Cold food and hot weather don’t mix. In Greeley, Colo., temperatures rise to nearly 100°F in July and August. While providing summer meals via school bus, Kris Simmons, Nutrition Services Sous Chef at Greeley-Evans Weld County School District 6, started looking for new products to hold their food.
“I had seen the Cambro GoBoxes that were made out of the EPP (expanded polypropylene) material. When I found out they were making them in a milk crate size, I thought that was an avenue worth exploring because they’re lighter, they’re stronger, there’s no zipper to break and they ended up actually coming in less expensive on the bid price,” said Simmons.
Durable and extremely temperature retentive, Simmons decided to purchase 1,580 Cam GoBox® Milk Crate Boxes.
“We were having a lot of trouble keeping food at proper temperatures before the GoBoxes,” said Simmons. “I actually use a temperature logging unit that plugs into my computer, so I was able to take temperature logs before and after. I never actually got to the time where they came out of temperature. Our longest bus route ran three and a half hours and we stayed under 40°F the whole time.”
When the new school year started, all students returned to in-person learning and it was decided that students would be provided breakfast and lunch in the classroom. Simmons was able to replace their flimsy insulated bags with their new Cam GoBox Milk Crate Boxes.
“The two main bonuses that people like about the GoBoxes are that they’re lighter weight and there’s no zipper; the lids snap on and snap off. It’s easy. Those zippers, we’d buy those things and they’d break in the first year,” said Simmons.
In addition to the durability, the temperature retentive nature of the GoBoxes increased safety overall.
“We’re able to take the meals directly from the kitchen where they’re being prepared, hot or cold, and we can load those in the boxes and deliver them to the classroom. When the teacher has an appropriate time, they’re able to take them in at the appropriate temperature,” said Simmons. “It’s keeping them in their bubble. It’s keeping kids and staff safe. They’re not having to co-mingle outside their groups and we were able to have a lot of success in our community with being back in school while other communities around us weren’t and they were struggling.”
Hygiene and sanitation have always been a priority for Simmons, but Covid-19 escalated their process to include thoroughly cleaning anything that was being touched.
“When I tested the GoBox, we ran it through the industrial dishwasher I think 50 times and you can’t tell. It’s no worse for wear. Being able to run it through a high temp dishwasher versus those old vinyl bags we had; we couldn’t wash those things. We could barely spray them down with a sanitizer spray because they’re stitched together and they’re not water-tight. They’re not made for that,” said Simmons. Although Simmons doesn’t exclusively use their GoBoxes for milk transport, he went with that particular model because it was big enough to hold their meals without getting too heavy for employees to handle. Find the right GoBox for your containers with our To-Go Container Solution.
For the complete line of Cambro GoBox products, click here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADRIANA DESIDERIO IS THE DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER AT CAMBRO.
