Spoilage Insurance: Countering A Restaurant’s Weakness

A restaurant’s purpose is its food. As such, a lot of time and effort is put into obtaining it from vendors and having brought into your restaurant. The price of food—even in bulk—is not cheap, and extra effort is made to store it to specification to prolong the life of the product and prevent it from spoiling overnight. That is why when that refrigerator or fridge breaks down, your restaurant is in big trouble.

The Double Jeopardy of Spoilage

If any of your storage equipment breaks down, from display cases to walk-in freezers, you’re in big trouble. Any food that has rested in that case or on the shelf of that freezer is suspect. Depending on type and contents, some of the food will be salvageable under local and federal regulations. But others, specifically a lot of your big-ticket items, will not be reusable, especially frozen goods. Not only does this mean a large loss of money, but also a breakdown in food available on hand, this in turn leads to a loss in revenue until you can replace your lost stocks and bring your menu back up to snuff.

A Closer Look at Mechanical Breakdowns

When a fridge, freezer, or case breaks down, it’s important to find the cause. Not only will this tell you if it can be fixed in house, but it also can provide warnings if it will happen again or if it’s part of a larger problem.

Cooling System

Almost all cooling systems follow a standard system, the use of a refrigerant coolant that pulls heat out of the air before being cycled out to dump the heat. Any break in this system, especially in the pumps and compressors, or the feed of the gases, can cause it to cease working.

Ventilation

In larger units such as walk-in freezers and fridges, keeping the temperature low requires a constant airflow being cycled through the area and into the cooling unit. If those fans stop, or if they freeze over due to water condensation freezing, air flow stops and temperatures rise.

Sealing

Some fridges share a wall with a display or beverage case to conserve cooling units and space. Between these and the door seals of your primary entry, there’s a large amount of seals that could fail to work properly. Depending on settings, these can drop your fridge or freezer past their safety zones.

Power Outage

Of all the things that could occur, a loss of power is one of the few that is almost impossible to protect against. Without power all your refrigerated and frozen food is on a timer. This could also come from an unplugged cord or poor wiring.

Spoilage Insurance

While these mechanical breakdowns will probably occur in the lifetime of your restaurant, you can safeguard yourself from some of the consequences. Spoilage insurance will compensate your restaurant, so you can go out and quickly recover and get your food restocked. A few features of spoilage insurance:

• Can be added as an inexpensive add-on to your existing BOP.
• Does not require inventory of spoiled items, is a flat payment.
• Covers all mechanical failures, including power outages.

If you’re interested in getting spoilage insurance for your restaurant, or any other specialty insurances that a restaurant needs, please contact the H&K Insurance Agency. We’ll help you keep your cool.