Rich Hoffman didn’t immediately set out to join the restaurant business; he was in college studying accounting while working as a dishwasher and cook when something clicked. Chefs know how the fast-paced lifestyle, grit and creativity of the kitchen can pull you in and change your path. Hoffman decided to focus on working at The Field House in Cabot, Pa., for a few years before moving into the corporate dining scene, working for high-profile clients like Dick’s Sporting Goods, American Eagle, and Duolingo. After years of staying connected with the leaders of The Field House, the opportunity to own it finally came: right in the middle of the uncertainty of COVID. In November 2021, Hoffman took over The Field House and started making it his own.
“We’ve been very, very blessed that the business has been strong and growing. As we’ve grown, we were outgrowing our storage area and our kitchen area,” said Hoffman.
With the help of Brian Burke, his local Cambro sales rep, Hoffman identified the Cambro products that would transform his operation.
Previously, Hoffman was using epoxy-coated metal shelving in coolers and storage areas. “I didn’t like it because they were damn near impossible to clean,” said Hoffman. Plus, Hoffman worried about the food safety hazards associated with his shelving. “Having plastic or epoxy coating coming off of your shelving and the risk of foreign object contamination in your food is a really, really big deal actually,” said Hoffman. No stranger to Camshelving, Hoffman used Cambro’s rust- and corrosion-free solution at a previous job.
“It was a very high volume location and [Camshelving] held out to the abuse of a kitchen. I mean, kitchens are not friendly environments for food service equipment. Cambro’s products hold up better than most brands.”
“I always told myself I was going to buy new shelving for Field House and I was going to do it that way with that [Cambro] shelving. I just wanted something that I can send a dishwasher in there, say, ‘Take everything off of shelf A. Pull all the [shelf plates] out of the shelves, run it through the machine, put it back in there,’ and we have flawlessly clean shelving all the time,” said Hoffman. “That was the differentiator right there.”
When Hoffman’s Cambro sales rep saw his walk-in cooler, he knew exactly what he needed: the Universal Storage Rack. Designed to store food pans, sheet pans, dough boxes and food boxes more efficiently, the Universal Storage Rack was the ideal replacement for Hoffman’s stationary sheet pan racks.
“One of the major things, we cut our own French fries. We’ll go through 200 lbs. of French fries in each operating day. And you know, less steps to the back of the cooler are better for us. So, [the staff] can pop the door open, grab a fresh tray of fries and go on their merry way. Before, it was a little bit more work,” said Hoffman.
Now, Hoffman’s staff get what they need faster and have better access to the contents stored in the back corners.
Hoffman’s kitchen walls were covered with stainless steel shelving that was poorly laid out and unable to support the piles of Cambro containers and food pans in the expedition area.
“I always look for cool stuff that we can better organize and better layout the kitchen. The wall shelving in the back of the kitchen, it was time to replace it. The stuff at the server station…I was just looking for a better solution instead of having Lexans stacked on top of coolers and things that were haphazardly placed throughout the space,” said Hoffman.
Rust-free Elevation Series Wall Shelving has the option of shelves, pegboards, drying racks, organization accessories and more. Hoffman utilized shelf divider bars and food pans to organize and lift containers above salad bar production.
“The tilt racks that are on the wall shelving were really, really helpful and integral with getting us in a better position to not only store food, but store food in an efficient manner,” said Hoffman.
For Hoffman, the impact goes beyond organization, it’s about running a smarter, more reliable kitchen. With Camshelving and Elevation Series Wall Shelving in place, The Field House operates with greater efficiency, better use of space and a workflow that supports the whole team. Plus, the ease of cleaning Camshelving allows Hoffman’s staff to uphold food safety standards every day. Cambro provides systems that don’t just store ingredients, they elevate the way the kitchen performs.
