Which dishwashing equipment delivers the best quality in hotel kitchens?

Cleanliness, Efficiency, Safety and Durability... No catering kitchen can do without them anymore. The dishwashing and cleaning technology of the innovative German brand MEIKO adheres to these core values in its professional operations. Founded in 1927, the company is the world's largest manufacturer of dishwashing technology and has dynamically grown into a global brand. 

MEIKO is represented in every major sector: restaurants, hospitals, airports, cruise boats and at Formula 1 races. The Dutch branch, led by Bart Jasperse (Managing Director of the North West Europe region), also serves Scandinavia and the Netherlands Antilles.

Plates, cutlery and glasses are the calling card of any kitchen. They should be clean, better still spotless and preferably shiny too. Not for nothing is the intelligent rinsing technology from market leader MEIKO already a household name in many kitchens. This technology is characterised not only by the speed of operation but also by the lowest possible consumption of energy and water as well as minimal use of chemicals. This fits in with a time when hoteliers have sustainability high on the agenda. 

"Our core business is professional rinsing, cleaning and disinfection," Jasperse says. "The increasingly sustainable and intelligent flushing technology is achieved through continuous innovation. One such innovation, for example, is heat recovery. We find this technology, among others, in the equipment we installed in Hilton Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and the Okura hotel in Amsterdam."

Manually rinsing glasses in a sink with the coronavirus in mind poses a health hazard. After moving up and down a few times in cold water with a drop of rinse aid, a glass is certainly not free of viruses and bacteria. True hygienic cleanliness is only achieved with a professional dishwasher. The combination of the right chemistry and dosage, the right washing time, the precise temperature and optimal water treatment, ensures high-quality washing results. 

The use of osmosis on smaller dishwashing machines such as glass washers is now becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands too. With such a machine, manually washing and polishing glasses is a thing of the past. "In the Netherlands, wine and beer glasses are still relatively often rinsed manually," says Jasperse. "In many surrounding countries, this is no longer allowed from a hygiene point of view. However, our glass rinsers wash a large quantity of glasses hygienically in the blink of an eye and even leave them shiny from the machine."

Besides dishwashing technology, laundry management is a hot topic in catering kitchens. "Much organic waste generated in the kitchen or on guests' plates disappears into large wheelie bins or plastic bags. Under the name MEIKO Green Waste Solutions, we developed a comprehensive range of systems for the efficient collection, processing and disposal of organic waste."

"Starting point of such a system is an input station: a device in the sink kitchen the size of an ordinary home, garden and kitchen dishwasher that grinds food waste, including bones, into a valuable substrate. The raw material can then be sustainably used for biogas, water treatment or composting plants," Jasperse explains. "In neighbouring countries, these kinds of efficient and hygienic systems are already commonplace, in the Netherlands we see the interest growing. We have installed such a device in the Amstel hotel, for example." 

Jasperse would like to add that he is very proud of his team. "A company stands or falls with qualified staff who feel good about themselves. We attach a lot of value to that. It is very important to have and maintain a good relationship with your employees, especially at a time when capacity problems are a major issue."