Temperature monitoring for institutional catering
Care homes, nurseries, school canteens, central kitchens: KelvinTrack continuously monitors every cold unit, alerts your team at the slightest deviation, and builds each site’s HACCP history automatically. No per-sensor subscription, which matters when you count them in dozens.
More units, more sites, less room for error
By the KelvinTrack team · Updated
Institutional catering covers the production and distribution of meals to a captive clientele: healthcare facilities and care homes, nurseries, schools and canteens, staff restaurants and public administrations. EU Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 requires control of the cold chain without prescribing a recording method, and institutional catering adds its own demands: hot or cold meal delivery, rapid cooling after cooking, retention of sample portions, and traceability between a central kitchen and its satellite sites. KelvinTrack places a connected sensor (accuracy up to ±0.05 °C) in each unit and centralises every site in one interface.
An institutional kitchen does not differ from a restaurant in the rules it follows, but in scale and in who it feeds. Where a restaurant watches a handful of units, a central kitchen lines up dozens across storage cold rooms, blast chillers, prep cabinets and satellite service points. Multiplying manual readings by that number is a way of guaranteeing they get missed.
The clientele changes the stakes too. Care home residents, young children in nurseries, hospital patients: these are people more vulnerable to foodborne illness, who did not choose where they eat. An undetected overnight drift does not carry the same consequences here as elsewhere.
KelvinTrack measures every unit continuously, however many sites there are, and alerts the relevant team before stock is lost. The history is time-stamped, centralised, and ready to present at an inspection.
What KelvinTrack brings to an institutional kitchen
Every site in one place
Central kitchen and satellite service points report into a single interface, with per-user permissions and a per-site view.
Automatic 24/7 readings
Every unit is measured continuously, including weekends and school holidays, when nobody is in the kitchen.
Alerts the right team
Immediate notification by email, SMS or mobile alert as soon as a temperature leaves the range set for that unit.
HACCP history per site
The full history is archived and exportable site by site: present the records for the site being inspected without sorting through a shared binder.
Fewer losses on large volumes
On a central kitchen cold room, a drift caught early avoids a loss out of all proportion to the cost of monitoring it.
Time-stamped proof
Every measurement is time-stamped, protecting both the site and the operator in the event of a dispute.
Built for facilities serving a captive clientele
Care homes & healthcare facilities
Cold rooms, service pantries and diet-specific units, for a particularly vulnerable clientele.
Nurseries & early years
Storage of infant preparations and milk, with heightened traceability requirements.
School canteens & central kitchens
Volume production and cold delivery to satellite sites, with tracking at each service point.
Staff restaurants & public administrations
Self-service counters, serving islands and refrigerated displays, across very short service peaks.
How it works
- 1
We map the units
Every cold room, cabinet, blast chiller and display case gets a wireless sensor. No construction work: the sensor sits inside your existing equipment.
- 2
You set thresholds per unit
Storage, preparation, cold delivery: each unit has its own range, the one written into your food safety plan.
- 3
Sites report together
Central kitchen and satellites feed the same interface. Each manager sees their scope, the operator sees everything.
- 4
You get alerted and you archive
On any deviation the alert goes out immediately. The history stays viewable and exportable, by site and by period.
Hardware & pricing
The KelvinTag sensor is a one-time purchase. To relay its readings, an Android 12 or newer phone left on site with the free app is all it takes. No subscription.
KelvinTag
- Accuracy up to ±0.05°C
- 3-year battery
- IP68 waterproof
- 3-year warranty
Relay: an Android phone
Left on site, plugged in, within range of the sensors, with the free KelvinTrack app on Google Play.
- Android 12 or newer
- WiFi or mobile data
- At least 7 sensors per phone
- No subscription
If the relay loses internet or stops
Without internet, readings are kept on the phone and upload once the connection returns, but no alert leaves the site in the meantime. If the phone stops, the sensors keep recording; the dashboard shows them as offline after 4 hours, with no email, SMS or push notification about the relay. A dedicated 5G gateway (Poliponet) is in preparation; it cannot be ordered yet.
Trial for large deployments
For a large deployment we look at a trial case by case. Write to us describing your site and how many units you need to monitor.
