New revolutionary cleaning system at Mikkeller's locations

Mikkeller has taken the lead in implementing a new sustainable cleaning system at their bars and restaurants. The system, Safe'n'Fresh, is developed by the Danish company SUBD and does both the environment and Mikkeller's employees a favor by eliminating the use of chemicals while saving lots of time and thereby money.

Serving fresh, tasty draft beer requires regular cleaning of the draft beer system. Cleaning is therefore an essential part of the daily operation of a bar or restaurant.

Until now, it has been standard procedure to use chemicals for cleaning. These chemicals are both bad for the environment, time-consuming and risky to handle. Mikkeller, in collaboration with the company SUBD (Scan Unic Beverage Disinfection), has now installed a completely environmentally friendly system, named Safe'n'Fresh. The system has so far - and with great success - been put into operation at 12 of Mikkeller's bars and restaurants in Denmark.

“This is extremely positive news for the bar and restaurant industry in general. We are very excited to have taken part in the development of the system, and the response from our employees has been overwhelmingly positive," says Mikkel Bjergsø, founder and CEO of Mikkeller.

Timothy James Innes, General Manager at Mikkeller's bar on Viktoriagade in Vesterbro, agrees: "What has impressed me the most is how simple and easy the system is. It is extremely safe and secure to use, and as a bar manager, I feel completely safe leaving it in the hands of a new employee," he says.

As an added bonus, Timothy can let the system run automatically while he performs other tasks, which therefore saves him a lot of time. Where he had to monitor the cleaning system, he can now, for example, receive goods while the system runs automatically.

Great international potential

The idea for the system arose when Finn Jegård and Kenneth Francke were developing a completely different product. The two are behind the company SUBD, which specializes in disinfection technology. In the project, they made use of a new technology which disinfected using ozonated water, that is produced where it is used. In contrast to the normal use of chemicals, ozonated water is environmentally neutral and is produced exclusively using electricity and water. It cleans effectively, and the only waste product after use is water and oxygen.

“A friend who owns a nightclub and some bars asked why we didn't try to use the technology to clean draft beer facilities. We found out that there are a number of problems with the current method that can be solved with our new system," says Kenneth Francke, CEO of SUBD. Therefore, the idea arose to ally with Mikkeller.

"Mikkeller is at the forefront of knowledge in craft beer and it was therefore obvious to reach out to them about a collaboration that made the final development and testing of the system possible. It has also given us an insight into how we can best meet the needs of future customers," he explains. SUBD has tested the system over the past two years and has so far installed it at 12 Mikkeller locations in Denmark.

SUBD, which has a patent for the system internationally, will start with sales in Denmark, but expects to continue in local markets fairly quickly, tells Kenneth Francke:"In the long term, there is a very large market potential, which we expect to exploit through many special partnerships in the beer industry."

ABOUT SAFE'N'FRESH

The advantages of the system are:* Better cleaning - improved beer taste* Automated procedures, which reduces manual labor during cleaning by 90%* Eliminates the use of chemicals* Eliminates the risk of accidentally serving beer with chemical residue* Reduces waste of beer