If you own a thriving business that serves food and drinks to customers, you probably already know that a commercial fridge can become your best asset. This is because a restaurant, café, bar, or shop needs the right commercial refrigerator to store all your food, milk, beers, and other drinks.
Commercial kitchens have different food and beverage demands. You need the right commercial refrigerator to help turn over lots of meals in a short time.
To run your business, you may even need to look at multiple commercial fridges for sale to meet all your supply and storage requirements. Here are the top 7 things to consider when buying a commercial fridge to find the best deal to please your customers.
1. Commercial Fridge Capacity
When you set up your restaurant or café, your commercial fridge needs to meet the right requirements to fit your kitchen. This is when having the right capacity becomes the most important thing to consider.
You need to have plenty of space to store all the produce and vegetables you need to keep up with demanding restaurant service. Otherwise, you risk being unable to cope with high demand if you run out of fresh ingredients and must turn diners away before the end of your service.
If you have too much commercial refrigerator space, this is also not ideal. You may struggle with higher running costs. An inefficient refrigerator that cannot hold the capacity that your business needs is not worth your investment.
It is always best to think about who will be using the fridge daily at your restaurant or shop. If your kitchen staff are in charge, check in with them and determine whether they can access and reach all the goods without any problems.
This way, you never have to worry about service speeds slowing down and customers waiting a long time for their food if you have refrigeration problems or do not have the right commercial kitchen equipment to handle the constant flow of diners throughout the day.
2. Organizational Design
When you have decided on the size and capacity of your commercial refrigerator, you need to next think about how to use the appliance. For example, do you need your freezers built inside or a stand-alone model?
This is a decision most business owners need to make, especially if they have little space in their kitchen. Then you should spare a thought on whether you want a fridge with a glass door so you can always see your goods.
This becomes an essential feature if you want to always see how much stock and supplies you have left to plan deliveries early. In a small café, your fridge can also face the customer if you want people to see any delicious cakes you bake and store for sale.
It is best to go for a stainless-steel commercial refrigerator because it exudes an elegant brand and looks great if you run an open kitchen and want to communicate your business values to diners.
3. Defrost Settings
Most commercial fridges for sale should have an automatic defrost system. This is because too much ice build-up in a commercial fridge can cause it to perform poorly.
This inefficiency can lower your refrigerator’s quality and lifespan. Automatic defrosting is an essential feature because it spares you from removing ice manually. You can program your defroster to kickstart.
Then you will not need to remove all your goods to ice coolers to melt ice build-up by turning off the fridge.
4. Energy Efficiency
Energy-efficient commercial kitchen equipment is necessary if you want to save money by spending less on utility bills. This is beneficial if you are going to use your commercial fridge for many years.
It is worth spending a little extra on an energy-efficient unit to lower your running costs over time.
Then you should think about your unit’s efficiency and quality of insulation. It is best to have polyurethane foam because it provides the best insulation thanks to its low thermal conductivity and high compression power.
Then your food and drinks will always stay colder for much longer in the fridge as you successfully use less energy.
5. Climate Rating
Your fridge should always be matched to your immediate climate conditions. This is necessary to keep your goods consistently cool and stocked. Climate class ratings are the best way to ensure you run a smooth operation without dealing with rotten ingredients.
If your commercial fridge is in a café where everyone can walk past it on the main floor, your class rating should be adjusted. However, a tropical class rating is better in a busy kitchen because temperatures in that environment are much higher.
6. Automatic Doors
Your commercial refrigerator should have self-closing automatic doors. This is necessary if you keep fridges at a convenient store or café where customers can open the doors to take products themselves.
You want to ensure that the fridge doors close immediately after a customer has taken something. Otherwise, someone may forget to close the door, and all your products inside can spoil.
7. Commercial Refrigeration Variety
If you are shopping for commercial fridges for sale, it is best to look for companies that offer various options. Check to see if the seller has different models like pizza prep fridges, sushi display fridges, commercial wine fridges, and others in stock.
This shows that they have the most experience to help you find the best commercial fridge to fulfill your business goals. Here is an established supplier with the best types of commercial fridges that you can browse now.
Get the Best Commercial Fridge
Buying a commercial fridge requires planning and careful thought. You want to get the best unit that can keep your products safe and securely stored.
However, you may also have a sushi bar or coffee shop where you want a unique fridge design to be a centerpiece in front of customers to show off your baked goods.
It is also beneficial to invest in an energy-efficient unit to save on utility bills. If you enjoyed reading this refrigeration guide, check out some of our other posts for more information.