Ask us about a trialExample: a site with 5 units
Hardware : 5 × €97.99 = €489.96 incl. VAT (one-time) · Connection : 0€/month with a phone
Order now, shipping from the end of October
Deliveries start at the end of October 2026. Not decided yet? Leave your address and we will write once, when shipping begins.
Order the KelvinTag sensorFrequently asked questions
Can several facilities be tracked from one account?
Yes. A single account covers multiple sites and units, with a centralised view and per-user permissions: each site manager sees their scope, the operator sees everything.
Does monitoring cover weekends and school holidays?
Yes, and that is often when it matters most. Measurement is continuous, regardless of who is in the kitchen. A failure on a Friday night triggers an alert immediately, not when the team returns.
How do you handle many units without the budget exploding?
The sensor is bought once, with no per-sensor subscription, which is what makes monitoring viable across dozens of units. Readings go up through an Android 12 or newer phone left on site as the relay, running the free app: at least 7 sensors per phone, over WiFi or mobile data, with no subscription.
Does KelvinTrack handle rapid cooling and sample portions?
KelvinTrack monitors unit temperature, including units holding sample portions and blast chillers. The time and temperature limits applicable to those steps come from the regulations and from your own food safety plan: those are the values you set as thresholds.
What happens if the internet goes down at a site?
The site relay phone keeps the readings and sends them as soon as the connection returns; the sensors also keep recording to their own memory, so no reading is lost. However, no alert leaves that site during the outage: alerts arrive once the connection is back. The relay can use WiFi or mobile data.
Can the data be presented during a health inspection?
Yes. The time-stamped history is viewable and exportable at any time, site by site. Inspection mode also generates a read-only link, valid 24 hours and revocable, which the inspector opens without creating an account.
Can we try the solution before committing?
For a large deployment, yes: we look at a trial case by case. Write to us describing your site and how many units you need to monitor. There is no self-service trial.
Regulatory framework & references
- Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 - on the hygiene of foodstuffs; requires control of the cold chain without mandating a specific recording method.
- HACCP method - Codex Alimentarius - seven principles for controlling food safety hazards, including monitoring critical points such as cold storage and rapid cooling.
- ANSES - the French national agency for food, environmental and occupational health and safety; publishes cold-storage reference guidelines.
See also
The other documents in the food-safety file, free to download or generate.
- Temperature log sheetGenerate a blank sheet matched to your cold enclosures and their limits, ready to post in the kitchen.Open
- Food safety plan templateThe full structure of a food safety management system - hygiene practices, HACCP plan, traceability - with your enclosures pre-filled and the questions each section must answer.Open
- Food traceability registerGoods received or opened products: a blank book ready to fill in, with the columns an inspection expects (lot, use-by, temperature on arrival).Open
- Allergen matrixDishes × 14 allergens to tick, or the Annex II list to display: the written document the rules expect front of house.Open
- Cleaning and disinfection planThe area-by-area plan to fill in, plus the daily record that proves it is applied.Open
- Storage temperaturesRegulatory storage temperatures by food category: chilled, frozen, hot holding and healthcare products.Open
- Use by and best before datesWhat each date means, what may still be sold or served once it has passed, and the article of Regulation 1169/2011 that says so.Open
- The HACCP methodDefinition, the seven principles of Article 5 of Regulation 852/2004, the twelve steps, foodborne outbreaks and what training actually requires.Open
- Food hygiene inspectionWho inspects, which records you are asked for, and what can follow a visit - from a reminder of the rules to an order to close all or part of the premises.Open
- Choosing a temperature data loggerThermometer, stand-alone logger or connected sensor: what each one proves, what Regulations 37/2005 and 852/2004 require, and the seven questions to ask before buying.Open
- Cold-chain breakFridge failure, door left open, vaccine out of the fridge: what the texts say, what decides the fate of the goods, the five moves of the first hour and the signals before a breakdown.Open
- Use-by date tracking sheetWhat is in stock and its date, for the daily check: product, lot, use-by or best-before, location, exit.Open
- HACCP and cold-chain glossaryHACCP, CCP, OPRP, TIAC, use-by and best-before dates, chilled and frozen storage, cook-chill, calibration, MKT: each term defined in a few sentences, with its official source.Open
- Food inspection barometerAlim'confiance results aggregated: how France's four hygiene levels are distributed by type of establishment, reason for inspection, region and département, with the method and its limits.Open