Food Service, FOOD Manufacturing & FOod SAfety

Chef's Commissary

Food Manufacturer Invests in Simple and Affordable Temperature Monitoring

 Bon appetite and buen provecho  declares Florida chef after self-install of Sonicu system

John Radcliff strives for consistency. 

In the quality of his Beef Empanadas with Blue Cheese as well as the Smoked Chicken & Leek in a Puff Pastry appetizers. 

As well as in the manufacturing processes at his central Florida food manufacturing facility that services many of the most distinguished and well-known brands in family entertainment. 

Chef’s Commissary is a wholesale food manufacturer specializing in premium frozen hors d’oeuvres and desserts. 

Based in Orlando, Florida, it offers savory hors d’oeuvres and delicious desserts available nationwide through your favorite distributor and are created especially for chefs operating in hotels, convention centers, schools, restaurants, hospitality centers and catering companies.

From the quality of his ingredients to his manufacturing processes, Radcliff is intently focused on maintaining delicious freshness and savory flavor while delivering a superb product. 

Temperature integrity, not something the appetizer aficionado thinks of while nibbling on a delicious Boursin Cheese Stuffed Artichoke after a long day under the Florida sun, is a significant facet of Radcliff’s quality focus. 

“People don’t understand that just because it’s below freezing doesn’t mean it's always ideal,” the veteran chef explained. 

“We can have these six-degree temperature swings in some of our freezers that can impact the quality of our products. It’s that sort of detail that matters when you’re working to make the very best hors d’oeuvres at scale.”

With this sort of temperature precision in mind, Radcliff sought a temperature monitoring system with two main criteria: affordability and simplicity. 

“It had to be easy and could not cost us a fortune,” he explained. “Sonicu made it simple for us: for a few thousand dollars and a few hours of time, I was able to get a great system I could justify the cost of and get it up and running without a major hassle.”

Sophisticated enough for enterprise hospitals, but simple enough for self-install by an executive chef: The Sonicu temperature monitoring system

 Hard Data for the Landlord: Temperature Monitoring Reporting

Spoiler alert: don’t read this section on an empty stomach. 

The Chef’s Commissary menu reads like the savory amuse-guile you might nosh on before being ushered into a swank soiree hosted before a glamorous wedding. 

Smoked Chicken, Braised Leek, Garlic and Herb Boursin Cheese wrapped in flaky Puff Pastry are followed by Roasted Red Peppers, Parmesan and Mozzarella rolled into another flaky pastry.

The indulgent might even spoil dinner by surrendering to a Chocolate Brownie Cake layered with White Chocolate Banana Ganache and Dark Chocolate Mousse, topped with Dark Chocolate Glaze.

Radcliff has built industrial-style processes to manufacture these delicacies to serve hungry partygoers across the Orlando area. 

And part of that means finding - and removing - potential obstacles that could threaten quality or delivering on these commitments. 

“We’re a smaller company but have serious customers and big contracts that we have to meet,” he said. “We can’t afford to have situations like a freezer failing on us overnight prevent us from delivering.” 

He said the Sonicu system helps him hold data-based conversations with the landlord of the building about upgrading their refrigeration system.

“We want to be good stewards of the building and help improve it for the long term,” he said. “Having this sort of objective data about how the refrigeration systems are operating is a powerful tool to help us talk about investments based on the quality of our products.”  

He’s also aware of his regulatory requirements since Chef’s Commissary operates under the regulations enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, specifically the HACCP policies. 

 What is HACCP and how does Temperature Monitoring help?

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It is a systematic approach to food safety that identifies and manages threats that could cause foodborne illness. 

HACCP is founded on the concept that it is more effective to prevent hazards from occurring than to try to detect them after they have already occurred.

HACCP is a seven-step process: 

1. Conduct a hazard analysis. This involves identifying all the biological, chemical, and physical hazards that could occur at each step in the food production process.
2. Identify critical control points (CCPs). CCPs are points in the food production process where hazards can be prevented, controlled, or eliminated.
3. Establish critical limits for each CCP. Critical limits are the maximum or minimum values for a physical, chemical, or biological parameter that must be met to control a hazard.
4. Establish monitoring procedures for each CCP. Monitoring procedures are used to ensure that critical limits are not exceeded.
5. Establish corrective actions to be taken when critical limits are exceeded.
6. Establish verification procedures to ensure that the HACCP plan is working effectively.
7. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures to maintain the HACCP plan.

