Flexibility, Speed and Uniform Results From New Hatco Toasters

How Hatco’s Toast-Qwik^® TQ3 900 enabled the President Hotel to drop one toaster and increase output by 66%

Enhanced performance from Hatco’s newest premium commercial conveyor toaster enabled the prestigious President Hotel in London to reduce three toasters down to two, and still increase output, consistency and control during its busy breakfast service.

The President Hotel in Bloomsbury is part of the Imperial London family of hotels, which has been using Hatco toasters front-of-house for breakfast service for ten years.

When the hotel’s food and beverage team set long-term equipment partner Caterware the task of sourcing a higher specification model, there was no reason to switch brands.

Caterware recommended Hatco’s new high-performance Toast-Qwik^® TQ3 900, supplied by Hatco’s exclusive UK supplier, Pro Foodservice Reps, which offers faster toasting, a robust build and additional performance features.

The hotel was able to replace three existing Hatco toasters with two of Hatco’s Toast-Qwik^® TQ3 900 models and still increase output by two thirds.

The new models deliver 1,800 slices per hour in total (two toasters, each doing 900 slices per hour) compared with 1,080 slices previously (three toasters, each doing 360 slices per hour) – meeting increased demand from over 500 breakfast diners whilst also saving one third of the footprint and capital investment.

In addition, Hatco’s new toasters offer a host of key features including advanced controls, flexible toasting and uniform output.

One very important feature is the PowerSave mode which conserves energy by reducing heat levels to a specified percentage of full power, either when the toaster has not been in use for a specified amount of time, or when power PowerSave is manually activated.

With the use of Hatco’s patented ColorGuard Sensing System exiting the PowerSave mode is unnoticeable to the customer as the toaster continually monitors and adjusts the chamber to ensure consistent toast results both after the mode is exited and even in the busiest periods.

Top heat, bottom heat and belt speed can all be adjusted, ensuring the hotel can provide tailored settings for different breads (white, sourdough, wholemeal etc) and other bakery products including bagels.

If that’s not enough, a USB port allows the Imperial London group to share programming across its multi-site operation with ease.

Enhanced specification for improved performance

Fabi Terreri, food and beverage manager at the President Hotel, said: “We wanted to upgrade our toasters with a newer, more powerful model but we knew we wanted to stick with Hatco, because we’d always been impressed by their performance and durability.

“When Caterware showed us the Toast-Qwik^® TQ3 900, it soon became evident that we could drop from three to two toasters because of the faster speed.

“Now we can programme them easily, allowing for all items to be toasted consistently even in the busiest periods, with a screen that enables guests to see the items and choose the right programme. Crucially, we can ‘lock down’ the control panel, so guests can’t change the settings, which is often a challenge in buffet service.

“It’s easy to clean, we know we can trust the service support and it looks great too. We chose the black model because it gives a clean, modern look, but we could have had stainless steel or red too.”

A collaborative approach

Caterware worked closely with Pro Foodservice Reps to supply the new toasters, which are now being rolled out across other hotels in the Imperial London family.

Pro Foodservice Reps is the UK’s original foodservice equipment manufacturers’ rep group, giving the UK market access to a range of overseas manufacturers, whilst selling only via distributors and keeping product costs to the end user competitive.

Simon Mallett, contracts director for Caterware, said: “The Imperial London Hotel Group is one of our longest established customers, trusting us with our recommendations. They know that we will only recommend premium products and Hatco’s Toast-Qwik^® TQ3 900 is reliable, high-quality toaster that’s well suited for busy multi-site operations, where appliances need to stand the test of time.

“The results speak for themselves – greater flexibility, uniform results, enhanced control and a 66% increase in output, all from two toasters instead of three.”

For more information on the full Hatco range including toasters click here for more information

The Right Choice

Gratte Brothers Catering Equipment Ltd, designers, and installers for the project were appointed to oversee and manage the installation process within the kitchen.

Sales director Paul Gilhooly said: “Gratte Brothers has designed, supplied and installed commercial kitchens and bars for the WSH group for over a decade. Therefore, we were delighted to be approached by The Boxford Inn to help them with this project”.

“We have years of experience working with Hatco and fully trust their products to deliver for our client’s requirements. Hatco products offer top quality and fantastic value for money and we look forward to working with them on our next project – the Braywood – due to open later this year.”