Discount stores, online ordering service, organic shops and weekly markets – the classic supermarket business is coming under pressure from all sides. The order of the day: a unique selling point. New ideas, concepts and offers. Which are future-oriented. Which increase the length of stay. Which are diverse. Raising expectations, meeting expectations. With a bistro, with street food, with hot food counters. For eating on the go, for lunch, to take home. Reliable consistent quality. At restaurant level. Even if you are not a chef. Even if skilled staff is a scarce commodity. To help assist, there is an expert partner, RATIONAL.
Off-the-shelf concepts rarely work. Individual advice is all the more important. Tailored to your key issues. Focussing on your needs. Whether it is for one or multiple supermarkets. Whether support is needed in one or more areas. It is not pizza and pasta bake that will be the key to your success, but full concepts and a high standard of quality. Consistently implemented.
Treat table, hot food counter, grab & go, bakery, rotisserie, centralised, decentralised production – where do these fit in? What suits which location and also your customers? Get inspired, look at the possibilities and implementation examples. RATIONAL understands food retail, from the kitchen concept to food production.
A big promise. Which may seem like a paradox at first glance, but which makes sense when using two intelligent cooking systems. With two cooking systems that cover over 90 % of all conventional cooking applications. Which are intelligent. Which are easy to operate. Which have been developed for large quantities. Which reliably deliver the same result. Which respond to changes flexibly. In short, these are the two cooking systems with which you can implement your ideas and concepts. Flexible, reliable and efficient.
Fresh, convenience, frozen. Asian, European, American, meat, fish, poultry, side dishes and desserts. 100 or thousands of meals. Or specifically, the iCombi Pro 20-1/1 can make up to 160 cordon bleus with a single load. Every single one with the same uniform browning. With much less fat than in conventional cooking appliances. Also in the iVario Pro XL, you can sear 20 kg of meat in a single batch. With minimal shrinkage and delicious roasted aromas. Perfection in no time at all. In unrivalled quality, that is reproducible at any time.
The secret: The iCookingSuite, the cooking intelligence in both cooking systems, which recognises the size, quantity, browning and condition of the food and adjusts the cooking parameters accordingly. The broccoli stays green, crisp, full of vitamins, the pasta al dente and the turkey steak succulent on the inside, with grill stripes on the outside.
Standardisation
In both cooking systems, you can save your own tried-and-tested programs so that you can access them at any time. If the iCombi Pro and iVario Pro are connected, you can execute the programs on each unit with a single click. For the same high quality on all cooking systems. Standardisation does not get easier than that.
Golden brown, crisp and succulent grilled chicken – the king of takeaway dishes. Now prepared in half the time*. Thanks to iDensityControl, the intelligent climate management. Thanks to iCookingSuite, which knows the way to the desired result. Thanks to the iProductionManager, with which you always have enough fresh goods on display. But no over-production. What works with chicken, also works with roast lamb, roast pork and meatloaf. Also with iZoneControl in the iVario Pro, you can divide one pan base into up to four zones. To allow you to cook different foods at different temperatures at the same time.
* Compared to the standard rotation grill
iPoductionManager.
With the iCombi Pro, you can always serve your dishes to the same quality. Without any effort or trained staff. The cooking system has what are called shopping carts, which contain the dishes that can be cooked together based on the elements of your food concept. Tap the shopping cart required for production, e.g. “Week 32 menu”, on the display, drag the foods to the rack, load the iCombi Pro and the cooking system will start.
iZoneControl
When you need reliability, speed and efficiency. Simply divide the pan base of the iVario into up to four zones, and you can choose the size, position and shape as you want. You can now cook the same or different foods in a single pan. Simultaneously or on a time delay, at the same or a different temperature. Without monitoring and without additional kitchen equipment.
The first rush of the morning is over, time for restocking. The challenge; not too much, not too little, to ensure that it is all fresh in the display. It is time for treats such as cookies, muffins, wraps and sandwiches. As this demands organisational talent. As this demands the iProductionManager. Which tells you what you can cook together and suggests the time or energy-optimised order. Frozen goods, fresh dough, small pastries, large pastries, one or more trays – none of it a problem. Start the usual cooking path, done. For standardised restocking, for delicious mixed loads. Even in front cooking areas. This is because the iCombi Pro has its own exhaust hood, which eliminates the need for an extraction system.
Keep a cool head when things heat up. When food variety is demanded in large quantities. Or if food is produced in a central production kitchen and distributed to your customers. Such as with cook & chill: Because you can prepare your hot dish elements in the iCombi Pro or iVario Pro, quickly chill them and store them. This means you can prepare and produce additional food in advance. As you bring the required foods to serving temperature. As you produce your own convenience line for the cold food counter. As you can replenish foods. Very quickly, very simply. This preserves the flavour, vitamins, colour and texture of the food.
