--- title: "Sandwich Shop Closing Checklist" canonical: "https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/sandwich-shop-closing-checklist/" --- > Source: https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/sandwich-shop-closing-checklist/ [Checklists](/checklists/) / [Sandwich Shop & Deli](/checklists/sandwiches-delis/) / Closing, Waste & Overnight Cold Chain # Sandwich Shop & Deli Closing Checklist Closing a Sandwich Shop & Deli is three jobs: **capture the numbers, break the line down properly, and keep food cold (cold chain) overnight**. These 8 checks cover the unsold and sell-out log with reason codes, the full break-down clean of slicers, boards, drains and the floor beneath the line, dating and covering every open ready-to-eat (RTE) pack, and the closing temperature log. Overnight is when listeria establishes itself - in one deli study 12 of 30 sites showed the same subtypes returning month after month. [Run this checklist - free](/run/sandwiches-delis/?list=closing) [Download PDF](/checklists/pdf/peakscale-sandwiches-delis-checklists.pdf)[Download Excel](/checklists/excel/peakscale-sandwiches-delis-checklists.xlsx) The checklist · 9 checks ### Record the numbers **1\. Enter today's unsold and sell-out figures into the log before you leave** Tomorrow's prep sheet and next week's order both come from this number. Do it every night, without fail. **2\. Record every discard with its reason: out of date, out of temperature, damaged, unsold** Reason codes tell you whether the problem is over-prepping or a failing fridge. The fixes for those are completely different. **3\. Note every filling that sold out and the time it went** Sell-out times give you next week's stock targets (par levels) for free. ### Take the line apart **4\. Take apart and fully clean the slicers, boards, wells, drip trays, drains and the floor under the line** Overnight is when listeria can settle in and stay. In one study, the same strains kept coming back month after month in nearly half the delis tested. **5\. Cover, date and combine all open ready-to-eat product. Nothing goes back into storage unlabelled** An unlabelled tub at close is an undated tub at open, and an automatic discard in the morning. **6\. Check that raw meat sits below and separate from ready-to-eat food in every fridge before you lock the doors** Overnight is the longest stretch of time a drip has to reach ready-to-eat stock. ### Protect the cold chain overnight **7\. Record the closing temperature on every unit. Fridges stay ON, doors shut, nothing overfilled** A unit whose temperature rises overnight can cost you the whole cold line in the morning, not just one pan. **8\. Reorder anything below your stock target (par) before the supplier's cut-off time** Missing the cut-off is a morning stockout on your best-selling filling - the most avoidable lost sale there is. ### Hygiene & safety **9\. Look for pest signs, such as droppings or gnaw marks, around the prep area before you lock up.** You catch a pest problem sooner if you check every night, not just once a week. ## Frequently asked questions **What needs cleaning at close in a deli?** A full break-down clean of every slicer, plus boards, tongs, wells, drip trays, drains and the floor under the line. The FDA found 62.5% of deli departments out of compliance for contaminated equipment, and environmental sampling found most listeria-positive deli samples came from surfaces that do not touch food, such as floors, drains and squeegees. Overnight is the longest uninterrupted window listeria gets to hide and grow, which is why the close is the deep clean, not a wipe. **Why log waste at close rather than weekly?** Because the reason code is what tells you which problem you have, and nobody remembers reasons a week later. Logging every discard as out of date, out of temperature, damaged or unsold separates an over-prepping problem from a failing fridge - completely different fixes. Sites that measured and acted on kitchen food waste cut it by 26% on average in the first year across 114 restaurants in 12 countries. **Should deli fridges be turned off overnight?** No. Fridges stay on, doors shut and nothing over-filled, holding 0–5°C (32–41°F), with a closing temperature logged for every unit. CDC's deli work found 1 in 6 delis running a refrigerator that was too warm, and Listeria colony growth roughly doubled between 4°C (39°F) and 8°C (46°F) in a model food system. Any product found held above 8°C (46°F) in the morning is a do-not-sell, so a unit that drifts overnight costs you the whole cold line rather than one pan. ## More Sandwich Shop & Deli checklists [Goods-In & Receiving](/checklists/sandwich-shop-receiving-checklist/)[Opening & Cold Line Set-Up](/checklists/sandwich-shop-opening-checklist/)[Slicer, Boards & Cross-Contact](/checklists/deli-slicer-cleaning-checklist/)[Date Marking, Rotation & Shelf Life](/checklists/deli-date-marking-checklist/)[Time-of-Day Production & Grab-and-Go](/checklists/sandwich-prep-production-checklist/)[Weekly Checks](/checklists/sandwich-shop-weekly-checklist/) One free app has all of them: [open the Sandwich Shop & Deli Checklists app](/run/sandwiches-delis/) - offline, no account, add it to your home screen. ## Sources Every statistic on this page comes from public inspection and food-safety data: - [FDA Retail Delis 2015–2016](https://www.fda.gov/media/148247/download?attachment) - [CDC EHS-Net, Retail Delis practice summaries](https://www.cdc.gov/restaurant-food-safety/php/practices/retail-delis.html) - [CIDRAP report on FDA risk factor study](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/foodborne-disease/disease-hazards-common-food-operations-fda-says) - [FDA Trend Analysis Report](https://www.fda.gov/media/157225/download) - [FDA Food Code 3-501.17, Date Marking](https://www.fda.gov/media/127796/download) - [CDC MMWR, Retail Deli Slicer Cleaning Frequency](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6512a2.htm) - [FDA/FSIS Comparative Risk Assessment, Lm in RTE Deli Meats](https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/2020-07/Comparative_RA_Lm_Exec_Summ_May2010.pdf) - [FSAI, Microbiological Safety of Pre-Packaged Sandwiches](https://www.fsai.ie/getmedia/efcf5ec9-2b81-45dc-835c-7a28a2887f16/prepackaged_sandwiches.aspx?ext=.pdf) - [Champions 12.3, The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Restaurants](https://champions123.org/publication/business-case-reducing-food-loss-and-waste-restaurants) - [ReFED Fact Sheet: Food Waste by Sector - Retail](https://refed.org/uploads/by-sector-retail.pdf) - [Harrison, Peters & Fielding, J Appl Microbiol 2000](https://agris.fao.org/search/en/records/65dfa7130f3e94b9e5daeb5e) - [Purdue University release on Simmons/Oliver retail deli Listeria studies](https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/archive/releases/2015/Q1/study-listeria-pathogen-is-prevalent,-persistent-in-retail-delis.html) - [Chilled Food Association, The 10 Day Rule for Shelf Life](https://www.chilledfood.org/the-10-day-rule-for-shelf-life/) - [CDC Vital Signs: Preventing Norovirus Outbreaks](https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/norovirus/) - [Hong Kong CFS, Microbiological Quality of Higher Risk Buns and Sandwiches](https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fm_01_18.html) - [EFSA/ECDC EU One Health 2024 Zoonoses Report](https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/plain-language-summary/european-union-one-health-2024-zoonoses-report) - [Bartsch et al., Public Health Reports 2018, via Johns Hopkins BSPH](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2018/a-foodborne-illness-outbreak-could-cost-a-restaurant-millions-study-suggests) - [IGA, 4 Ways To Reduce Deli Shrink](https://www.iga.com/insights/4-ways-to-reduce-deli-shrink)