, it keeps as close to home as possible! Design Blendtec's talented team of industrial designers and engineers work together to form cutting-edge designs that have the advanced features its customers want in their kitchens. Engineering Blendtec is proud of its engineers. Thanks to them, Blendtec has pioneered the most advanced blending technology available. Their passion for quality and innovation can be seen in each design they bring to life. Manufacturing and Assembly Virtually all manufac- turing is done in- house, including injection molding, CNC and circuit boards. Once parts are manufactured, skilled teams build and box every blender, mixer and mill from start to fin- ish in Blendtec's in-house assembly sta- tions. Sales and Marketing Blendtec's sales and marketing team knows all about its consumers. Its engi- neering team knows how to think outside the box. Together, they collabo- rate to solve industry problems and make the products Blendtec customers need. It's the perfect pair. Customer Service Blendtec's customer service department is the best around. They're dedicated to making sure own- ing a Blendtec is a smooth experience for customers, restaurants and inde- pendent retailers, and are available 24 hours a day to answer questions and provide support. Visit Blendtec at booth #448. For more information, go to www.blendtec.com/ commercial or call 801.222.0888. Franmara Offers Wine and Bar Accessories For almost 50 years, Franmara, Inc. has been a leader in high quality wine and bar accessories. It particularly specializes in wine and bar service in the foodservice industry with many of its products. All of its items are listed on AutoQuotes. Seeking higher quality and greater diversity as well as keeping high quanti- ties of inventory in stock are Franmara's greatest challenges. In terms of wine accessories, Franmara Inc. has the largest line of wine accessories in the world. With over 200 waiter's-type corkscrews alone, including the Pulltap's and Boomerang corkscrews, Franmara leads the way. Franmara's own Capitano Waiter's Corkscrew, for instance, is a favorite with waiters. It is very durable and has a long handle for good leverage, and is quite attractively priced. Many in-room hotel refreshment facilities carry an imprinted version of this or the Pocket or Traveler's. For room service or mini-bars, the plastic Pocket and Traveler's corkscrews are imprintable and used by thousands of establishments worldwide. Another foodservice favorite (and airline service favorite) is the Cedon bench mount uncorking machine. (It even has its own Boeing product number!) Lustrum (1mm thick) cocktail shak- ers are a big foodservice favorite item, as well. Crumb scrapers, wine decanters, wine coolers, cheese accessories, open- ers, stoppers, pourers (recently expand- ed) and peppermills are also popular products. The Modularack Pro wine rack line fits a foodservice niche with 31 con- figurations for storing, or displaying, from 24 up to 408 wine bottles. Very strong, Radiata Pine from Australia makes these easy-to-assem- ble units very special. After 49 years in business, Franmara, Inc. has become a leader in wine and bar acces- sories. Since the late 1990s, the 80 mil- lion plus Baby Boomers have impacted wine consumption in a big way. As a result, this wine-drinking trend, and all the accessories that go with it, have been a good boost for the foodservice trade. Franmara keeps addressing this opportu- nity. Barware products have also greatly increased in sales. Franmara sells only to the trade, with no direct sales to the public. The compa- ny ships from its own facility in Salinas, California, where it manufactures, assembles and imprints many of the products it sells. The company has many proprietary items, invented and patented by Franmara. It continues to search the world to broaden its categories (as will be revealed in Franmara's new catalog). Creating and manufacturing what's not available anywhere else in the world has become a big challenge for Franmara. Franmara, Inc. has outgrown its original plant and now also warehouses in nearby facilities. The company is proud and pleased that many of its employees have worked for Franmara for a decade or more. Franmara strives to provide its employees with the best envi- ronment it can for them. Franmara's facility runs on 100 percent renewable solar energy. Visit Franmara at booth #2439. For more information, go to www.franmara.com, call 800.423.5855 for the latest catalog (to come) or email the company at info@franmara.com. Fall River Wild Rice: New Ways with America's Native Grain Interest in plants and grains is soar- ing, as shoppers look for new ways to eat healthy. High in protein and fiber, nutty and with a striking visual appeal, wild rice is one of the healthi- est grains available. It was a staple food of several Native American tribes, who called it "manoomin" or "precious grain." Fall River Wild Rice brings this culinary gem to your store shelf. This naturally cultivated wild rice is great in salads, soups and stir-fries. However, it also works well in mixes for pancakes and muffins and even in chocolate and desserts. Fall River's Fully Cooked Wild Rice is high-pro- tein goodness in seconds. For more information, call 800.626.4366 or go to www.fallriver wildrice.com.