Choosing the Right Glassware Storage Box

When it comes to moving and storing glassware, the cardboard box the glass came with will only go so far to protect your glasses. Overtime the box will fall apart and the glassware will not have the protection it needs. If your glassware is constantly on the move you will need a Glassware Storage Box that is fit for the job. 

Choosing the right Glassware Storage Box is easy with Caterbox as we have the worlds largest range of Stackable Storage Boxes to choose from. When your boxes arrive you will find your chosen box will be almost custom made for your glassware. Maximising the boxes capacity and saving space. 

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Everyday Help on Wheels: The Benefits of Transport Dollies

If you have a catering business, you’re likely to have to haul heavy loads from A to B regularly. Luckily, there's a solution that we're going to reveal to you that should solve the majority of these logistics issues - the transport dolly with brakes. Let's explore some of the benefits…

Easy to Manoeuvre

If you've ever worked in an environment that requires moving stuff around in enclosed spaces, you'll know how hard that is. Things can break, jobs might be delayed, and it can create a queue of other tasks that need doing.

However, with the help of a transport dolly, things might go smoother. You can stack papers, books, materials, breakable objects, and similar items in one convenient place and move them around. The dolly's wheels make moving things around faster and more secure than a person carrying those same items. One example of this is our Conveyor Rack Euro Dolly. With its aluminium frame and zinc plated steel wheels these 600mm trolleys are very sturdy.

To Read more: Transport dollies

Points Up Or Points Down? You’ve Been Doing It All Wrong!

Here is something that you never knew! There is a right way and a wrong way to stack your dishwasher basket for cutlery, and the likelihood is that you have been doing it all wrong.

Very many people stack the dishwasher basket for cutlery with the knife blades and fork prongs pointing upwards, but that is completely wrong. The simple fact is that loading the basket with the points and prongs upwards means that there is a very good chance of stabbing yourself in the finger or hand when you try to grab them to remove them.

All right, you would have trouble hurting yourself on a spoon, whichever way up it was, but grabbing a knife blade can cause a nasty injury, especially if it has a serrated edge as many cook knives do. The points of forks and the blades of kitchen scissors can also be damaging. It can cause problems in the home kitchen, but in commercial premises where time is of the essence and the knives and forks may be needed again shortly, it is all too easy to grab hold of them the wrong way.

To Read more: Dishwasher basket for cutlery

Things To Consider When Purchasing Storage Boxes

If you are looking for heavy duty storage boxes, there are a few things to take into consideration. The first of these is the size of the items that you need to store vis-a-vis the amount of storage space that you have available. It might seem obvious, but if you only have small items that need to be stored, you won’t need very large heavy duty storage boxes. Equally, if you need to store larger items, such as A4 files, you need to make sure that the boxes are big enough to cope. Boxes that are too large will have items rattling around in them while at the same time taking up more space in your warehouse or store than they need to. Too small, and you will need more boxes.

Stacking containers are another consideration. If you have containers that you can stack one on top of another, you can store several of them while still only using the floor space that would be taken up by a single box. This is great, until you realise that there is a problem, and that is that you are always going to want to get to something in the bottom box! The answer is to buy heavy duty storage boxes with open fronts so that you can always easily get to what you need.

If you are considering purchasing stacking containers, the best answer is usually Euro containers. These come in specific sizes so that you can stack one on top of another, or use half sizes and stack two on top of a larger one, and so on. So you can have different sizes of containers, but more of them. Furthermore, Euro containers will also fit on to standard Euro-size pallets and also on UK-size pallets, so making for easy transport. There are also Euro-size dollies that you can use for moving stacked boxes around the warehouse or wherever.

Another consideration is the requirements of the contents themselves. You might be storing items which need a certain amount of ventilation, in which case you can get boxes with ventilated sides. They might need to be kept out of UV light, so you would need solid sides. Maybe you need a solid box with a lid to keep out damp and bugs?

