Taking care of your inventory when the power goes out requires a little preparation. This may not be something every cafe owner considers, but the risk is still there. Taking some of the following suggestions to keep your inventory safe is smart.
Prepare Your Appliances
One thing you can do is make sure your staff ensures the appliance thermometers in your cafe are set to the proper temperature. You want your refrigerator to be 40 degrees or lower and your freezer 0 degrees or lower. Your appliances can keep things cool for a few hours as long as they are cold enough and you avoid opening them during the outage.
Get Coolers When You Can
The issue with your power may not be solved quickly, and you need to take steps to deal with that. You may want to consider getting a few coolers to keep some of your items cold while the power is restored. It is best to keep some coolers in your cafe, but you can buy them when the time comes if necessary. Leftovers can be placed inside these coolers so you can avoid opening your appliances.
Freezer Bag Solution
Another step you are going to need to take is purchasing ice if you do not have any. Use this to keep the stuff in your cooler cold. This ice may be needed in your refrigerator if power has been out longer than four hours. Your freezer may need ice after 48 hours of being without power. You can also go home, and just freeze water in a few zip-lock bags so you do not have to keep buying ice.
Get Professional Help
The steps mentioned earlier should help keep your stuff cool, but you will need to get your power back up and running as soon as possible. If the issue is caused by a flawed electrical system, give your electrical service specialists a call as soon as possible. Try to contact a company that offers assistance day or night so that the cafe is open for business the next day. You don’t want to lose customers.
These suggestions should help keep your cafe’s inventory safe. Move as quickly as you can because you are putting your inventory at risk if you do not prepare and act when this issue arises. Be sure to get other tips to preserve your inventory.
