When you think about blenders in commercial or institutional foodservice operations, you probably think about blended drinks like daiquiris or smoothies. You might imagine small batches of soups or salsas. Maybe you even conjure up images of grinding down spices.

When you boil it all down, the overall success of a restaurant or commercial foodservice operation depends on two things: the ingredients used to create the menu and the processes used to cook and prepare those ingredients.

Let's focus on the second one.

It's that time of year. We are quickly moving through the end of summer and getting ready for schools to reopen. We are bombarded with advertisements in all forms of media regarding sales of back to school supplies.

Foodservice is an industry based on relationships. Whether you're serving a family in a chain restaurant, cooking food in a school lunchroom for hungry students, or trying to educate foodservice operators on the latest equipment solutions, we believe open communication and effective dialog are the best way to go.

Storing food at proper temperatures is critical to serving safe and nutritious meals in schools. And with more and more school systems looking to increase participation with fresher, tastier, less processed foods, refrigeration is a key component to successful school food service.

Summer is here and schools are out, but that doesn’t mean that school nutrition professionals are done working. This summer, from July 9^th to July 12^th, the School Nutrition Association will be hosting the Annual National Conference 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. 

High Sabatino Associates is one of the region's leading providers of foodservice equipment in schools, colleges, and universities. From Virginia Tech's state-of-the-art Turner Place dining facility to your local elementary school, we are experts in finding the right equipment for every situation. Two issues that all school kitchens face are efficiency and the ability to create healthy but tasty dishes that students enjoy. Using the right equipment can help with both.

In our opinion, school nutrition is one of the most difficult jobs in the country. There's a balance between limited funding and increased regulations, while at the same time meeting the needs of students and increasing their participation.

School nutrition programs across Maryland, Virginia, and the metro Washington, D.C. area have many considerations when it comes to foodservice equipment. Any given unit in a school kitchen needs to be versatile, durable, efficient, and provide the greatest benefit within a given space. And let's be honest, that space is usually limited.

So what are two essential pieces of foodservice equipment that every school nutrition program should consider?

WHAT KIND OF WAREWASHER DOES MY SCHOOL NEED?

To start, how about one with an "Auto Safe" feature?

Sanitation is pretty important, but if you're a school system that provides school lunches, it's probably at the top of your list. That's why the "Auto Safe" feature on the MEIKO DV 80.2 is the perfect safeguard for proper sanitation.