Twenty-five years ago, Cambro Manufacturing debuted their first warewashing product: the Camrack®. When it came on the scene, the Camrack was one of the few dishracks that was designed with closed walls. While the bold decision has been met with skepticism, those who use Camracks know it is essential for keeping glassware hygienic and ready for use.

In the late ‘90s, Cambro Manufacturing’s CEO and President, Argyle Campbell, was touring a Los Angeles hotel when he spotted some dishracks. In that moment he told the Cambro sales representative he was with that dishracks were next on his list.

After researching dishracks in the US and abroad, Cambro’s product development team decided they wanted a closed wall design because it allowed for a 4-in-1 system that open walls couldn’t offer:

1. Efficient Washing: Open inside compartments provide thorough circulation of water and cleaning solutions to leave items sparkling and promote quick and thorough drying. Critics of closed wall dishracks say the water can’t flow properly, but water inside dishwashers flows up and down—not side to side.

2. Sanitary Storage: When you add a Camrack cover and Camdolly, the system is completely enclosed and no bacteria, dirty hands, rodents, bugs or dirty mop water can get inside! With open wall dishracks, it’s inevitable that staff wriggle their fingers through the holes to carry them, contaminating clean classes with their fingers.

3. Inventory Control: Cambro created a variety of base rack colors to help identify both contents and quantity per rack at a glance. In addition to color coding, Cambro offers one-color custom hot stamping or pre-printed clips for a fool-proof way to keep track of your inventory. 

4. Safe, Sanitary Transportation: Step away from the plastic wrap! The Camracks you use to wash and store your dinnerware are the same ones you’ll use to transport them. Their closed walls eliminate the need to wrap your racks in plastic wrap to keep them safe from contaminants. Not only does this save time and waste, but it also elevates the look of your operation.

In 1997, Cambro officially launched a full line of Camracks, Camdollies, covers and Extender ID Clips. About 7 years later, Cambro changed their Camrack design based on maximum glass height so that the same racks could be used for both glassware and stemware. That design is the same one still used today.   

Customers Love their Camracks

“After the pandemic started, we decided anyway to buy our own glassware (more than 12,000 glasses) in order to be autonomous for our events. We needed premium racks to store and wash all these glasses. The Camracks from Cambro appeared as the best solution for us: different colors for each kind of glasses, completely hermetic and resistant,” said Hervé Messmer, owner of DNA Bartending in Nice, France.

“When we’re all the way up and running, it’s a grind. We wear things out. We’ve bought quite a few Cambro dish racks and they seem to work really well and hold up to our wear and tear,” said Andrew Helmandollar, Executive Chef at Casino Arizona. 

“One of the most renowned hotels located in Oklahoma City, The Skirvin Hilton Hotel trusts Cambro Camracks to protect their restaurant and banquet glassware during downtime. Word is that the Skirvin is haunted by a local ghost, but hey, at least the operators aren’t haunted by having to re-wash their glassware after storing it!” said Chrane Foodservice, Cambro’s sales reps for Texas and Oklahoma.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADRIANA DESIDERIO IS THE DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER AT CAMBRO.