Why Your Catering Business Needs a Temperature-Controlled Van
Joe Dickman | August 12th, 2021
When you own your own catering business, you must guarantee that you deliver food securely and effectively. A vehicle that can safely transport your products is one of the most critical pieces of equipment you’ll need to invest in for virtually any of these enterprises. Read on to learn exactly why your catering business needs a temperature-controlled van.
What Is a Temperature-Controlled Van?
Transporting any perishable items like produce, meat, and frozen meals can be nearly impossible to do without risking spoilage unless you have the right equipment to deliver them safely. Temperature-controlled vans have designs that allow them to keep seafood, meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables at specified temperatures during delivery.
These vehicles feature closed systems with heavily insulated cabins that trap the cool air inside while preventing heat from entering. Refrigerated trucks and vans also have specialized equipment to cool down their interiors to specified temperatures.
Benefits for Catering Businesses
Having a temperature-controlled van can be an absolute must for any catering business that sees continued growth and wants to remain competitive.
They Can Maneuver Easily
Most catering happens locally, meaning that drivers will go in and out of side streets while looking for parking. They’ll also drive back and forth from your business to other locations many times throughout the day. With a van, you can quickly load your products and fit your vehicle anywhere it needs to go. You also have the option of driving to farther locations when you need to while still keeping your food in excellent condition.
They Handle Large Orders With Ease
Dealing with large orders to accommodate many different people can be stressful work. This is true whether you’re toiling in the kitchen putting ingredients together or ensuring every piece of food makes it on time and intact to its destination. When you don’t have a reliable way to transport bulk food orders at once, you may hesitate or need to reject massive orders, which can be a significant missed opportunity for your business. With a temperature-controlled van, you don’t have to worry about being able to handle bulk orders.
They Ensure Food Stays Perfect
You work extremely hard to prepare the best possible dishes for your customers, and it’s an absolute shame when your final products don’t arrive at your customer’s locations exactly how you want them to. Having a climate-controlled vehicle means your chilled items won’t melt or waste away on the drive over. At the same time, you’ll keep your hot products warm so that they’re ready for customers to eat. Everyone will be just as excited about eating your food as you are passionate about making it.
They Have Customizable Options
You can think of the typical temperature-controlled van as a blank canvas that you can change however you’d like to make it as accommodating as possible for your unique needs. For example, if you primarily deal with baked goods, you can install racks in the cabin perfect for loading up brownies, cookies, and other products. You can even set it up so that different compartments can stay at different temperatures. That way, you can transport multiple types of food at the same time without worry.
Types of Catering That Can Use Temperature-Controlled Vans
No matter what line of catering you work in, you’ll have to plan out how to transport your food. Below are some of the distinct types of catering you may already be involved with or may consider that will need a temperature-controlled van.
Corporate Catering
Many firms will have lunch delivered to their offices or organize glamorous events where workers and potential clients can interact and get to know one another. Corporate gatherings are both elegant and relaxed and should have catering that matches their atmosphere. You don’t have to worry about stocking up on food, cocktails, and other essentials when you have a climate-controlled van.
Social Event Catering
Birthday parties, graduation parties, and colossal backyard BBQs are examples of social events that use catering. Small dishes, beverages, and desserts are just a few items you may serve at such events. You must offer a broad selection of dishes for each occasion and accommodate various regulating temperatures as each event arises.
Buffet Catering
Foods at buffets sit in steel storage containers with low flames underneath them. The flames heat the food to keep it warm until the end of the event. These meals sit in a line, and visitors arrive to serve themselves with their preferred food. This sort of catering service allows visitors to mix freely while also saving you money and time. You’ll be able to pack the necessary equipment to keep food warm once you’ve set it up, and you’ll ensure everything remains heated during transportation.
Wedding Catering
A wedding is one of the most meaningful events in the lives of a couple. Wedding catering isn’t a casual event. It needs a great deal of attention to detail, timeliness, and effective communication with all wedding team members. A full-service wedding caterer oversees some décor, arrangements, and the food’s presentation. Furthermore, they need a van that can manage all these tasks effortlessly. On these important days, you must meet lofty expectations and serve exceptional meals that create a lasting impact.
Restaurant Catering
Off-premises catering for restaurants involves delivering the meal to the customer’s house or another site that doesn’t offer food. Virtually any restaurant can significantly benefit from adopting this type of catering service, as it can boost sales and increase your customer base. Owning a temperature-controlled van allows you to handle these types of orders at any point in time.
In short, there are many reasons why your catering business needs a temperature-controlled van. Having these vehicles at your disposal gives you the most significant amount of flexibility and control to service countless numbers of different catering events. Having an effective method to deliver your food at the correct temperature and the equipment necessary to keep it fresh is crucial for any catering business to succeed.
After reading this post, you may want to start your own catering business or seek ways to grow and expand your company. If so, the experts at Emerald Transportation Solutions can set you up with the perfect vehicle to meet your food delivery needs. We offer refrigerated vans for sale, along with many other high-quality vehicles. Feel free to contact us with any questions about our products.
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What does under DOT mean?
Questions regarding DOT requirements come up often. 10,000 lbs GVW (gross vehicle weight) and over are commercial vehicles that fall under the Department of Transportation regulatory requirements.
What is the difference between GVW and payload?
GVW or Gross Vehicle Weight is the entire weight of the vehicle including the payload. The payload weight represents the amount of cargo you are hauling.
What is a self-powered unit and a vehicle-powered unit?
A self-powered unit has its own fuel source and will run independent of the truck. This is the heaviest and most expensive option. While vehicle-powered units run off the engine via a compressor mounted on the engine. These are less expensive and lighter in weight but you must run the truck or plug the electric standby into shore power.
What does K-factor mean and why is that important?
K-factor is a term that stands for the overall insulating value of the container (truck body). Quite simply the lower the K-factor the better the truck body will be able to maintain a given temperature and require less energy to do so.
How much lighter is a Poly Van vs a US spec body?
Poly Van bodies are very light. On average we estimate we are 75-150 lbs per foot lighter than a traditional sheet and post foamed in place body. These weight savings translates to less fuel burn and less CO2 emissions, along with added payload, the most important benefit.
