Proper management and storage of cooking oils, including fryer oil, waste grease, and meat fats, can improve restaurant safety and environmental conditions. And today, the sale of this waste oil is a booming industry, feeding biofuel production. These same opportunities await grab-and-go foodservice in the traditional supermarket. But equipment managers have found a need for greater flexibility from their oil collection equipment partners, since store layouts vary dramatically

“And that’s where Frontline International has helped us to improve our existing processes,” says Daniel Donovan, a Giant Eagle spokesperson.

Giant Eagle, a food, fuel, and pharmacy retailer with more than 400 locations across four states, was in search of a comprehensive, safe, and efficient way to deal with waste cooking oil in its in-store food preparation areas. In addition to seeking a solution for their full-service supermarkets, the company also wanted cooking oil management solutions for its 195 GetGo fuel stations and convenience stores. Giant Eagle produces many prepared foods for customers to easily pick up and take home, including ready-to-eat fried chicken, chicken tenders, and chicken wings, which are made using in-store fryers. After evaluating many companies and options, Giant Eagle chose Frontline International’s waste oil transport caddy and waste oil storage tanks to enhance its processes.

The Frontline caddy offers a safe and secure method of siphoning out and then easily transporting used cooking oil to a Frontline waste oil storage tank. The used oil is then securely and safely stored until picked up by a rendering company. Storage tanks can be located inside or outside a facility.

Giant Eagle selected Frontline for its waste oil collection and storage because of the company’s safety features, efficiency, and competitive pricing. In an ongoing project that spanned several years, the company’s waste oil transport caddies and storage tanks were installed in more than 300 of the company’s locations; however, there were challenges to overcome.

With many of the stores operating 24 hours a day, the installation of equipment had to be handled quickly and efficiently. With variations in store layout and design, the storage tank locations in each store were different. Then, workers had to minimize the operational downtime of food preparation areas and fryers during the installation of the new equipment, as downtime negatively affects the customer experience and food availability. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the new equipment had to be in compliance with all rules and regulations regarding waste oil containment.

“Meeting inspector compliance requirements for used oil containment was of crucial importance to us,” Donovan says. “This has been one of the most noteworthy benefits of installing Frontline’s equipment in our stores—that the Frontline equipment is compliant with all building inspection requirements for waste oil transport and storage.

Put simply, Giant Eagle needed process improvements for its waste oil collection and storage solutions, and Frontline’s waste oil caddy and storage tanks have delivered. As an added bonus, the new equipment and oil collection system help support Giant Eagle’s sustainability efforts in recycling used oil via its rendering partners.

Choosing the Frontline waste oil transport caddy and installing its storage tanks was the right solution for Giant Eagle. “We’re very pleased with the results and efficiencies the new equipment has created,” Donovan says. “We continue to evaluate additional stores to potentially broaden installation of Frontline’s equipment across the company.”

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