Organizing Efficiency: Choosing the Right Commercial Food Storage Containers

If you’ve worked in the Foodservice Industry, you know how critical efficient food storage is to a successful operation. 

Maintaining a clean, organized, and efficient kitchen is essential to running a seamless operation that provides consistent quality to valued guests.

And one of the main assets that contribute to an efficient kitchen operation are the commercial food storage containers that are used to store and transport perishable food ingredients. 

Commercial food storage containers go way beyond simply holding food. At the end of the day, these valuable tools play a critical role in safely preserving ingredients, minimizing the wastage of food ingredients, and ensuring the safety of dishes that are served to guests. 

In this article, we dive into commercial food storage containers and how they benefit commercial foodservice operations. 

We also take a look at some of the most popular commercial food storage containers that we offer here at Channel Manufacturing. 

We hope that this exploration into the world of food storage helps you and your foodservice operation better understand and incorporate effective food storage into your operation’s workflow.

Choosing the Right Commercial Food Storage Containers

Choosing the right, or wrong, commercial food service containers makes a huge impact on the overall organization, speed, and quality of your foodservice operation.

While equipment that does not help increase your business’s efficiency can have a disastrous effect on your workflow, choosing containers that streamline your inventory management can make all the difference to the overall success of your restaurant, café, or other foodservice location.

With a world of options available to the foodservice operator in terms of materials, sizes, and features, it’s important to know what to look for when choosing commercial food storage containers for your operation.

Some of the most essential factors to consider when searching for high-quality food storage come down to durability, temperature control, capacity and security, just to name a few.

Foodservice operators must also choose from more specialized features for food storage, like secure lids, stackable designs, and transport-friendly options that include lockable cages and high-quality casters.

Features such as these can provide foodservice businesses with both the ability to increase kitchen efficiency as well as convenience for team members creating delicious masterpieces in a high-demand environment.

Whether you run a large commercial kitchen or a small-scale café, choosing the best food storage containers can make all the difference in your operation.

Key Considerations for Foodservice Operators when choosing Commercial Food Storage Containers

1. Container Materials & Overall Durability: Food Storage containers come in a vast variety of materials. From plastics to stainless steel, each container has its own benefits and limitations. The materials that are used to create food storage containers directly affect their durability, ease of cleaning and suitability for different types of food storage. In the world of commercial foodservice, stainless steel and high-quality plastics are two of the most popular construction materials for storage containers as they provide operators with both strength and resistance to staining, damage and unwanted odors that are readily present in bulk ingredient storage.
2. Capacity & Sizing: The size and capacity of your commercial food storage containers all come down to the unique needs and demands of your foodservice operation. Smaller operations usually benefit from smaller, more compact options for food storage, while larger operations with more freedom in terms of spacing can usually benefit from larger storage options that provide a greater degree of flexibility and scale for busy team members. Knowing your unique restaurant’s demands, as well as the volume of food ingredients that are regularly demanded, can help make more informed and accurate decisions regarding appropriate choices for food storage.
3. Portability & Accessibility: Oftentimes food ingredients need to be moved around back-of-house locations in order to most seamlessly impact the regular demands of your kitchen. Planning and choosing food storage options that include portability features can make all the difference for the overall efficiency of your operation. Many food storage options include specialized features like durable casters, built-in handles and lockable cages that safely and easily help transport stored food ingredients through your operation’s workflows.
4. Temperature Resistance & Control: Many foodservice ingredients require temperature control in some form or another. Whether this means storage that can be wheeled into refrigerated sections of your kitchen, or enclosed storage options that help regulate the temperature of ingredients, considering the demands of your kitchen’s workflow and the demands of specific ingredients is crucial prior to choosing specific equipment.
5. Food Safety & Security: The final key consideration on our list is the consideration of food safety. As any foodservice operator knows, ensuring the safety of your food ingredients is paramount to providing a safe, healthy dining experience for your guests. Food storage containers are manufactured in a variety of ways to assist foodservice operators with the prevention of contamination while maintaining the hygiene and safety of ingredients. This includes choosing equipment that comes with closable lids, lockable doors, and easily maintained and cleaned materials that promote food safety.

The Importance of Commercial Food Storage Containers

One of the most critical aspects of any commercial foodservice operation comes down to the safe and proper storage of food ingredients. 

This core aspect of running a busy foodservice business affects everything from operational efficiency to the business’s bottom line. 

