In an earlier blog post, we spoke at length about how drilling the beer controls into the cooler wall is standard practice within the industry. The hazard comes from when you want to change up the flow of the cooler. The reality is operators don't always spend the time to properly seal the holes, causing weeping walls and damaging the cooler's integrity and ability to maintain the correct humidity and temperature.
As we were promoting this blog on social media and email, the one common question popped up time and time again: "Is there a better option?"
Now Introducing: THE PANEL
The PANEL is a great companion to other Cooler Concepts solutions that help promote efficiency, organization, and the effectiveness of a walk-in keg cooler. Created specifically for Chase Field (home of baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks) in Phoenix, Arizona, it operates in one of the hottest and toughest environments for refrigeration.
THE PANEL is made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) that most people will recognize because it's commonly used in kitchen cutting boards, restaurants, cafeterias, and other food-related applications. HDPE is ideal inside your beer cooler because it's flexible and durable enough to withstand heavy use without cracking or breaking. It can be cleaned in high-temperature dishwashers and microwaves without warping, and on the other side of the spectrum, it can withstand cool temperatures without deterioration.
HDPE is a great alternative to aluminum and glass because it does not rust or corrode over time. HDPE also has great screw retention and can securely hold all your beer controls directly on THE PANEL versus mounting them onto the cooler's wall.
How THE PANEL Can Help
THE PANEL can be attached and mounted to either the Single Deep or the Double Deep units. Aside from allowing the beer controls to remain modular and able to move around the cooler without potential damage to the walls, mounting your beer controls on THE PANEL brings the controls closer to the operator (distance-wise.) Instead of climbing over kegs and shelves to reach the controls, operators that choose to mount controls to THE PANEL put those controls easily within arm's reach. Sixteen inches, to be exact, and only 62 inches off the floor.
Customize Your Cooler With Expansion in Mind
When looking at an optimal walk-in cooler, you want many things. You want it to meet your needs, and you want it to be versatile. You want it to be easy to use, and you want it to be easy to reconfigure. And most of all, you want it to be safe for your team and staff to venture into.
One of the biggest advantages of using a shelf with THE PANEL is that it can be reconfigured to meet the user's needs. Unfortunately, when holes are drilled in the walls, it limits the customization options of the cooler. This means the cooler might not be as versatile as it should be, and restaurant operators might need to purchase an entirely new cooler instead of simply reconfiguring the one they already have. Using THE PANEL, an operator can reconfigure the cooler as needed and move the controls around in a modular or sectional way. Thinking about the future, adding new shelves with new offerings is as easy as adding another shelf with THE PANEL on top.
Don't Believe Us? Ask Around!
Aside from using this new product innovation at Chase Field, Cooler Concepts is also in the middle of a large project at The Sphere in Las Vegas. This project includes multiple racks with modular sections and is expected to be completed in Q2 of 2023. They are most excited about the fact that the controls will be 16 inches away from the staff and that this ensures the team's safety at all times and will decrease the risk of staff scaling or climbing on things that shouldn't be within the beer cooler.
Ready to learn more about THE PANEL? Click below to get started!
