Oktoberfest: putting warewashers to the test
Oktoberfest: putting warewashers to the test
Millions of liters of beer are consumed during Munich’s two-week event, placing staggering demand on warewashing facilities. Jim Banks explores why DIHR machines are the trusted choice to keep the steins coming.
Each year, beginning in late September, Munich comes alive with Oktoberfest, a world-renowned celebration Filled with lively crowds, oversized steins and endless German beer. What began as a royal wedding celebration for Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen has since become a global phenomenon, with festivities extending to Brazil, the US, China and beyond. But Munich tops them all. Approximately 6.5 million visitors descend on the Bavarian capital during the festival, making it second in attendance only to India’s Kumbh Mela Hindu Festival. Half of these attendees will visit one of the 14 large tents or 20 smaller tents, contributing to the consumption of around seven million liters of beer over 16 days.
“The event is part of our local tradition and culture, but it is a worldwide festival now, attracting people from all over the world to astunning location,” says Hubert Hackl, owner of Hackl GmbH, which supplies most of the catering equipment for the event in Munich. “People in the tents will have between one and five beers. They’ll eat typical Bavarian dishes too – such as pork sausage and pork knuckles,” he adds, noting that chicken and vegetarian or vegan options are also now on the menu. “We supply around 80% of the catering equipment – including braising pans, holding equipment and dishwashers,” says Hackl. “One of the most important things our clients need is a solid and stable dishwasher.”
We don’t need a dishwasher designed like a Formula 1 car; we need one like a tank
Helles kitchen
Given the number of people attending the event, the quantity of dishes and glasses that need to be washed is truly staggering. The intensive use of dishwashers and glasswashers makes robust and reliable equipment essential, as the event otherwise could grind to a halt.
“The dishwasher and glasswasher need to run almost all of the time,” says Hackl. “We need to clean up to 2,000 one-liter glasses per hour, per machine, and the dishwashers need to handle around 3,000 dishes per hour. The machines run constantly throughout the day – they only get to rest between midnight and 6:00am.” In a high-intensity warewashing environment like this, certain design features are a must. Foremost of these is simplicity. Thousands of casual workers are hired for the event, so operation needs to be straightforward. “The people working these machines don’t need to be engineers or doctors,” says Hackl. “They don’t need to know German or English very well, because the operational instructions are clear and easy. There are no big displays, detailing every small fault – just simple on/off controls. We don’t need a dishwasher designed like a Formula 1 car; we need one that is like a tank.” At the same time, high standards of performance are essential.
Officials from the City of Munich monitor hygiene standards and operators need to be able to show that glasses are fresh and ready-to-use after the washing process. Given the high temperatures at which professional dishwashers normally work, this isn’t easy to achieve.
In-tents assembly
Hackl used German warewashing machines in the 1990s, but logistics became a problem. He couldn’t find a machine that combined the required capacity, durability and highperformance level with a modular easy-to-set-up design. “We had to get big machines delivered and assemble them within the tent, which took a long time and was not efficient,” he says. Setting up is a massive task. “We have six weeks to deliver and install 1,500 pieces of equipment for Oktoberfest, and warewashers are the biggest units in the tents,” he adds. “DIHR was the first supplier to have a sixmeter flight-type machine with the capacity we needed, and which could be transported on a forklift without changing the whole system.”
Hackl’s relationship with DIHR is now approaching 30 years. Cooperation between the companies has grown, underpinned by high satisfaction levels regarding both the equipment – from QX and RX potwashers to the smaller Optima and Electron undercounter machines – and the speedy response to any queries. “We listen to our clients, and we are always ready to improve,” says Giovanni Bianco, sales manager at DIHR. “The feedback we get from experts who see
the machines working on-site is valuable. We need their eyes and ears to keep improving the technology. For example, on a pre-wash module on the flight-type machines – which consist of pre-wash, wash and rinse zones – water was flowing from one tank to the other. We acted quickly to solve the problem.”
For both parties, the relationship is as important as the engineering. Without that, festival goers might find themselves going that little bit thirstier. So, come October, raise a stein to Hackl and DIHR.
DIHR has 40 years of experience in serving hotel and restaurant businesses worldwide
The company produces 20,000 units annually across 20 different product ranges
Headquartered in Castelfranco Veneto, Italy, DIHR distributes to 120 countries worldwide
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DIHR machines are engineered for continuous operation, delivering reliable results even under the most intense workloads.