International. Thermo King presented a series of recommendations to maintain the ideal quality of food, where refrigeration plays a fundamental role for the restaurant sector.
And the quality of food in the face of a strong influx, if not the strongest, is totally related to the handling of a greater amount of food, so in this situation, how could restaurateurs ensure that they have the variety and quantity of food that is required and with the appropriate quality? How is it that they can travel thousands of kilometers days before so that everything is fresh and ready on the big day? Not all foods come from the same place, nor do they have the same temperature requirement, so handling and transportation must have different temperatures:
• Ice creams –20ºC.
• Fish, molluscs, frozen or deep-frozen crustaceans –18ºC.
• Deep-frozen products –18ºC.
• Frozen butter –10ºC.
• Rest of frozen products –12ºC.
• Red offal +3ºC.
• Butter +6ºC.
• Hunting products + 4ºC.
• Milk in tanks +4ºC.
• Industrial milk +6ºC.
• Refrigerated dairy products +4ºC.
• Fish, molluscs and crustaceans in melting ice or at melting ice temperature.
• Meat and meat preparations (except red offal) +7ºC.
• Birds and rabbits +4ºC.
The means of transport of these products must have a correct logistics so that there is no loss or waste, but even more, a bad experience for the consumer, which directly impacts the brand, but also who offers it, as in this case could be the restaurant. During 2017, several cases of food poisoning were recorded, mainly chicken and seafood (sushi). That is why the cold chain in perishables is of utmost importance so that the load can reach our hands.
According to Thermo King for this whole process to be successful, it is necessary to take care of some aspects:
• Have the right temperature at the time of loading to refrigerated transport for food, for proper preservation.
• Keep the vehicle's cooling chamber in perfect condition, in order to protect the products from the heat outside.
• Have an adequate method of unloading at the point of arrival, especially with reference to the duration and frequency of the door openings of the cooling chamber and ensure that the discharge is carried out in the shortest possible time.
• Properly preserve the insulated box and the cooling system, at this point it is important to have refrigerated transport units with state-of-the-art technology such as coils with microchannel condenser instead of traditional tube and fin coils.
• Contemplate transport temperature control systems built to travel long distances, regardless of the type of transport -rail, marine, truck or trailer-.
• Make use of proven solutions for the maintenance and control that the restaurant and food industry in Mexico requires for the correct delivery of perishables.
Today the refrigerated transport industry provides various solutions where technology is playing a fundamental role in achieving that its users achieve the delivery objectives of their products in the required conditions and in the right time to meet the national demand.
