10 Tips to Help You Make the Right Choice When Buying Commercial Catering Equipment

If you’re reading this article, then we are assuming that you are new to the commercial catering industry. It can be a very complex industry to get to grips with – there are many different that you will need to understand. This comes with time and experience.

Here, we are going to help you to understand one of the most important steps in securing a successful commercial kitchen: buying the correct commercial kitchen equipment. Our 10 tips will help you to make the correct decisions for your restaurant.

Tip 1: Consider Energy Input
You would be surprised how common it is for new restaurant owners to accidentally buy equipment that doesn’t suit their energy use. For example, buying an electric oven when they can make use of gas – gas ovens are superior to electric ovens, so the only reason you would choose electric over gas would ordinarily be when there is no gas supply.

Tip 2: Make Sure That It Adheres to HSE Regulations
If you are running a restaurant in the UK, we would recommend that you only ever buy from a commercial catering equipment UK supplier. If you don’t, you run the risk of buying equipment that is illegal for use in commercial kitchens in the UK, because it doesn’t adhere to HSE regulations.

Tip 3: Choose a Reputable Supplier
Tip 2 brings us nicely to tip 3: always choose a reputable supplier. The quality of commercial catering equipment UK companies varies in the UK. It’s important that you choose one with a decent reputation. This helps to ensure that you end up with the type of equipment that will work best for your restaurant. Reputable suppliers will make or break a business, regardless of industry.

Tip 4: Consider Maintenance and Cleaning Costs and Effort
Sometimes, you might buy what appears to be a bargain, only to find that the amount of maintenance and upkeep involved is extremely costly. Before you purchase any equipment, find out how much it costs to run and maintain.

Tip 5: Consider Energy Efficiency as Part of Profitability
Again, you might think that you’ve bought a bargain, only to find that the running costs are astronomical, and that the equipment costs you far more in the long run than a more expensive, but also more efficient version does. Sometimes, the more expensive pieces cost you less over the lifetime of the item.

Tip 6: Buy According to Output & Duty Levels Required
When choosing your equipment, make sure that it has the required duty. If it is going to be used frequently, it needs to be heavy-duty.

Output is also vital. You need to work out how much of a particular product in needs to produce, e.g. how much toast does your toaster need to produce in a typical hour?

Tip 7: Make Sure the Warrantee Is Appropriate
It’s important that the warrantee reflects the price. In general, the more you pay for an item in comparison to competitor equipment, the longer the warrantee should be.

Tip 8: Consider the Future Direction of the Restaurant
When choosing equipment, don’t just think about today, but think about tomorrow, too. For instance, you might want to buy a small oven today, but if your restaurant grows, will you need to replace it for a larger model? If so, it might be worth buying the larger one first.

We hope that you have found this article informative. If you would like further help and advice, then please visit our website.