Running a business is far from easy. There are a lot of things to do and prepare for. Whatever business you own, you can agree that is it hard work. A lot of time, money and effort is spent to make sure your business runs smoothly. If you own a small local grocer or butcher, you can imagine all the things involved in making sure the business is efficient. With fresh produce in store, the last thing you’d want is for your stock to spoil and go bad. For one, it’ll mean a lot of waste of food, and more so the hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of stock gone down the drain.

Refrigeration

If you own a butcher, then you know well enough that raw meat has to be refrigerated at all times. Hence why a refrigerator is one of the most important pieces of equipment for keeping food safe. These electronic units are commonplace today and we use it on a daily basis. We are promptly reminded of its importance to our daily lives when the power goes off or the unit malfunctions, putting the safety of our food in jeopardy.

Importance of refrigeration

Bacteria is one of the enemies of food. Bacteria is everywhere in nature and they are in the soil, water, air and even in the food we eat. Refrigeration slows down bacteria growth. When food has nutrients, moisture and favourable temperatures, bacteria rapidly grows to the point where some types of bacteria can cause illness. Bacteria grows quickly in temperatures between 4 and 60 degrees Celsius, so anything under that is ideal, however, you don’t want to freeze your stock so keep your temperature above 0 degrees.

Safe handling and placement of foods

Hot food can be directly placed into the refrigerator, however, it is important to cover the food to retain the moisture and prevent them from mixing odours from other foods. Large portions of food such as a big pot of soup or a large cut of meat should be divided into smaller portions and put into shallow containers before being refrigerated.

Raw meat, poultry, and seafood should be sealed in a container or wrapped securely to prevent raw juices from contaminating other foods in the refrigerator. Some refrigerators have certain features such as adjustable shelves, and drawers. These features are designed to make food storage more convenient and to provide separate storage for meats, poultry, fruits, vegetables, and cheese.

Servicing a local grocer and butcher in Dandenong

At Blue Innovation, we provided our commercial refrigeration in Melbourne services to a large local grocer and butcher in Dandenong. Their refrigeration units weren’t in the best condition so our team of qualified and experienced technicians went in and serviced all their refrigeration.

By thoroughly inspecting their refrigeration units, we were able to increase the overall efficiency, increase the cooling provided and controlled the cooling cycle to stop the freezing that was occurring in one of their meat displays.

We provided our client with a detailed job report and ran a number of tests which were recorded as proof of assurance. With a cost-effective maintenance plan to increase the reliability of the refrigeration units, our team at Blue Innovation were able to successfully increase the overall efficiency over its lifetime.