Avoiding Product Loss After Cold Storage Failure

How ComplianceMate™ by Ladle Helped a Restaurant Save $40,000 of Inventory After a Major Power Outage

After a series of powerful storms swept through a Southeastern city, thousands of residents and businesses were left without power. That included a popular restaurant where a fresh delivery of food product had just been transferred into their cold-holding equipment earlier that day.

Ordinarily, the equipment would have come back online as soon as power was restored. Except, in this case, the equipment failed. Even when the lights came back on, the walk-in unit didn’t. Because the blackout had happened at night, store managers were effectively still in the dark about the equipment failure—until ComplianceMate™ by Ladle began calling.

This restaurant had installed automated ComplianceMate™ temperature sensors in their cold-holding equipment. Once the temperatures hit a custom-set threshold, the ComplianceMate™ call center began generating outbound calls to alert them.

With that alert, the team was able to spring into action to preserve tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of inventory before it sat too long at unsafe temperatures and would have to be discarded.

“ComplianceMate helped save us from $35,000 to $40,000 in food product spoilage.”
— Executive Chef, Restaurant Group

Rapid Response in Three Steps

1. The Walk-In Refrigerator Stopped Working

Although the local utility company restored power to the building, the compressor in the walk-in unit failed. Temperatures began to steadily rise, creeping up until they hit 48˚F to 50˚F—well above the safe zone, potentially putting the entire inventory at risk of spoilage. ComplianceMate™ by Ladle temperature sensors automatically captured and relayed temperature and humidity data to the cloud in real-time. Once temperatures exceeded the defined thresholds, automated alerts were generated.

2. Automated Alerts Triggered Immediate Action

The ComplianceMate™ call center began generating outbound calls to restaurant personnel. “They go through a list of numbers,” the Executive Chef noted. “If they don’t get one person, they just move on to the next person.” That enabled the chef to reach the store manager and, since the equipment failure struck at night and they couldn’t get technicians out until the next day, to contact their food service provider to procure a refrigerated truck.

3. Inventory Was Transferred Safely

Thanks to a quick response, the food service provider delivered a refrigerated truck into which all the food product was transferred overnight. “Because we got alerted so promptly to take action, I don’t think we even had to take any corrective action before the truck arrived and we moved everything over,” the Executive Chef added.

“If we had waited without ComplianceMate the next day, we very well could have been forced to throw all that food away.”
— Executive Chef, Restaurant Group

The ComplianceMate™ Solution

ComplianceMate™ by Ladle has streamlined HACCP compliance checklists and cooler monitoring for thousands of restaurant locations across the US, Canada, the EU, and the UAE. Wireless sensors continuously monitor and record temperatures inside any cold-holding units. Using the ComplianceMate™ app, users can also complete checklists for literally any HACCP or brand-specific compliance benchmarks, even incorporating visual documentation with photos and videos.

About Ladle

Ladle helps foodservice operators manage and grow their businesses with end-to-end solutions that improve safety, quality, and operational efficiency. ComplianceMate™ by Ladle empowers restaurants to proactively monitor equipment, maintain food safety compliance, and protect their bottom line.

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