You may also want to be able to see what is inside containers, in which case you can get containers in clear plastic so that you can see the contents. Another way of handling this, especially if you need to protect the contents from UV light, is to use boxes in different colours, so that you know what is in each one simply by what colour it is. You can also get colour-coded tags to clip on to boxes which will do the same thing.

Make Sure You Select the Right Type of Storage Boxes For Your Needs

When you have a business that requires you to run any sort of event, whether it’s a competition, an annual general meeting, a presentation of your products, a dance class, a history lecture, or anything else at all, you almost always have a lot of “stuff” that you need to transport to the venue in which it is being held. Even if it is held on your own premises, if it is not a one-off, there will be things that you need to store and re-use. If you hold the event four times a year or only once a year you need to be able to access all the bits and pieces that you need quickly and easily.

Of course, the more events you hold the more “stuff” you have. These could be notepads and pens for attendees, lanyards for your staff, booklets, small samples of a product, and much, much, more.

To Read more: Crockery jack boxes

How to Win New Clients for Your Catering Business

The catering industry has a great deal of potential for new businesses who can target the right markets. However, there are also a huge amount of competitors who are all trying to make a name for themselves.

To cut through the noise, we’ve outlined a few ways to brand and market yourself so you can win the kind of clients you want.

• Sampling and tester sessions

An old trick but a good one. Let your potential buyers develop a taste for what you can offer for free and start building up exposure in your market. Whether you are setting up a tasting stall at a wedding fair, giving samples to people on the street or delivering food to people’s desks, this is a great way to show people you can deliver quality food.

To Read more: Folding crates storage

What Equipment Do I Need For My Catering Business?

Don’t underestimate how much equipment you need to start and continually run a successful catering business, whether this is from the comfort of your own home or from a rented facility.

Ultimately, the type of equipment you need will always depend on the type of food you are cooking and the amount of people you need to feed.

Certain meals and menus will be incredibly easy to prepare in large amounts, such as sandwiches or large stews, however, others will require more specialised cooking and preparation methods.

The Basics

For the most basic catering operations, you’ll need refrigerators to keep supplies fresh, storage space for your stock, cooking equipment (including an oven, hob, fryer, and maybe a grill) and general food preparation and serving equipment like chafing trays.

If you are catering for a wedding, you will also need a number of tables, clothes and serving counters to function with the layout and style of the wedding event.

Sometimes, you won’t actually need to own every single piece of equipment you need. For instance, you can rent many of the essentials as and when you need them, such as catering boxes, glasses, plates and cloths. This should help reduce the cost of buying expensive and high quality items.

Always make a plan

There is a careful balance you need to strike when buying your catering equipment. You don’t want to get too excited and buy huge amounts of plates or knives when you just don’t need them. Equally, if you don’t have everything you need, you could be unprepared for various culinary challenges.

Detail all the equipment you might need in your business plan and factor this into your investment costs and profit forecasts.

Don’t forget about storage items and utensils

When you’ve factored in the larger pieces of equipment into your costs, don’t forget to calculate how much all the smaller things will add up to, including utensils and attached lid containers in the UK, for example. Costs will vary internationally so you might be able to buy your products in bulk depending on the supplier you choose.

• Knives
• Tongs/ Spatulas/ Serving spoons
• Sauce dispensers
• Chopping boards
• Peelers/ graters for peeling root vegetables and zesting rinds onto dishes
• Scales
• Mixing bowls
• Thermometers
• Can openers
• Containers (detached and attached lid containers, UK.)

If you’re a mobile catering business, then you’ll need a slightly different set of equipment to support your business, including an actual van or truck!

Essentials

You’ll need a regular supply of essential items to keep your catering business running. These things are often overlooked, and when added to the total sum needed to complete a catering job, the cost can be quite high. There are hundreds of online destinations where you can order these items on wholesale to get a good price.

• Blue roll
• Vinyl gloves
• Baking parchment
• Foil
• Clingfilm
• Cleaning spray
• Washing up liquid
• Sponges

Storage / takeaway boxes (aluminium, attached lid containers (UK), recyclable forks and knives.)