Sweet, Sweet Data!

In a recent online article from data giant, CB Insights, topic up for discussion was a vibrant, information exploding infographic that depicted Small Box Energy as one of 89 startup’s that are “reinventing the restaurant”.  The article covered every area from good ole inventory management to newer restaurant tech like table-top devices and smart kitchens. Obviously, even with these innovations, there is still so much that goes into running and managing a restaurant.  But,  this is one of the sole reasons we entered this space, we saw an opportunity for assisting with a part of the restaurant that frankly you as an owner don’t have time to manage yourself… There is so much on an owner’s plate (pun intended 🙂 ) that the last thing they need to worry about is how much energy your locations are consuming and how large their carbon footprint is.

The Cold Hard Truth

The reality is that restaurants consume nearly three times the energy of the average commercial building according to the energy information administration. Some of the largest consumption culprits are refrigeration, heating, and lighting at roughly 16% percent each. Having solutions to help in these areas is the first step…taking action, that’s the second. All too often we, at Small Box Energy, hear that time is a constraint but every minute wasted not taking control of the once “uncontrollable” is slicing into your profits. The money saved on early equipment diagnostics, food spoilage prevention, and simple lighting control adds up in some cases to a savings of up to 30% reduction per month. That’s money that could be going toward the bottom line! On something you typically write off as an “uncontrollable”!

Input, Input, Input!

The infographic not only points out great systems and services but also reminds us of the large role that big data plays in every industry around today. Everything that is happening in your restaurant is valuable information to you, from the number of people waiting, to the number of times you take food temperatures during the day, right down to your lighting schedule. The more you know the better you can manage your operations and ultimately increase your profits. New tech like the ones listed in the infographic help to work together and bring that seemingly useless data to light to increase your productivity and profits. Knowing your area of opportunities is key to success, we are just lucky that in this day and age we have awesome infographics that help educate and provide perspective into the food service world. Now if there were only robots that could run the entire restaurant for us.

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