HACCP is an internationally recognized food safety system that is used by food producers, processors, and distributors all over the world. 

It is a valuable tool for preventing foodborne illness and ensuring the safety of food products.

Here are some of the benefits of using HACCP:

• It can help to prevent foodborne illness.
• It can help to improve the quality of food products.
• It can help to reduce costs associated with food recalls and lawsuits.
• It can help to improve customer confidence in the safety of food products.
• If you are a food producer, processor, or distributor, you should consider implementing HACCP in your operations. 
• It is a valuable tool that can help you to improve the safety of your food products and protect your customers from foodborne illness.

Simple installation and easy to scale

Radcliff said affordability was only half of his buying criteria when he was searching for a wireless remote temperature monitoring solution.

A DIY system designed for a chef and not an IT pro was the other critical element. 

“I’ve been a chef my whole life, so it's safe to say I’m not a tech guy at all,” he said. “If I can figure it out, anybody can.”

He said the QR code located in the shipping box prompted him to use the SoniCloud mobile app install wizard that led him step-by-step through the installation and configuration process.

A quick call to a Sonicu customer success manager to set up alarms and tailor his system and validate the connection was the last step before he returned to the kitchen to whip up another batch of delectable delicacies.  

“The service has been great throughout and I know I can always reach back out via phone for a simple explanation,” he explained. “It’s been just what I expected and needed.”

About Chef's Commissary

The goal of Chef's Commissary is to help food service providers establish, maintain and continuously improve a customized food service menu that meets your organizational needs related to cost, quality, menu diversity and safety compliance.

Their team of culinary professionals looks beyond standard solutions to develop innovative products and ideas that mobilize existing resources to provide a platform for cost-effective growth.

Utilizing decades of industry experience Chef’s Commissary offers a wide variety of value-added food service planning including recipe creation, menu development, service delivery, and assistance with fine-tuning food service operations.

They provide culinary solutions to enhance food service's business and the tools to bring ideas to life.

About Sonicu  

Founded in 2008 with a focus on sound monitoring in neonatal intensive care units, Sonicu has evolved into a full-service temperature and environmental monitoring firm with a wide portfolio of applications, including: 

• Ultra Low Temperature and Cryogenic
• Frozen and Cold Storage 
• Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity 
• Air Pressure Differential
• And CO2 for Scientific Incubators 

Sonicu assembles all of its components and also develops all of its software in the United States. 

The Indiana-based company provides phone support to all of its customers from its suburban Indianapolis office during normal business hours. 

“We are committed to ensuring our customers have reliable and friendly customer service located in the heart of the country,” said Joe Mundell, Chief Revenue Officer, Sonicu.

“We recognize how important it is to deliver enduring return on investment for our customers, and staffing a dedicated support team is a big part of why our customer retention rate is above 97 percent.”

SMART Management Tools

• Eliminated manual temperature reading and logging to increase efficiency and eliminate error.
• Allowed Chef's Commissary to input comment and context for alarm events and automatically organize reports for federal and state regulatory reporting requirements.
• Provide archived historical data to identify potential equipment problems, define operational issues and improve processes and accountability.

Simple Installation and Expansion

• Sonicu temperature monitoring is installed easily and is fully scalable for future expansion as Chef's Commissary business continues to develop.
  

CONCLUSION

Sonicu helped this food service provide and manufacturer with three essential services:

2. COMPLIANCE AUTOMATION: ALWAYS READY

Whether it’s an FDA, CDC or Joint Commission inspection or CMS auditor, the Sonicu platform will deliver ready-made reports that help you eliminate your tedious reporting process.

This transformative process improvement also reduces the opportunity for human mishap to damage your inspection or audit.

You can relax with improved peace of mind knowing that virtually any auditor and inspector will be greeted with a simple and accurate report that demonstrates your sensitive assets and environments are being monitored and you have a plan to react if your team experiences an excursion.

3. ASSET MONITORING: CONNECT, DETECT AND PROTECT

It’s more than just knowing your sensitive environments are monitored.

It’s having smart alarms that ensure your entire team is notified via text, email and even phone calls when a potentially dangerous excursion occurs.

And it’s about powerful redundancy that protects against power and network outages.

Sonicu has invested in the research and development to innovate a solution with a singular focus: your peace of mind.

We’ve architected our solution around easy installation, an intuitive user experience and rapid and enduring return on investment.

That’s why public and private organizations grow with us.

500+ customer in all 50 states 

American made products and customer service