Restaurant Delivery and Carryout Supplies

With the growth of food delivery apps such as Grubhub, DoorDash, and Uber Eats, adding a carryout or delivery service to your restaurant can greatly increase your potential customer base. However, adding remote dining options also presents a series of challenges that must be overcome before you can establish and maintain a customer base outside of your dining room. Food must be kept at safe temperatures between your kitchen and the customer's table, but you also need to provide your customers with a good meal. In this article, we'll cover the best delivery supplies for different styles of takeout as well as the equipment needed to keep your food safe until it can be eaten.

Which Delivery Supplies Do I Need to Keep Food Safe?

Food safety is critical in all aspects of commercial foodservice, as even one case of food poisoning can create significant liability and a negative reputation that can be almost impossible to recover from. Most dine-in restaurants don't have to worry too much about holding temperature, as the food can wait under a heat lamp for the few minutes it takes for a server to take the plated food to a table. However, if you're delivering food or waiting for a customer to come pick it up, you must ensure the food remains safe even if the delivery or pickup runs late.

Food should be kept above 140 degrees Fahrenheit until it can be served to the guest. Brief excursions outside this temperature range can be acceptable depending on the food you're serving but, as the operator, it's your responsibility to ensure everything you serve is safe. We carry several different types of equipment to help you achieve this goal.

Holding Cabinets

Hot holding cabinets keep food at a safe temperature for long periods of time, and as such can be useful for anyone hoping to add a delivery or carryout option. Because they don't need to reach cooking temperatures, these machines use less energy than other pieces of kitchen equipment, meaning they cost you less in utilities while increasing your potential reach. Heated cabinets can be the focal point of a pick-up area, where food can wait in proper transport containers with labels until the appropriate person comes to get it.

Holding cabinets are important for any hot food establishment that wants to start delivery or carryout. If your food doesn't need to be kept warm, you won't need these. For help deciding which piece would benefit you most, consult our heated cabinet buyers' guide.

Food Delivery Bags

Food delivery bags insulate food as it travels, increasing the heat of food upon delivery. These benefit both safety and quality, as an insulated bag increases the chances your customers' meals are hot when they arrive. To make delivery profitable, operators – whether that be an in-house service or an app driver – need to make their trips efficient. That means multiple orders need to be carried together in one trip, and the last stop can end up with a cold, unappetizing meal. Insulated delivery bags are some of the best delivery supplies to ensure your food remains warm when it reaches the customer. By trapping the food's heat inside, a quality delivery bag can keep the food at safe temperatures longer, as well as provide a more appetizing product upon arrival.

Food delivery bags are useful to any foodservice operation wanting to deliver hot food. If you're only adding pick-up or carryout, food delivery bags will not be necessary.

Choosing Carryout Supplies

Now that you have the tools to keep your food at a safe temperature until it can be eaten, you'll need to provide your customers with the tools to eat it! Disposable dinnerware is an expected part of carryout and delivery dining, as your customers may expect you to do all the business of cooking for them – including taking care of the dishes. Depending on your specific style of restaurant, you'll need different pieces of disposable dinnerware. To minimize the environmental impact of disposable dinnerware, KaTom carries biodegradable containers that won't end up clogging landfills or polluting the ocean.

Disposable Food Containers

Almost every delivery and carryout service relies on disposable containers to dispense their food. These protect food from contamination and keep food together, while doubling as plates or bowls for your customer to eat from. Our disposable food containers category contains many different types of disposable dinnerware, including plastic, aluminum, and foam to-go containers. Each material provides specific benefits that may suit one style of restaurant over another.

• Plastic containers are best at keeping liquids from spilling and are resistant to breakage. Some can be microwaved.
• Foam containers are lightweight but can't be microwaved or placed in the oven.
• Aluminum to-go containers can be reheated in an oven but not a microwave. They're tough but harder to make spill-resistant.

Disposable food containers are necessary for anyone delivering food. These keep foods separate and neat during travel.

Disposable Tableware

Our disposable tableware category contains a variety of items best used for dining near the serving area, rather than transporting them by vehicle to a distant location. Rather than enclosed, single-meal containers, this category has plastic and foam cups, disposable bowls, plates, and full trays. These are ideal for outdoor dining, food trucks, concession stands, and other venues in which it's unfeasible or inefficient to use your standard dining room dinnerware. Most operators will need disposable cutlery to accompany their disposable containers, unless you're serving food best eaten by hand, such as pizza.

Disposable dishes, trays, and bowls are best for food trucks, stands, and others that serve walk-away customers.

Sandwich and Cookie Bags

Small, flat items can be folded away easily in a sandwich or cookie bag. These keep food safe without needing much extra material. If your food can fit in one of these, they're much less expensive than full to-go containers. However, they only hold the one item, so you'd need separate bags for sides. They also do not provide opportunity for attractive plating, though this usually is a secondary concern in delivery operations.

Sandwich and cookie bags are an easy option if your food will fit inside these small, flat bags.

Disposable Cups

Disposable cups are necessary for any establishment specializing in drinks, such as coffee or tea, or any delivery or carryout process that includes drinks with their orders. Sending drinks to customers is tricky because tilting or shaking them can cause a mess much easier than with solid foods. Operators serving hot beverages need to be exceptionally careful with their disposable cups – certain cups are made to contain hot liquids, while others are not. Hot drinks can cause serious burns if not properly contained, so be sure the ones you purchase are meant for hot drinks.

Any establishment selling drinks to go will need disposable cups, but establishments selling hot beverages will need insulated cups to keep their customers safe.

Which Delivery Supplies Does My Restaurant Need?

Different styles of foodservice establishment need different delivery or take-out supplies. For quick reference, we've organized these supplies by foodservice style.

Every foodservice establishment is different and some may need more or less than these guidelines recommend. Anyone sending liquids on a car trip is going to need spill-resistant containers, while those only doing carryout may not need food delivery bags.