In the dynamic landscape of restaurant management, efficiency and precision are paramount. Automating the cooking oil management system considerably transforms operations across restaurant categories, from fast-food chains to upscale dining.
By leveraging Total Oil Management to monitor, fill, remove and recycle cooking oil, restaurants can optimize their workflows, reduce waste, create a safer working environment, and ensure consistent food quality, ultimately enhancing the overall dining experience for customers while strengthening the bottom line.
Dan Shapiro, Krispy Krunchy Chicken’s executive vice president, says, “With Restaurant Technologies, we just open the spigot and use the wand to level off the oil. It’s so much easier. This system also makes it simple to dispose of used fryer oil. We no longer have to drain the hot oil into a container and wheel it outside to an oil rendering tank. That process was messy and dangerous and left potential for burns, slips, and falls.”
Jeff Lingel, the president of Apple American Group, an Applebee’s franchise group, agrees, saying, “We’re saving time because we don’t have to drag shuttles around. But cleanliness has also improved; our floors stay cleaner and safer, the back dock is cleaner without the grease bin, and the equipment itself is cleaner.”
A cleaner environment is a safer environment. Kevin Coveney, a Denny’s franchisee with units in Central Ohio, reports, “Like every owner/operator using a manual process, I’ve seen injuries directly related to oil disposal—burns, slips, falls. We hauled used grease in buckets, still hot out of the fryer, to 55-gallon barrels out the back door of the restaurant for the grease guy. It was a big mess and created a lot of liability.”
Carl Ferland, a longtime Denny’s employee who owns 48 franchise locations across the Southeastern U.S., has also witnessed tragic accidents related to oil spills. “I’ve seen cooks burn themselves while handling hot grease—and their hands will never look the same,” he said.
Safety is paramount and Jack in the Box franchise owner Michael Flores concurs. “With an automated system, the possibility of slip and falls, burns, and heavy lifting are greatly reduced. Now, my crew can have peace of mind, free from the shackles of risky manual oil handling.”
Another immediate impact of the automated process comes in the quality of the fryer oil. Flores affirms this, saying, “I witnessed much cleaner fryer oil and better adherence to filtering procedures, which led to higher quality, better tasting food.”
“The fryer filtration monitoring system has helped us to do a better job monitoring the maintenance of our oil,” says Applebee’s Lingel. “Using the oil test kits that Restaurant Technologies supplies and the dashboard, we are able to extend the life of the oil and improve the quality of our fried foods.”
Krispy Krunchy Chicken’s Shapiro agrees, saying, “Fryer filtration monitoring provides us with reports that help us know how often a store is filtering its oil. We look at this as our ‘canary in the coal mine.’ We know that if these locations are not filtering the oil, there might be other things they are also not doing. That’s when we know that we need to get back into the store for retraining.”
“With an automated system, the possibility of slip and falls, burns, and heavy lifting are greatly reduced. Now, my crew can have peace of mind, free from the shackles of risky manual oil handling.”
“We were able to reduce our overall oil expenses, giving our profits a boost. On average, we save approximately $1,600 per year per restaurant just in oil alone.”
As labor costs escalate, managing overall expenses is crucial for sustaining competitive compensation while maintaining profitability. “We were able to reduce our overall oil expenses, giving our profits a boost. On average, we save approximately $1,600 per year per restaurant just in oil alone,” Flores reports on his Jack in the Box stores. “We also reduce labor costs by eliminating manual oil handling and can redeploy employees to more valuable tasks and rewarding such as customer engagement and service.”
Coveney says, “With the Restaurant Technologies system, I’m saving 30 percent on my oil costs with only three stores. The Total Oil Management solution helps us deliver better food to our guests, and that’s what keeps bringing them back.” Many of Ferland’s Denny’s restaurants are also using less oil. “We are saving money in locations that were throwing away their oil too frequently, and filtration monitoring is helping us to extend the life of our fryer oil,” he said. After a year of great results from one location, Ferland decided to install Total Oil Management in 41 more stores.
The staff at Coveney’s restaurants are relieved to have an easier solution to oil. “Because it’s so easy, they’ve embraced the new system—we have high compliance levels. I have one store that’s at 100 percent compliance.” Coveney sums up all the benefits, saying, “It’s all about quality for me. But I was also hoping for an automated system that essentially pays for itself—along with the benefits of improved safety, cleanliness, and operational efficiencies.” He adds, “It turns out that I got much more than that.”
In addition, the potential costs of workers’ compensation claims result from burns, slip and falls, and other accidents can be astronomically. By reducing—or even eliminating—these incidents, businesses can keep insurance costs at a minimum, while retaining valuable employees.
Restaurant Technologies, Inc.
2250 Pilot Knob Road
Mendota Heights, MN 55120
