CKC Good Food's 42,000-square-foot facility in Eagan serves as our corporate headquarters, our central commissary and the hub of our operations. Since moving into the space in the winter of 2021, we have been able to expand our production volume while improving the quality of the meals and snacks we provide.
Our cooks prepare tens of thousands of hot lunch entrees daily, using the most state-of-the-art cooking equipment available – resulting in higher quality meals in less time than when cooked with conventional equipment. We have 7 Rationale iCombi Pro ovens, one Vario tilting skillet, 5 walk-in coolers and more than 30 cook & hold units to prepare daily meals.
We have 7 Rationale iCombi Ovens, which are amazing pieces of equipment. These upright ovens cook foods layered on racks that roll into place to be cooked and back out again with a removable rack handle. They cook any type of menu item - steamed, roasted, baked, crisped, etc. - with precision. They also have WiFi and mobile controls, enabling the ovens to be networked together and to be controlled from remote locations.
Our Vario Cooking Center/tilting skillet boils, sautes, fries and deep fries foods 4 times as fast as conventional cooking appliances with up to 40% less electricity consumption. The skillet has multiple cooking zones with individual controls, allowing chefs to cook three different items on the skills at varying temperatures simultaneously. Cooking pasta is a breeze with the Vario Cooking Center as the unit is connected directly to a water supply. Touch a few settings and walk away. The skillet will fill with water, drop the baskets of pasta into the water, boil for the prescribed amount of time and lift the baskets out of the water when it's finished.
Attached to our kitchen is more than 12,000-square-feet of warehouse and cold storage, which has helped elevate the quality, quantity and consistency of our inventory. Our capacity for storing dry goods is substantial with aisles of shelving that stacks 24 feet high. Our three cold storage units, about 3,000 square feet total, are also racked to 24 feet, allowing us to maximize our capacity in a smaller footprint.
Many months before a meal is served, our procurement team surveys the market and projects the quantities of ingredients we need for meals we prepare. We refine our estimates prior to ordering based on the current inventory in our warehouse, product availability and average meal counts. Throughout the process, the team continually monitors manufacturer shortages and conditions affecting supplies of fresh produce and adjusts orders as needed. Our sizeable onsite warehouse and cold storage capacity enable us to stock shelf-stable and frozen ingredients up to 6 weeks prior to service, either through direct shipments from manufacturers
or our mainline and specialty distributors.
Our cold prep team assembles hundreds of fresh deli salads and sandwiches, cuts pounds upon pounds of fresh vegetables and prepares scratch-made sauces and dressings in a dedicated space within our kitchen. Surrounded by multiple walk-in coolers, the team can easily stow away produce until it is delivered to client sites.
We have a large assembly area in the kitchen where our breakfast assembly team packs thousands of grab-and-go breakfast bags every day. The team makes quick work of the pallets of cereals, baked goods, juice boxes and fruit delivered to their work area every day.
Our kitchen is generally staffed from 2 or 3 a.m. until 2 p.m. during the school year. We welcome production opportunities that would allow us to keep our team employed year-round.