A messy and cluttered area can potentially result in unnecessary waste, cross-contamination risks, and slower service times. But the good news is that with the adoption of sound organisation methods, your chilling equipment can become highly efficient and extremely reliable.

To help you maximise the performance of your commercial freezers, we’re here to offer you some helpful advice on how to best organise them, including ways to maximise space, boost hygiene, and improve workflow.

 

Why is Commercial Freezer Organisation Important?

Before learning about important arrangement practices, it helps to have a basic understanding of why organising your commercial freezers matters so much. First off, some food may end up lost over time at the back of the freezer and experience freezer burn as a result, impacting its quality. A messy area could also mean that staff end up wasting time searching for a particular item, impacting efficiency and potentially increasing energy bills due to cold air escaping. Improper storage may also pose cross-contamination risks due to improper freezing caused by overloading.

 

Helpful Organisation Tips

These kinds of outcomes can be avoided, however, when you adopt these top freezer storage tips. With these practices, you can improve staff workflow, prevent waste, and ensure that items are properly being frozen.

Group Similar Items Together

A great way to create an efficient freezer space is by organising your inventory in a way that makes sense. You can divide your storage into categories like:

• Raw meats and seafood.
• Prepared or cooked items.
• Frozen vegetables and fruits.
• Dairy and desserts.
• Baked goods.
• Sauces and soups.

By dedicating sections of a freezer to specific kinds of items, your staff can quickly find what they’re looking for, and you’ll also have a better time monitoring your stock levels across all categories.

Adopt the ‘First In, First Out’ (FIFO) Method

The FIFO method is a great practice to adopt when it comes to organising your commercial freezers, as it plays a huge role in preventing spoilage, ensuring that you make the most of your produce.

This strategy involves always placing newer stock behind any older items as well as adding date labels to every item. You could even go a step further with the FIFO method and use colour-coded labels for even quicker visual sorting.

Opt for Appropriate Shelving Equipment

Shelving can have a big impact on the long-term storage of your frozen goods, which means that it should be efficient and practical. Invest in adjustable wire racks and avoid solid shelving options in order to promote better air circulation within your machine.

Avoid Overloading

Overloading shelves can also cause potential problems, as it may restrict the air movement and stress the freezer’s compressor. Avoid doing this to help keep items within the appropriate temperature range.

Assign Freezer Zones

Zoning your freezer can offer even more clarity. Each shelf or area should ideally serve a specific purpose, as this is likely to help reduce confusion. For example, you could assign ready-to-eat items on the top shelf, bulk ingredients like frozen veg on the middle shelves, and raw food items at the very bottom.

Label Your Items

Earlier, we mentioned how labelling items is an integral part of the FIFO method, but you may be wondering exactly what to include on those labels. Each one should include the following information:

• Item name.
• Date of freezing.
• Expiry/best-before date.
• Allergens (if applicable).

By including all of these, your staff are a lot likelier to know exactly what each stored item is and how long it has left in the freezer.

 

End Statement

Commercial kitchens and other food businesses are already quite busy, which means that companies will appreciate proper planning and strategies that help them become as efficient as possible and able to deal with large customer demands. By setting up a clear freezer storage strategy that involves good zoning, labelling, grouping, and shelving, your business has a much greater chance of protecting its inventory, helping reduce waste, and improving staff speed.

 

Trust Acme to Install Your Commercial Freezers

At Acme, we understand that well-organised operations rely on dependable equipment. That’s why we focus on delivering and installing reliable commercial freezers across the UK. Our team of experienced engineers works hard to make sure each installation is completed efficiently and quickly, helping businesses stay on schedule and maintain high standards in food storage and service. For over half a century, we’ve carried out projects for some of the UK’s most renowned breweries, pub groups, sports arenas, and social clubs, cementing our position as a reliable partner to work with. Find out more about our freezer installation service today, or if you would rather speak to one of our team directly, then please call 01254 277999.