Cactus Jack - Advansys Ventless Case Study

Customer Profile:

Perched on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H., Cactus Jack’s of Laconia opened in 2007 to help handle seasonal overflow from theT-Bones restaurant located on the second floor of the building, but has proven to be wildly successful on its own.This location operates year-round and serves 250,000 to 300,000 meals annually.

Cactus Jack’s is dedicated to making from fresh, local and scratch ingredients many items— even sauces, condiments and dressings—whenever possible. With this commitment to scratch cooking comes additional prep work that requires more dishes, pots, pans and utensils than normal. Efficient warewashing is critical to the restaurant’s success.

Challenge:

The previous undercounter warewasher was more than 20 years old and could not keep up with demand in the busy eatery. As a result, water and energy were wasted, and employees frequently had to cart dishes upstairs to use the Hobart Conveyor-Type Warewasher in T-Bones. Moreover, Cactus Jack’s location beneathT-Bones posed a challenge because of state mandates regarding proper dishwasher ventilation.

"Cactus Jack’s sales soared 15 percent this summer, and the Hobart Advansys Ventless Warewasher helped drive this volume increase by enabling us to keep up with the higher demand. We run the warewasher more than 100 cycles a day during peak season and 30 to 50 cycles a day in the off-peak.”
Jason Rathbun, General Manager, Cactus Jack’s of Laconia

Solution:

Objectives:

• Replace warewasher with highly efficient ventless technology to provide additional capacity to support increased volume while complying with New Hampshire dishwasher ventilation regulations.
• Use ENERGY STAR® qualified kitchen warewashing equipment to help save water and energy.

Hobart Products Involved:

• Hobart Advansys™Ventless Door-TypeWarewashers. It’s the first ventless door-type warewasher featuring Energy Recovery, which captures the water vapor and condenses it to heat the incoming cold inlet water for the final rinse cycle.

ActionsTaken:

• Cactus Jack’s purchased a new Hobart Advansys Ventless Door-Type Warewasher that was installed in early July 2010.

Results:

Advansys Ventless Warewasher

"We chose the Hobart Advansys Ventless based on the brand reputation for durability and reliability. Hobart’s technology innovations, like the Opti-Rinse on the conveyor and Energy Recovery, save massive amounts of water and energy.The fact that they incorporate improvements while keeping a very high standard of results continues to drive our loyalty.”
Mark Fenske

• Increased warewashing capacity: This Cactus Jack’s location experienced an unheard-of 15 percent jump in sales over the summer.The increase in sales meant more ware to be washed.The new Advansys Ventless helped the restaurant better handle the increased volume by providing much-needed additional capacity, enabling the staff to keep up with demand.
• Eliminated need for ventilation: The Advansys Ventless does not require exhaust hoods or ventilation, which would have been difficult and costly to add due to the restaurant’s downstairs location. Since the warewasher discharges very little steam, it also is not subject to state requirements for dishwasher ventilation.
• Improved water and energy efficiency: The Advansys Ventless uses only .74 gallons of water per rack, which is significantly less than the previous unit and its smaller capacity.The Energy Recovery system uses cold water, except for the initial fill, reducing the energy to heat water and saving money.
• Increased versatility and productivity: Certified for cleaning pots and pans, as well as dishes and glasses, the versatile Advansys Ventless combines a pot scrubber and a warewasher all in one unit.The one-, two-, four- or six-minute cycle selection (plus a 30-second condensing cycle) significantly improves productivity and supports the higher volume of warewashing required by scratch cooking.
• Enhanced ergonomics: The single-handle door design of the upright unit makes loading/unloading easy and eliminates bending and lifting by the operator.
• Decreased labor: The Advansys Ventless reduces manual scrubbing of pots and pans and the need to transport ware upstairs toT-Bones to be washed. Also, due to increased capacity of the warewasher, management can reduce labor on the night shift needed to wash dishes to prepare for the next day, or staff members can perform other tasks.
• Improved kitchen climate and employee morale: Because it does not vent steam into the surrounding environment, the Advansys Ventless noticeably improves air quality and temperature in the kitchen. Additionally, by helping make employees’ jobs easier, it boosts morale.
• Increased reliability: The Advansys Ventless delivers efficient, dependable operation that is vital to Cactus Jack’s continued success.

Hobart is the world leader in commercial food equipment and service for the food service and grocery industries. An ENERGY STAR® Sustained Excellence award winner in 2010 and 2011 and ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year since 2008, Hobart manufactures products for warewashing and waste handling; food preparation; Baxter bakery; cooking; weighing, wrapping and labeling systems; and Traulsen refrigeration. Hobart equipment is supported by a national network of factory-trained service representatives in hundreds of locations across the United States. To learn more about Hobart, visit www.hobartcorp.com, connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hobartfoodequipment or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/hobartusa.

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