Zoo Knoxville Turns to KaTom to Revamp Animal Commissary
A glance at the exterior reveals a pair of walk-in units, one refrigerator and one freezer, as normal as any in the foodservice industry. However, a lap around the interior quickly dispels that notion. Sure, there are the staples found across any kitchen – carrots, lettuce, apples, and the like – but past the basics lies what really sets these two units, located in the Zoo Knoxville kitchen, apart.
In May 2022, KaTom Restaurant Supply wrapped up a unique project: installing a walk-in refrigerator and walk-in freezer, both Kolpak units, in Zoo Knoxville's animal commissary. This will help ensure the zoo is capable of continuing to properly and safely feed more than 1,200 animals while meeting dozens of unique dietary preferences and requirements.
A project of this magnitude requires communication and efficiency, both of which KaTom was able to provide as it helped the zoo push forward with two units that do more than just help keep animals happy – they also play a role in keeping entire species alive.
Out With the Old
Before the two units could be installed, the existing walk-ins had to be removed. This created a challenge for all parties – after all, animals don't stop eating just because of a construction project –but thanks in part to KaTom's efficiency and communication, the transition period was handled as smoothly as possible.
KaTom Knoxville Territory Sales Manager Harrison Genseal outlined the expected duration of the project, giving the zoo staff plenty of time to set up an alternative. During the construction process, the zoo rented five portable trailers with adjustable temperatures: two for freezer storage, two for refrigerated storage, and one for dry storage.
These trailers were located in a parking area adjacent to the commissary, but this setup required staffers to tote heavy crates the distance between the trailers and the kitchen multiple times per day. This made it all the more important for KaTom to follow through on the agreed-upon timeline.
"You would have to wheel those barrels across that parking lot without dumping anything or losing anything. I gained some muscle, I really did. It was a workout," Nutritional Service Keeper Jane Brabson said. "That was rough, but it was worth it to get this unit. It really was."
The nutrition staff worked out of the trailers for around a month, an abbreviated amount of time compared to what Director of Animal Care Phil Colclough expected. After about a week of demolition, the install team came in and, before long, the nutrition staff started working out of two new walk-in units.
Because working out of these trailers was such a commitment, it was important for the zoo staff to understand the project status at all times. That's where KaTom's customer service came into play.
"It was pretty easy," Zoo Knoxville Director of Operations Shane Chester said. "Harrison is very affable. He would return our calls; he'd show up if we had an issue. We'd call him and he'd address it. Dealing with Harrison was great. If you call him, he returns your calls. If you need something, he helps coordinate it. He's a good overall representative of KaTom. He's very professional, and he helped us through this whole thing."
In With the New
There are numerous reasons Zoo Knoxville needed to upgrade its cold storage, but the most prominent among them is simple: reliability. With the previous units pushing the 20-year mark, they showed signs of their age that made commissary staff worry a unit may become incapable of holding set temperature or stop functioning altogether.
"It's tens of thousands of dollars' worth of food," Colclough said. "You think about the power going out at your house and you're thinking, 'Man, I've got three filets in there, what am I going to do?' Now think about it on this scale."
In addition to the potential financial loss, there's the matter of supply-chain issues that foodservice operations are experiencing across the country. Normally the zoo buys around 200 cases of meat at a time to feed its animals, but meat is harder to come by now, and it's not as simple as going to the grocery store for some of what the animals eat.
In August, the zoo ordered 65 cases of meat, which is estimated to last around six weeks. Because of this roadblock, any meat lost because of a faulty walk-in is amplified right now.
"For our meat, we just have such a hard time getting meat right now because there's a shortage of different things, that we don't want to waste a drop," Brabson said. "It's just so hard to get. It takes so much time to even get here because there are channels it has to go through before we get it. We're always stressing about that, but it's slowly getting better. With the freezer, if we waste anything then it's going to be just terrible."
As with any other kitchen, the animal commissary at Zoo Knoxville is expected to uphold standards put forth by a handful of entities, including the FDA and USDA. Once a year the USDA shows up unannounced for an incredibly thorough inspection that leaves no box unturned and no inch of storage unchecked. The nutrition staff prides itself on the spotless condition of the kitchen and wouldn't want a walk-in outside its normal service life to cause issues during an inspection.
"We like to say we're ready every second for one of those," Colclough said. "But when you have a giant piece of equipment like this that isn't working the way it ought to be, we weren't going to be ready every second."
Finally, the old freezer had simply become a safety risk. The floor had warped to the point it had exposed metal edged employees had to be careful to avoid tripping or cutting themselves on.
From Gibbons to Tortoises and Everything in Between
The role of zoos has changed over the last few decades. After starting as establishments built to entertain the public and entice them to spend a few bucks, zoos transitioned to organizations focused more on wildlife conservation.
As part of this growing role, Zoo Knoxville is home to several species listed as critically endangered, such as the red wolf and the ploughshare tortoise. Each of those animals is fed out of the animal commissary.
"It wouldn't be a stretch to say this piece of equipment is of huge conservational value," Colclough said. "Zoos today aren't just a place where people pay money and go see a monkey in a cage. They're full-on conservation operations now. We're doing work out in the world to try and save animals from extinction. Without those two pieces of equipment and this staff here, that wouldn't happen."
The ploughshare tortoise is the most endangered species that currently resides at Zoo Knoxville. After being confiscated from the illegal pet trade, four juvenile tortoises were shipped to Zoo Knoxville because of its reputation for handling reptiles.
Experts estimate there are only a few hundred of the animals left in the wild of their native Madagascar, which brings the Species Survival Program into play. This plan is followed by zoos all around the world, and in this case it means Zoo Knoxville will continue to raise these tortoises until they reach maturity, at which point they will exchange with the San Diego Zoo as part of a propagation plan.
"We follow the genetics of those ploughshare tortoises, for example, in the captive population," Colclough said. "Then we make sure they're as genetically different from their counterparts in the wild as possible, so we don't inbreed. The problem is there's no wild left. So if the wild is established sometime in the next 100 years, we have this huge, what we call an assurance colony, that we could take back to Madagascar and turn loose to see how they do."
It's not just the endangered species relying on these walk-ins, though. Every single species has its own dietary needs and restrictions, and every animal inside that species has its own needs and preferences.
For example, an otter that needs to lose weight might get a different diet than the rest of the animals in its habitat. Like people, many of these animals also appreciate variety in their diets. To accommodate this, the nutrition staff rotates the menu it prepares every week, then they rotate that list with another list – all of which is approved by the vet – which ensures the animals get something different every day.
And just like humans, each individual animal has foods it likes and foods it doesn't like. Nipper, the 55-year-old white-handed gibbon, refuses to eat yellow bananas, instead preferring ones that have ripened to the point they're black.
"With just about every single one of our animals, something comes from this kitchen," Brabson said. "It could be anything. It could be as simple as an apple."
