Working with kegs of beer can be a dangerous business. The average full keg weighs approximately 165 pounds, and most beverage businesses use shelving that isn't sturdy enough to support them safely.
Ensuring that kegs are stored correctly saves businesses on labor costs, worker's compensation claims, and purchasing costs. Born of an unfortunate accident, Cooler Concepts creates shelving and lift systems to help the beverage industry.
Our History
While working for a beer distributor in Chicago, Cooler Concepts founder and CEO Bill Dunnett, Jr. quickly learned that delivering 1,000 kegs a week was a safety hazard. The barrels are either typically stacked either on themselves or on flimsy shelves without any safety measures in place. On Christmas Eve, 1994, Bill found out how just how dangerous both moving and storing kegs can be when a keg fell off one of the beer truck's upper storage bays and directly onto his foot. Thankfully it landed on Bill's foot the wide way instead of ring down, which would have severed his toes. This experience, and knowing another accident could happen easily to someone else, reinforced Bill's determination to create a safer way to store kegs.
Safety First
Having shelving that is strong enough to hold kegs and cases of beer and wine is a safety and budget issue. The average beer cooler accident can cost a business up to $50,000 in workman's comp and labor loss. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), having to do what Bill calls an unsafe act - ready for products, which can cause injuries. Having shelves that are low enough for employees to get to without strain helps prevent this.
Cooler Concepts shelves are the lowest height in the industry, made of welded steel construction for strength, and have a welded keg stop to ensure the kegs stay in place. Help cut down even more on worker's comp claims with our KEG Lifter. With the smallest footprint in the industry, the KEG Lifter can swiftly bring the keg 45 inches off the floor and place it on the shelf, without any operator assistance.
Increase Storage, Save Money
Every square inch of space is essential in a foodservice storage room. Items not placed entirely on shelves can make it challenging to manage inventory and maximize storage space. Cooler Concepts shelving ensures that your back-of-house storage is kept neat and also helps reduce your cooler's footprint by up to 40%. Cooler Concepts created Beer Math to help determine the proper storage requirements for any restaurant or bar. By taking your POS information on how many ounces of beer are poured, and other stats, we can configure a cooler with the correct amount of shelving to hold the appropriate amount of kegs the business needs for one week's usage. Which helps save space and eliminates unused inventory, helping you save money.
Quality Service
Cooler Concepts has been in business for almost 30 years and knows the beer and beverage industry. Our experience can help you have safer storage, protecting your business and workers. In our years of business, we've never had one warranty claim. Proof of the quality of our shelves and dedication to customer satisfaction.
Help us help you.
We know about all the challenges restaurants and foodservice operators face when it comes to draft beer, but we also know not all of them directly apply to you. Please take a few seconds to tell us what matters to you, and we’ll be sure to keep your needs in mind as we create educational content in the future.
