Meals on wheels, central kitchens, hospitals, care homes

There is one sector that is moving more and more towards home deliveries: that of home care services with meals on wheels.
This presents a real logistics challenge: how to deliver meal trays and pre-prepared meals to the elderly and isolated?
Another change is that healthcare facilities, hospitals, residential care homes, nursing homes and the like do not necessarily have their own kitchens – meals are prepared in central kitchens, which may also deliver to schools, community centres, etc.
How is it possible to transport these meals to their place of consumption without breaking the cold chain?

On paper it looks easy, all you need to go from A to B is a temperature-controlled lorry. Except than in reality, there are other challenges that have to be taken into account:

• Organising a round, to deliver to several customers
• Maintaining the temperature in spite of repeated opening of the doors
• Complying with urban traffic legislation: less noise, fewer fuel-related emissions, lighter vehicles
• Being able to absorb increases in demand at certain times of year (in summer, holiday periods in particular)

The refrigerated lorry soon reveals its limits: too heavy, too noisy, too polluting and costly (purchase, maintenance, rental), especially if it is a two-chamber vehicle (chilled and frozen).

• Passive cooling = no motors, no connections, totally self-contained for up to 24 hours
• Zero noise as there is no motor, making late night or early morning deliveries possible
• Use of standard, non-refrigerated vehicles, using less fuel
• No need for different vehicles for different temperatures: 3 temperatures can be transported in the same vehicle, meaning only one delivery vehicle is needed instead of 2 or 3
• Reusable containers: up to 12 years (for distances over 80 km without intermediate handling)

If you have a commercial vehicle or a standard, non-refrigerated van, OLIVO has thought of you and offers a variety of solutions to meet your needs

Home deliveries: there’s nothing simpler, with a ROLL or BAC container or BOX lightweight box for last mile deliveries.
They are all available in several sizes, models and volumes: the choice will depend on your vehicle, your goods and your logistics.
ROLL range
BAC range
BOX range

For more information on last mile deliveries, see our dedicated web page.

If you are a food trade professional or caterer or you operate a central kitchen and you are looking for a solution for meal tray deliveries, think ROLL 220 Catering and ROLL 370 catering which come equipped with racks to hold your trays.
These two models are particularly favoured by hospitals and care homes which have to deliver Euronorm 600×400 or Gastronorm GN1/1 trays on a daily basis.
The stainless steel rack inside the container can hold from 9 to 17 trays, and you can take the container right to the final consumer if necessary. Wheeled, with a self-contained cooling system (eutectic plates), the container is the ideal logistics tool for food distribution.
If you would like to know more, see all the details on catering trays

During this current crisis due to the 2020 Covid-19 epidemic, other users have found in OLIVO’s BOX products the ideal solution to deliver meals, food supplies and fresh produce to isolated people who cannot and must not leave their homes: the big-hearted charities and voluntary bodies that already bring much needed year-round help to the most disadvantaged people in society.

Reaching out to consumers directly, delivering to their homes and contributing to their well-being by delivering food at the right temperature: the OLIVO BOX has what it takes to meet all these logistics challenges.

The French Red Cross, the Secours Populaire and the Restos du Cœur have been using OLIVO insulated containers for many years, and it is a source of great pride to us to be able to assist them in their good work throughout the year, but especially during the Covid-19 crisis. OLIVO thanks them for their meals on wheels services to vulnerable people.

Contact the OLIVO team for more information