Flexible School Feeding Equipment for Use Now and Later

Top 5 Equipment Picks for Flexible School Feeding: Now and Later

Each of our schools is dealing with unique circumstances and needs that often change from one day to the next. Thanks to the sharing spirit of the school foodservice community, we’ve all learned volumes from each other as we’ve faced this crisis together. Whether supporting in-person, virtual, hybrid or blended instruction, no one has the luxury of procuring new equipment each time the situation changes.

With several weeks of the school year now under our belts, some equipment has been tested and proven to be worth its weight in gold to support a variety of on-campus, curbside, and delivery programs. Here are our top 5 picks.

1. Speed (Bun Pan) Racks

Designed to save trips when moving large volumes of food from point A to point B, speed racks can hold pans of anything from individually packaged meals to full grocery bags of food. Best for shelf stable foods when used for transport or used with an insulated cover, they are equally at home curbside for drive-through pickup, down halls for in-classroom feeding, or in the kitchen to defrost, stage, hold, or cool food products. With aluminum models by NewAge Industrial and composite Ultimate Sheet Pan Rack models by Cambro, we can help you find the right one to suit your needs and budget.

2. Portable Hand Sink Carts

The best way to encourage handwashing is to make it convenient. Portable hand sink carts do just that. Use curbside with an extension cord, or in hallways, corridors, courtyards, or the cafeteria. The Cambro Hand Sink Cart KSC402 has a large, 70-hand washing capacity, and works especially well outside due to its durable polyethylene exterior. It can continue to serve you well in the future for use at sporting events, after recess, and more. With its compact width of 24 inches, the FWE HS-24 is ideal for supplemental handwashing in the kitchen long into the future.

3. Vending Carts

If you already have vending carts or kiosks, they’ve probably come in especially handy this fall. Many have built-in clear barriers that add a layer of protection for your staff and those they serve, in addition to providing a stable surface to stage meals for both on and off-campus consumption and storage for back stock. Cambro recently introduced a new vending cart packed with features you’ll be amazed you were ever able to live without. Clear barriers on 3 sides provide personal protection and discourage theft. This is a truly future-proof piece of equipment since it lends itself to all types of feeding programs, yet it can be outfitted with new graphics at any time to keep it looking fresh.

4. Cambro Flex Station

The name fits: this one can do just about anything. It starts with a foundation of rock-solid, easy to clean, mobile Camshelving Premium Series. Depending upon the application, the unit can be set up with four or five tiers of shelf plates and/or divider bars to safely suspend boxes or pans of food. We have seen grab and go, in-classroom feeding, and curbside pickup set-ups that did wonders for speed and organization. These stations work beautifully with insulated GoBags or GoBoxes to transport hot meals and cold milk. In the future, units can be repurposed for use as mobile shelving or vertical storage organizers for kitchen or classrooms.

5. Insulated Delivery GoBags

With a long history of success in the restaurant delivery world, these are bags you can trust to help you support your delivery or in-classroom feeding program. They can be used for hot or cold foods, are easy to clean, and will continue working for you in the future for summer programs, field trips, and special events.

Every day, we continue to be amazed by our friends in school foodservice. You are our heroes, and we thank you for your dedication, resilience, and ingenuity. We are here to help you find cost-effective solutions to nourish your students and community. Contact us.