Why go to the effort of stocking a cracking selection of craft beers and locally sourced ingredients, only to serve them in cloudy glassware and on grubby plates?

If having clean glasses, dishes and cutlery isn't essential to an operator, then what kind of business are they actually running? There are now endless creative ways of serving food and drinks in pubs and bars, with purchases constantly becoming more Instagrammable, and businesses battling for iconic serves.

Upgrading to a better class of warewasher is a fairly daunting task, as there are a lot of models that come with a list of promises to improve the service you give to paying customers. They will be the real critics of any machine's effectiveness, so it's vital that an operator is clued up to new technologies available. But do new features always mean higher prices?

"When buying a new warewasher, there has traditionally been a trade-off or compromise to be reached between environmental credentials and cost," explains Bob Wood, director of DC Warewashing & Icemaking Systems. "Premium models tend to offer greater longer-term cost savings and be equipped with the very latest energy-saving features".

Manufacturers are trying to close this pricing gap by implementing environmentally-friendly energy-saving features across all ranges available, so regardless of budget there is some kind of accessible and affordable option for operators.

• A reduced water cycle consumption, which strikes the optimum balance between water usage and hygiene. 
• Innovative wash pumps and assemblies that use less power but increase pressure.
• Insulated boilers that lower running costs and improve boiler recovery times.
• A low volume wash tank that saves on water, electrical and chemical consumption.

Other innovative features to watch out for:

• Integral dosing units for both rinse aid and detergent.
• Internal water softeners save on space, keep the machine clear of scale build-up and are much easier to operate than the external ones.
• Double skin casings will reduce noise and heat emissions, reduce operating cost and be cool to touch.

(Source: DC Warewashing & Icemaking Systems)

Read full article in Pub and Bar magazine 12th June 2017 issue ...