Birchwood Farm’s “excellent” Winterhalter minimises carbon footprint and delivers “impressive” flexibility 
Blackburn-based Cloverleaf Restaurants Ltd, who are believed to have the highest average (per unit) turnover pub restaurant estate in the UK, have opened their latest new build site, the 300 cover Birchwood Farm development at Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire, at a total cost of £2.2m. It is one of the first sites in the UK to install Winterhalter’s new GS500 TwinSet Energy warewasher system.
The Cloverleaf restaurant concept aims to appeal to all ages and occasions and offers fresh, quality, homemade food, and plenty of it. This ‘quality with value-for-money’ approach has seen the Cloverleaf Group enjoy significant repeated year on year growth, despite the economic problems experienced by the pub sector.
Background:
Birchwood Farm is Cloverleaf’s tenth site and the decision to install the TwinSet is part of their drive to maximise efficiency and energy usage across all aspects of the business. The TwinSet is a highly flexible arrangement. It links two GS500 pass through dishwashers together in a small footprint, offering the choice of single or double capacity and optimising energy usage during the peaks and troughs experienced in a high volume food operation.
The TwinSet Energy models feature Winterhalter’s specially developed heat exchangers, which slash energy consumption by using waste heat from the warewashers’ steam and wastewater to heat the incoming cold water supply. Because virtually no steam escapes when the warewasher is opened, the Energy technology also enhances the working environment and reduces the workload on the kitchen ventilation system.
HK Kitchen & Bar Solutions of Rotherham were responsible for managing the catering and warewashing equipment installation at Birchwood Farm.
Energy strategy
“We’re totally committed to the long term sustainability of our business and are constantly seeking to incorporate innovative ideas and technology into our operations to achieve this,” says Cloverleaf joint founder and director Gary Douglas. “On-site renewable energy generation, reduced energy consumption, conservation measures and operational efficiency are all vital parts of this commitment. Ultimately it enables us to both reduce our impact on the environment and give our customers the best possible value.
“When we seek out new products and equipment they must totally align with our vision and strategy. There’s no doubt that Winterhalter’s Energy models have already proven they do this, in all respects.”
As well as the heat exchangers, which reduce the connected load of a TwinSet by 12kW (6kW for each GS500 machine), Birchwood Farm’s warewasher has a new rinse system that means it consumes less water, energy and chemicals. Combined, the heat exchangers and rinse system don’t just dramatically reduce the kitchen’s carbon footprint: compared to two standard pass through warewashers, Winterhalter estimates the TwinSet Energy will slash total running costs by up to £2,500 per year (at current prices).
Flexibility and ease of operation
“It’s not only the advanced technology that saves costs, it’s also the TwinSet’s flexibility of operation. It means we can use both warewashers at busy times, but just one during quiet periods – that cuts consumption of water, chemicals and energy by 50%,” says Douglas.
Another benefit is the ease of operation. “The staff who operate the warewashers at Birchwood are very experienced and they were hugely impressed by the TwinSet from day one. They found it much less labour intensive to operate than other machines and they were really struck by the quality – they feel like they have a Mercedes and, because of this, they take real pride in looking after it!
“Quite simply, the Winterhalter TwinSet is excellent,” Douglas concludes.
Installation View:
The TwinSet installation was managed by HK Kitchen & Bar Solutions, who also installed Winterhalter glasswashing and icemaking equipment at Birchwood Farm. “The team at Cloverleaf are great to work with because, as well as being passionate about the environment, they are dynamic and encourage new ideas,” says HK’s Jason Fish. “The TwinSet suits them because it’s an innovative, highly specified machine that reduces energy consumption and lowers running costs.
“Winterhalter always deliver – they make it easy for us to use their products in our projects,” he adds.