Abstract
The safety and quality of agricultural raw materials are important in the food service industry because raw materials are temperature sensitive and perishable. Hence, they should be stored in cold storage and temperature-controlled truck to maintain quality and safety. This study investigates the current cold chain management of a chain restaurant. The objective is to identify the problems and suggest how to establish the proper cold storages and temperature-controlled trucks. The scope of the study is a restaurant having nine branches, two refrigerated containers (20 feet) for storing raw material and three temperature-controlled trucks for sending raw material to each branch. We conduct in-depth interviews with the restaurant owner and operators and check the temperature in cold storage and during transportation of raw material by using an infrared thermal camera and data logger to identify the problem. Then, we analyze the causes of the problem and suggest solutions for the improvement such as the design of cold storage and delivery platform. In summary, this research will be beneficial to other cold storage and temperature-controlled truck users. It can enhance the cold chain efficiency and food safety as well as energy cost-saving.
Highlights
Food service becomes an important industry in Thailand
We explore the current practices in cold chain management of a small-sized chain restaurant using data loggers and a thermal infrared camera
The current practices are using improper insulating materials of a refrigerated container, no anteroom, long loading time, no precooling and poor air circulation in a temperature-controlled truck. This results in high energy consumption and increases the risk of the low quality of raw materials delivered to the restaurants
Summary
Food service becomes an important industry in Thailand. In 2018, the expected market value of restaurant business in Thailand is about 411-415 billion baht with an increasing trend of about 4-5% from the previous year. In the food service industry, the safety and quality of agricultural raw materials are important because raw materials are temperature sensitive and perishable They should use cold chain management to maintain the quality, safety and prolong the shelf life of raw materials [2]. The Postharvest Education Foundation [4] suggested four steps to implement cold chain management for perishable foods during the postharvest including harvest, collection, packing, processing, storage, transport, and marketing until it reaches the end customer. These steps include 1) pre-cooling system, 2) cold storage, 3) chilling and freezing process and 4) temperature-controlled transportation.
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