In 2007 the Melbourne Sofitel was looking to gain HACCP accreditation and as part of the review it was determined that the existing commercial kitchen shelving and commercial kitchen storage items would need to be upgraded to meet the current guidelines.

After researching products on the market, Executive Chef John Savage decided Cambro‘s Camshelving was the best option to replace the existing shelving in their coolrooms, freezers and drystore along with dunnage stands, warewash racks and dish caddies. This was no a small exercise with 22 coolrooms and freezers and one large Drystore.

The kitchens support 3 function rooms, a sit-down ballroom with capacity of 900 or cocktail functions of up to 2,000 people. In addition, there are 363 hotel rooms and a premier restaurant, No 35. Sofitel chooses not only Cambro shelving but also ice caddies, dish caddies, service trays, storage boxes, dunnage stands and the Warewash racks, for storage and transport around the facility.

Due to the systems and products purchased, Sofitel was the first Hotel to achieve HACCP accreditation in Victoria in 2007.

Years on, all of these products are still in service. The shelving looks like it went in yesterday.

“Camshelving is fantastic it is used continually, nothing has broken or warped from the heavyweights placed on it, it is still easy to clean,” said Executive Chef John Savage. “We just pull it apart and run it through the dishwasher. From a durability point of view, it is just fantastic!”

“The ease of clean is very important, we have a cleaning schedule and the coolrooms and freezers are systematically cleaned, shelving goes from the coolroom straight into the dishwasher and back again, no scrubbing, no rust and it is easy to put together again.”

“The design of the shelving is also great, no nooks or crannies to foster debris, most other shelving I have used have welded joints on the uprights and posts that are hard to clean and harbor grime. Camshelving has none of those “