High Sabatino has had a busy year adding to our great lineup of chef-focused commercial kitchen solutions, and perhaps more than any of our latest additions, the high-end ranges and commercial kitchen suites from Montague might be the most chef-driven of them all.

Ventilation is one of the most critical aspects of any commercial foodservice business. It impacts utility costs. It leads to how much an operation spends on makeup air. There are governmental regulations involved. And ventilation even has an impact on staff safety and satisfaction.

If you’re John Belushi in the movie Animal House, you’re likely piling plate after plate onto your cafeteria tray, only to throw out half of it away when you drop your tray on the conveyor belt after you’re done. The reality is tray service can be quite costly for many reasons, and moving away from it will require more than just ditching the trays. But before we get into how to adapt tray-less cafeteria service, it’s first important to understand why it can be beneficial from both financial and logistical standpoints.