Here are a few reasons why food storage containers play such a valuable role in the world of foodservice: 

1. Food Safety & Compliance: Commercial-grade food storage containers are built to meet regulations for keeping food safe and hygienic. Using effective food storage containers helps to ensure that food is stored cleanly, preventing contamination and the growth of bacteria and food-borne illnesses.
2. Extended Shelf Life of Ingredients: Quality food storage containers insulate food ingredients from exposure to air and moisture, helping to extend the overall life of the ingredients used in high-demand kitchen environments. This can help businesses increase their overall bottom line, as well as efficiency within locations.
3. Cost-effectiveness: While quality food storage containers can have a more intense up-front cost, choosing durable, reusable containers can provide foodservice operators with long-term savings overall. Containers that help to extend the shelf-life of food can have a direct and significant effect on lowering food waste, which can increase a business’s bottom line.
4. Organization: As any foodservice operator knows, having a well-organized and efficient kitchen helps make an entire operation run more effectively. Food storage containers can directly impact the overall organization of your foodservice business, helping to streamline workflows, inventory management and helping to save valuable time in the preparation of food.
5. Space Optimization: Space is a concern for any foodservice business. Tight spaces dominate busy kitchen workflows and stackable or nesting food storage containers can help make all the difference for busy team members looking to quickly and easily get the ingredients they need at the drop of a hat. 
6. Sustainability & Eco-friendliness: More and more foodservice businesses are focusing on the need to conduct more sustainable practices. In the world of food storage containers, reusable containers help to reduce single-use plastics, promoting more ecological solutions for foodservice-based operations. 

Recommended Commercial Food Storage Solutions

Here at Channel Manufacturing, we design and create quality commercial food storage containers that help foodservice operations increase efficiency, organization and overall workflows.

To help you make more informed decisions about some of the options available to foodservice operators, here’s a list of some of the quality commercial food storage container options we offer our valued clientele here at Channel Manufacturing:

Heavy Duty Enclosed Transport Cabinet

Channel’s heavy-duty enclosed transport cabinet offers a rugged and dependable solution for storing, holding and transporting bulk ingredients and prepared foods.

• Manufactured using heavy-duty, high tensile strength, all-welded aluminum
• Corrugated sidewalls securely accommodate (40) 18″ x 26″ pans or (80) 13″ x 18″ pans (2 per level) in our full-height cabinet, or (20) 18″ x 26″ pans or (40) 13″ x 18″ pans (2 per level) in our half-height cabinet
• Heavy-duty door with lockable door latch, and 270-degree door swing with hold-open latch
• Sturdy design for long-term usage
• Smooth mobility with strong, swivel, plate casters
• Excellent insulation to maintain temperatures
• Lifetime guarantee against rust & corrosion

Channel Security Cage

Channel Manufacturing’s Security Cages offer a durable, heavy-duty, lockable solution for the storage of expensive, valuable and/or hazardous products and materials.

• Built to Last: Heavy-duty, all-welded, high tensile strength, extruded aluminum construction
• Doors, sides, and back are manufactured using heavy-duty, stamped, diamond mesh aluminum
• Aluminum, all-welded hinges. Doors open to 270 degrees.
• All-welded aluminum shelves
• Lifetime guarantee against rust for aluminum parts and materials

Heavy Duty Drying & Storage Racks

A perfect solution for air-drying kitchenware and storage containers after use and cleaning. Heavy-duty Storage Racks are designed for the storage and drying of various food service trays.

• Standard with 3 openings for trays, as pictured. Additional shelves may be ordered separately
• Extra heavy-duty, high tensile extruded aluminum.
• Extra heavy duty 5” x 2” plate casters w/ Zerk grease fittings, full swivel design.
• Lifetime guarantee against rust & corrosion

First In, First Out (FIFO) Front Loading Can Storage Rack

Our FIFO Can Storage Racks are front-loading, first in, first out (FIFO) can racks for can holding, storing and organization. Ideal for schools, hospitals, etc. Inclined angle provides easy access for can selection, rotation and inventory control. Holds 156 #10 cans.

• Heavy-duty, high tensile extruded aluminum.
• Lifetime guarantee against rust & corrosion
• Shipped assembled for immediate use
• Heavy Duty 5 x 2 full swivel non-marking casters on CSR-156M

Pizza Dough Boxes

Pizzerias & Bakeries benefit significantly from Pizza Dough Boxes, providing an exceptional solution for storing, proofing and transporting dough with optimal moisture levels.

Dough Box: Injection molded of white Cryolac Plastic (ABS). Easy-to-clean smooth surfaces, Stackable design. Retards crusting and increases the storage life of the dough.

• Stackable design to increase storage efficiency
• Food-safe materials to maintain dough quality
• Easy to transport and clean

Other Notable Product Recommendations from Channel Manufacturing

While the products mentioned above provide foodservice operators with great solutions for food storage, Channel Manufacturing offers additional storage solutions that are tailored to specific needs for the foodservice industry. Notably:

• Bun Pan Racks: Ideal for storing baked goods and prepared items.
• Mobile Ingredient Bins: Perfect for storing bulk dry ingredients like flour, rice and sugar.
• Open Tray Drying Racks: A versatile option for air-drying trays and smaller containers.

Conclusions on Commercial Food Storage Containers

Choosing the right commercial food storage containers can literally transform the way that a foodservice kitchen operates. 

By providing durability, security and efficiency, foodservice businesses ensure a smooth workflow and food safety that can significantly increase the overall efficiency of day-to-day operations. 

The products we have introduced in this guide show foodservice operators high-quality examples of reliable solutions that meet the high standards of the foodservice industry. 

We hope that this guide has helped to provide you with a roadmap to better understand the importance of food storage containers, as well as introduce you to some great options for customized equipment that you can trust for your food storage needs.  

Invest in quality food storage containers and elevate your kitchen’s organization, efficiency and bottom line!