Learning from Laborie winery:
Simple food safety solutions for restaurants worldwide
The Laborie Wine Estate has been picturesquely situated in the hills of Paarl, South Africa, since 1691. Today, two restaurants, a farm shop with a butcher's shop, wine tastings and guest rooms among the vines attract guests every day. Behind the relaxed atmosphere is a digital food safety system with selected components from Testo.
Temperature and frying oil measuring instruments with Bluetooth connection and online loggers monitor critical points and report deviations. This means that the Laborie team has far fewer routine tasks to deal with.
The challenge
Excellence requires temperature stability.
Laborie works with high-quality ingredients. Dry-aged beef, regional cheeses, fresh dairy products. With two restaurants and a farm shop, there are numerous refrigerated areas to monitor. Temperature fluctuations can quickly lead to expensive losses in premium products.
Monitoring the temperature manually is only possible on a random basis and still ties up considerable personnel resources. If night-time malfunctions in refrigeration systems go unnoticed, the goods are often unusable by the next morning.
The solution
Digital monitoring at critical points
Laborie uses Testo instruments for various control points in the company – from incoming goods to food preparation. Anthony Ranna works in the farm shop and uses a handheld thermometer when receiving goods deliveries: “The testo 104 thermometer helps us to measure the temperature of incoming goods quickly and reliably. This allows us to ensure that our food safety standards are met and that the cold chain is unbroken“. With the testo 104-IR BT and tablet, everything is permanently documented with just a few clicks.
“These measuring instruments are invaluable for any type of restaurant – they increase customer satisfaction, save frying oil and minimise the amount of staff required for documentation. This means that the Testo instruments practically pay for themselves within a few months.“
Christian Tomanek
Managing Director Testo South Africa
Outlook
Good values, good mood
At Laborie, the system has become a matter of course. Automatic monitoring gives the team the certainty that all critical parameters are being adhered to. “We now simply have more time for what really matters,“ summarises Andria van der Merwe. “Our guests notice the difference.“
Scalable solution for the catering industry
“One of the biggest challenges in the food industry is the complete documentation of the measurements carried out for legal compliance,“ Christian Tomanek knows from experience. He has managed the Testo subsidiary in South Africa for almost 10 years and has already advised many customers. “Our instruments with Bluetooth and app connectivity make this process seamless. The simple documentation helps companies like Laborie to fulfil all requirements. Whether it's a fast food restaurant or fine dining. These measuring instruments are invaluable for any type of restaurant, they increase customer satisfaction, save frying oil and minimise the amount of staff required for documentation. This means that the Testo instruments practically pay for themselves within a few months.“ The instruments can be ordered online, only WLAN and a web browser are required to install the online data loggers. Tomanek and van der Merwe both agree, this makes it easy to introduce and scale food safety monitoring in the catering industry.
