When school nutrition programs expand beyond the traditional cafeteria, keeping meals at the right temperature can become a challenge. For Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) in Savannah, Georgia, the launch of a satellite meal program meant finding a reliable way to transport and serve hot meals to schools without full kitchen facilities.
For School Nutrition Program Project Manager Justin Wyland, who has been with the district for nearly two years, the Pro Cart Ultra® Electric Low Universal has helped the district overcome that challenge and enabled them to deliver consistent meals to students across every location in the district.
The Satellite School Challenge
Last year, SCCPSS launched a satellite program that served seven schools from a single location. Most were smaller charter school sites, but two locations served approximately 150 to 200 students and had no kitchen.
After initially trying insulated bags with warmers, Wyland began looking for a replacement because he wasn’t satisfied with their performance. With some of the sites 30 to 40 minutes away, and then factoring in an hour and a half to 2 hours for service, the bags weren’t keeping the food hot enough for Wyland’s standards.
Keeping Meals Hot From Kitchen to Service
The district added the Pro Cart Ultra Electric Low Universal to its transportation and meal service operation, changing what was possible for its satellite program.
“When we added the Pro Carts, even if we couldn’t plug them in at the sites, they stayed hot for well over the 4 hours, so the food would still be above 140°F,” said Wyland.
“Instead of kids sitting there getting cold food, they're actually getting hot food now.”
The Pro Cart Ultra also gave the district the flexibility it needed to accommodate different types of meals and components because it is compatible with both sheet pans and hotel pans.
“[The Pro Cart Ultra], you can put two pans of the hotel pans on one rack and then you can fill up the rest with sheet trays; just to have that versatility of going from pan to pan versus being stuck with using one or the other,” said Wyland.
“[The Pro Cart Ultra] warms up quick and even unplugged, it will stay hot well over 150 or 160 for over 4 hours once it gets up to temp.”
Together, these features allowed Wyland to expand his use of the carts beyond their original purpose.
Making the Most of the Pro Cart Ultra
The district originally purchased 10 Pro Cart Ultra units. While that was more than Wyland initially planned to use for the satellite program, the extra carts quickly found other applications throughout the district.
“We had schools where their warmers were going out. [The Pro Cart Ultra carts] are for transporting, but they’re perfectly good to use as a standalone hot box,” said Wyland.
That extended holding capability also gave the district a solution to serving breakfast remotely around campus without having to plug the cart in.
“We also did breakfast in the hallways and classrooms where they could get them plugged in the morning, and get them warm so they would stay hot during our transport to get to the classrooms in the hallway,” said Wyland.
One Menu, More Locations
The satellite program was designed to make meals available without creating an entirely separate menu for those schools. The district prepares its meals centrally, seals them in individual containers and transports them to the satellite locations.
“We actually have a sealing machine, so everything’s sealed in little tiny containers,” Wyland says. “Any kind of normal lunch meals that we served school district wide, they would go to the charter satellites as well. We didn’t really have to have a special menu.”
That means students at satellite locations can enjoy the same meals as students throughout the district.
“Whatever was on the district menu is what the kids at the other sites would get,” said Wyland.
For the district, the combination of centralized meal production, sealed individual portions and reliable hot holding makes it easier to extend its existing menu to schools that lack traditional kitchen infrastructure.
Keeping Cold Foods Cold, Too
Temperature control isn’t only about hot meals. The district also uses Camchillers® and insulated bags to transport and maintain cold items like milk at the right temperature throughout service.
Durable Shelving for Busy School Kitchens
The district’s Cambro solutions extend beyond meal transportation. SCCPSS also uses mobile Camshelving® in their drying areas.
“They’re easy to clean, better than the stainless steel [shelving]. They don’t rust and you can easily just pull the little sliding shelves off to clean them,” said Wyland.
For Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, the Pro Cart Ultra has helped turn a satellite meal program into a more reliable operation. By keeping meals hot for extended periods, even when the carts cannot be plugged in, the carts give the district greater confidence when transporting food to schools without full kitchens. Their versatility has also allowed Wyland and his team to repurpose the carts for breakfast service in the classroom and hallways, and as standalone hot boxes when other equipment needs to be replaced. Combined with Cambro’s cold food transportation solutions and durable shelving, these products have helped the district maximize its resources while making it easier to deliver safe, high-quality meals to students wherever they are served.