Finishing process
Container finishing is particularly suited to large quantities, such as for hot food counters. Place the pre-produced food in the iCombi Pro on demand and bring it to the right temperature at the push of a button. This means you always have the right quantity of food freshly prepared. Reduced food waste. Completed with simplicity and certainty, Even with convenience products.
A hygienic interim clean in approx. 12 minutes or a brilliant clean, even overnight, with iCareSystem in the iCombi Pro. Very simple and safe with the phosphate-free cleaner tabs. With a cleaning program that remembers your preferences and automatically starts your desired program the next time. The iVario Pro can even manage without a cleaning program, because it can be completely wiped down in 2 minutes. To keep the space below and next to the cooking systems hygienic, there are different setup variations that will make cleaning easy.
Sustainability protects resources and saves money: Energyefficient production and logistics, new standards in energysaving and recycling of old units are a given at RATIONAL. Equally, sustainability is just as much of a given with the iCombi Pro and iVario Pro in your kitchen: Compared to conventional kitchen appliances, you save energy. You have a lower cost of goods. Less over-production. Finally you will cook more healthily.
A normal day in the kitchen: hard work. This is why RATIONAL cooking systems are tough and carefully made. The reason behind this is the principle of “one person one unit” in manufacturing. This means that everyone in production takes full responsibility for the quality of their cooking system. They even put their name on the model data. We hold our suppliers up to the same standards: The focus is on high quality standards, continuous improvement and ensuring the reliability and longevity of products. It's no wonder that the oldest RATIONAL combi-steamer has been in use for over 40 years.
Not only do the iCombi Pro and iVario Pro cooks intelligently but they also save intelligently. Such as in energy consumption, workload, space requirement, consumption of raw materials, consumption of fat. In short, the results are impressive.
Short preheating times eliminate the need for standby mode. Rolling loads with the iProductionManager in the iCombi Pro, zoned heating of the pan with iZoneControl in the iVario Pro also save energy.
It eliminates the need for routine tasks such as turning, checking and readjustment. Ultrafast cleaning in the iCombi Pro and super easy cleaning in the iVario Pro save time. Makes 1–2 hours of extra free time per day.
Together, the iCombi Pro and iVario Pro replace approx. 90% of conventional cooking equipment. So out with the tilting pan, boiling pan and deep-fat fryer – and in with freedom of movement. Or additional shop space.
The iCombi Pro sensitively adjusts its cooking processes which reduces weight and cutting loss. Nothing burns in the iVario Pro, and nothing boils over. This results in almost no loss at all. Together, this makes up to 25 % less consumption of raw materials.
The iCombi Pro and iVario Pro are self-explanatory and can easily be operated error-free after just a brief induction even by untrained staff. Tailored to your own food concept or one created by RATIONAL, we will train you and your employees so that everything works smoothly and only desired results are produced.
For your success.
Individual training, motivated employees, satisfied customers.
In retail, anyone who is not one step ahead today will have no more customers tomorrow. It is becoming more and more important to regularly revise concepts, generate input and implement new ideas. This applies both to market design and to lunch or the snack in between. This is precisely why RATIONAL is there for you. With know-how. With the necessary expertise. With many new ideas. With the flexible cooking systems. Always on the basis of what has already been created together.
What does the future bring?
A whole lot of new ideas and concepts, so that you can continue keeping your customers happy.
Networking is also progressing in the supermarket: Cash register system, merchandise management, HR planning it all runs digitally, and it is all synchronised. Just like ConnectedCooking by RATIONAL. Recipe transfer, unit control, hygiene data, software updates and service remote access with the secure networking solution you can control everything from your desk. For all connected units. In all branches. You can also access and save HACCP data from all units. Do you have a new menu? They can also travel to the branches at a click. All you need is a PC, smartphone or tablet. Standardisation does not get easier than that.
ConnectedCooking
Powerful networking by RATIONAL. To always keep everything under control.
Enough with the theory, time for practice because nothing is more convincing than seeing for yourself. experience the RATIONAL cooking systems in use, see the intelligent functions for yourself and try it out to see how you can work with them. Live, with no obligation and at a location near you. Do you have any questions or do you want some information specific to your needs and possible applications? Then call us or send us an e-mail.
At RATIONAL, service is included. From the initial consultation, the test cook, test unit, installation to the worldwide training and automatic software updates, and ChefLine - the telephone hotline for individual questions. You can also attend training on various subjects, such as finishing, at the Academy RATIONAL. The worldwide RATIONAL service team is always close at hand in case of emergencies.
All with a single objective.
Ensuring your investment pays off in the long term, that you always get the most out of your cooking systems and that you never run out of ideas.
