Behind The All-Electric Kitchen

Recently one of our Silicon Valley tech clients announced that they will be building the first all - electric building (of its size and capacity) in San Jose, CA. As is typical, the architect and developer get a ton of press and publicity around the groundbreaking and all the visible accolades for what will be an amazing achievement.

What the public does not see is the massive team of designers and consultants behind the scenes trying to draw it up and engineer it to even be possible. Three and a half years before the first entrée will be served or the first head of lettuce will be washed or chopped, we are here working hard to ensure this project consisting of nearly 50K square feet of FoodSpace, serving over 6k meals per day spread over 18 stories with every ounce of fresh, made from scratch food will be prepared without one ounce of natural gas and only renewable energy. 

The chef in me wants to scream, but what about all the cool tech and advancements in induction and other equipment innovations? How are we going to put char and flavor on a steak? The change is coming. In India and many European countries, all-electric is already a reality. Is this the future?   

If you do just a bit of research, you will see that this is the next wave of how we will build kitchens in the future. As foodservice consultants we must not only keep up with the times, we need to lead. 

I encourage each of us to spend some time learning about energy and water conservation. Let’s look at the future not just for what cool tech is coming but also what is practical and realistic even 5 years from now.  We have a responsibility to the industry, the planet and ourselves to lead, innovate and keep revolutionizing from behind the scenes.

Joseph Schumaker, FCSI