Grove City Area School District is finding smarter ways to serve its students, one meal at a time. Located halfway between Erie and Pittsburgh, Penn., the district serves 1,750 students across an elementary school, middle school and high school, providing breakfast and lunch to hundreds of students each day. With 28% of students participating in breakfast and 53% participating in lunch, efficiency is essential, and the district has turned to Cambro solutions to streamline operations, improve organization and make serving meals easier for its foodservice team. As Jennifer Reiser, Director of Food & Nutrition Service at GCASD, puts it, the changes have been “a game changer” for helping their operations run more smoothly.
School nutrition directors know space, inventory control and efficiency are vital for an organized foodservice kitchen. At GCASD’s middle school, cans were previously stored in the cases they arrived in and placed on a standard shelf, taking up valuable storage space and making inventory more difficult to manage. Since implementing the Camshelving Ultimate #10 Can Rack, the school has been able to maximize its storage capacity while making cans easier to see, access and rotate. The Ultimate #10 Can Rack is a front-loading, gravity-fed design that has FIFO (First In, First Out) built in, so newer cans can be loaded from the front while older cans move forward for use, helping staff keep track of inventory and use cans in the proper order.
“Now, we know for sure, first in and first out, they’re gonna rotate things better—and they can keep track of what they have easier,” said Reiser.
When it comes to maximizing freezer space, it’s more than simply fitting in more items, it is about creating a safer, more efficient workflow. After successfully implementing Camshelving at GCASD’s high school, the district brought the solution to the middle school, where a small freezer, center tracks and too many rows of dunnage stands were making it difficult for staff to navigate the space and find room for deliveries.
“Camshelving has been a significant improvement over our previous shelving because it provides more space and improves safety for our staff. There is more room to move around and safely put away deliveries, making the storage areas more accessible and easier to work in,” said Reiser.
Camshelving also has the ability to be mobilized with casters guaranteed against rust and corrosion, making the entire shelving unit rustproof from top to bottom. This feature is particularly valuable in dish pits and drying areas, where moisture is constant and space can be limited.
When GCASD implemented Camshelving drying racks at the high school, the solution gave staff a dedicated place to line up wet pans and dishes without stacking them before they were fully dry. The mobile racks can also be easily moved when pans need to be transported to the cook area, eliminating the need for staff to carry heavy trays by hand and making it easier to clean and maintain the surrounding area.
In the walk-in cooler, GCASD also turned to Camdollies to make milk storage and handling safer and more efficient. After seeing the benefits of the milk dollies at its elementary school, the district expanded their use as part of broader kitchen improvements focused on organization, FIFO rotation and better use of available space in their middle school.
Instead of requiring staff to lift and carry heavy milk crates, the dollies allow them to move multiple crates more easily, reducing unnecessary lifting and making deliveries and daily restocking more manageable. Adding Camdollies was another simple change that helped the district’s foodservice team “work smarter, not harder” while creating a more organized and accessible storage environment.
A Trusted Name in Foodservice
For Grove City Area School District, investing in Camshelving was more than just adding new storage, it created a safer, more organized and more efficient foodservice operation. From maximizing storage space with shelving and can racks to simplifying milk transport and improving drying areas, each solution has helped address a specific challenge while contributing to a more streamlined operation.
For Reiser, that investment comes down to confidence in the products and the brand behind them. “I think it’s a brand that I can trust,” she said. “The name, it holds its value.” With the flexibility to build a storage system around the district’s needs, Camshelving has become a valuable part of GCASD’s ongoing commitment to making its kitchens work better for its staff and students.
