With an increased focus in the retail industry on sustainability and expanded foodservice offerings, as well as continued concern for health and safety issues, the value of alternative warewash options is growing among retailers. While having three-compartment sinks is currently more common, retailers are finding that warewashers are often playing a more integral role in many departments.
Benefits of Sustainable Design
Because sustainability has environmental benefits, it also significantly reduces operational costs. Retailers are taking a hard look at the total cost of operation and are finding that energy-efficient and water-saving alternatives are a key means for cutting costs and increasing their bottom line. Current initiatives include:
- Using LED and timer-controlled lighting
- Purchasing alternative energy sources
- Recycling cardboard and pallet wrap
- Selling bulk, natural, local and organically grown foods
- Selling fabriec bags and compact fluorescent lights
- Using utility companies to help select and monitor equipment
- Reducing energy and water usage
- Reducing waste
Retailers are more frequently looking to partner with vendors and suppliers to help them become more sustainable. Many are finding that upgrading from a three-compartment sink to a high-temperature commercial warewasher can result in saving thousands of dollars over the life of the warewasher. Based on a comparison at a typical restaurant serving lunch and dinner, using a high-temperature commercial warewasher for cleaning pans and utensils instead of a three-compartment sink can result in water savings of up to 258,785 gallons per year. Additionally, a commercial warewasher uses as little as 65 gallons of water per day versus 840 gallons per day 
for a three-compartment sink—more than 92 percent less water. A high-temperature warewasher can also keep the chemical sanitizers such as chlorine and quaternary ammonium out of the waste stream.
ENERGY STAR® warewash products such as Hobart’s AM Select door-type, CLe conveyor-type and LXi undercounter warewashers are designed to be more efficient in energy and water use. As a result, retailers are incorporating the Hobart AM Select warewasher into their bakeries, meat and seafood departments, deli and centralized locations. For example, a growing market in Ontario uses an AM Select to clean sheet pans, mixing bowls, trays, restaurant pans, equipment parts and small wares, saving money on labor and energy costs. ENERGY STAR® qualified, Hobart’s AM Select can save operators up to $5,674 a year and as much as 395,280 gallons of water per year.
Expansion of Foodservice Offerings
Retailers are placing a high emphasis on providing foodservice in their establishments. Shoppers can find even more fresh foods and perishables, prepared foods, convenience items, a wider variety of ethnic specialties, gourmet options, and natural and organic selections in almost all retail formats. Approximately 61 percent of stores now have a bakery, with an assortment of more artisan breads, gourmet pastries and desserts. Retailers are preparing and cooking more food on site than ever before, which results in more pans, bowls, display trays, utensils and other supplies to clean and sanitize.
Hobart’s CLe conveyor-type warewasher, which can be used in the bakery, deli and centralized locations, employs Hobart’s patent-pending NSF-Certified Opti-Rinse™ system for saving energy and water. Technologically advanced rinse-spray nozzles save more than 50 percent of water and energy than the industry-standard fan-spray nozzles and yet deliver stronger performance. Foodservice and food retail operations can realize a saving of up to $9,192 annually with Opti-Rinse. ENERGY STAR qualified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its energy- and water-saving advantages, the CLe final rinse water usage is as low as .39 gallons per rack.
A major retailer with an expanded foodservice program is currently using Hobart’s CLe to clean sheet pans, mixing bowls, trays, restaurant pans, equipment parts and ware. The CLe allows cooking supplies and utensils from the bakery, deli, café and hot wok to be combined into one washroom, enabling the retailer to handle a high volume of on-site preparation.
Health and Food Safety
With recent food-contamination issues surrounding items such as spinach, tomatoes and ground beef, there is a continued concern for health and food-safety issues. Delis are especially high-risk areas for food contamination, where bacteria, listeria and other food-borne illnesses can spread.
The ENERGY STAR qualified Hobart LXi undercounter warewasher is designed to address operators’ needs for sanitation, ensuring the proper amounts of detergent for each wash cycle.
The LXi’s exclusive 70-degree Fahrenheit rise Sense-a-Temp™ booster heater senses the temperature of the incoming water for the final rinse. If the water is less than 180 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature required for sanitization, the Sense-a-Temp holds and heats the water to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. This ensures that the ware is washed clean and is properly sanitized, regardless of the condition of the utilities at the machine.
Often used to support cheese shops, seafood departments, olive bars, delis and even salad bars, the LXi can be found in the deli at Jungle Jim’s, a wide-variety grocery store in Cincinnati, Ohio, that sells a plethora of ethnic offerings ranging from classic American favorites to the exotic tastes of Thailand. Used primarily for cleaning slicer parts, spoons and small bowls, the LXi at Jungle Jim’s allows for more productivity and ensures operator and consumer safety.
“I believe an operator not using an LXi behind the deli and bakery counter is putting their operation at risk,” said Phill Adams, director of development, Jungle Jim’s. “The LXi is a simple, reasonably priced piece of equipment that all operations should be running behind their counters.”
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