The Neighborhood House Association is a multi-purpose nonprofit that has served communities in San Diego for more than 100 years. One of the services they offer is to provide meals for low-income families and older adults who have no other means to get food. Each day, NHA produces and delivers more than 6,000 meals a day.

For years, NHA has relied on Cambro’s UPCH800 heated carts to maintain the temperature and quality of their meals during transit.

“For our meal deliveries, we use Cambro carts that are primarily heated on top and ambient on the bottom. So, we preheat our hot units on the top portion while food prep is happening in our kitchen,” said Christine Smith, Senior Director of Nutrition Services for NHA.

Previously, Cambro only offered heated carts but learned from many customers that there was a need for chilled capabilities too. While Camchillers are great for smaller operations, large-scale nonprofits like NHA needed something that would make their process more streamlined.

Cambro debuted the Pro Cart Ultra® Pan Carriers to allow operators to hold hot and cold food in the same cart at the same time—and be able to control both hot and cold temperatures.

“Having a cart that will automatically preheat and pre-chill the units without any extra labor going into adding Camchillers or any other type of element into the cart is really beneficial,” said Smith. “It saves us a lot of time in the morning and we can redirect that labor to other parts that need attention.”

Pro Cart Ultra Pan Carriers are the first Cambro product with an option for a cold module. Designed with thermoelectric cooling technology, Pro Cart Ultra Pan Carriers cools down to 32.5˚F (0.28˚C) without a compressor.

“My favorite feature of [the Pro Cart Ultra Pan Carrier] is the chilled bottom section because with other carts that we have, they don’t have the ability to be controlled with temperature, like the way this one does,” said Smith. “It’s gonna stay chilled for the whole time that we need it to be until we unplug it.”

After arriving to their destination, NHA doesn’t need to spend any extra time transferring the food to another warmer or cooler because they can simply plug the cart back in if needed.

“I can’t say enough good things about Cambro. We love Cambro and I don’t see us using any other type of product. It is our number one,” said Smith.

Click here to read more about the Pro Cart Ultra Pan Carrier; contact your local Cambro sales rep to get started today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADRIANA DESIDERIO IS THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AT CAMBRO.