General
Why Your Small Food Business Should Invest In High-Quality Refrigeration Equipment
Starting a restaurant business is not an easy task. From sorting out the supply chain to refining your menu list, there are a lot of moving parts that you have to be on top of as the head of the business.
One crucial aspect of operating a successful food business is high-quality refrigeration equipment. No restaurant, cafe, or casual diner can operate without a reliable refrigeration system. This asset plays a crucial role in ensuring that perishable goods and ingredients stay fresh and bacteria-free.
Furthermore, there are plenty of different refrigeration units that you can utilise in a variety of ways. From compact under-bench fridges to food display cabinets, refrigeration goes just beyond keeping food and ingredients cold. It can be an amenity to improve the customer experience itself.
With the plethora of refrigeration systems out there, you may feel a little more than overwhelmed when deciding the best one for your food business. Regardless, having one is critical for your business’s survival, and choosing the best and highest-quality fridge unit of the bunch can be pivotal in ensuring your business’s success.
Still not convinced? Well, read on. Let’s explore seven reasons why your small food business should invest in high-quality refrigeration equipment.
- It Keeps Your Food and Ingredients Fresh
Every food business that’s worth its weight in salt has one goal: to serve delicious and high-quality food to its paying customers.
If your ingredients are spoiled or otherwise unpalatable, this can lead to unappetising and potentially unsafe dishes. This is because leaving ingredients in lukewarm temperatures can accelerate bacterial growth.
In the worst-case scenario, you could inadvertently be serving food that’s gone bad to your customers. This not only increases the risk of them spreading the bad word of your business, but it can also cause the people you’re feeding health problems—and a possible lawsuit on your end.
The solution? A high-quality refrigeration unit can produce constant cooling in a controlled environment, helping maintain optimal freshness of the foods, drinks, and ingredients within the refrigerator.
Food safety is something that’s not only important for keeping customers close, but it’s also a closely regulated requirement in the Australian food industry.
As such, be sure to prioritise this facet in your foot business and invest in high-quality refrigeration equipment from reputable brands like Bromic Refrigeration.
- It’s More Energy Efficient
The food industry is known for having razor-thin profit margins, and cutting overhead costs is something that every entrepreneur should consider if they want to ensure its success.
One way of doing so is by investing a bit more capital upfront for an energy-efficient refrigeration unit.
Some old appliances can run up the electricity bill due to having less modern technology and outdated refrigerants. These appliances also tend to release more greenhouse gas emissions compared to more modern, high-quality models.
An alternative is thankfully available thanks to innovation and new technology. Nowadays, you can invest in high-quality refrigeration with better insulation systems, smart temperature control, and eco-friendly refrigerants.
These features not only help the environment breathe a little more easily, but also reduce your utility costs per month. While quality fridges cost more upfront, over time, the reduced energy consumption can make them a more valuable addition to your kitchen and restaurant business.
- It Reduces Food Waste
Many food items like meats, sauces, and produce spoil and rot after a certain amount of time. Spoiled food is often thrown away and left unused. This essentially translates to unnecessary costs.
If your business wastes a lot of food, this can eat into your bottom line and reduce your profit potential. With profits in the food industry being thin as is, this is something you should urgently address for your business’s survival.
An increase in food waste production in your business can be caused by several factors. One likely source is a bad or faulty refrigeration unit.
If food is left in suboptimal conditions—like a refrigeration unit that lacks insulation or doesn’t reach a low enough temperature threshold—this can accelerate spoilage and lead to inedible ingredients.
As a business owner, you need to avoid binning your food and instead focus on using as much of your inventory as possible. This isn’t only for improving your bottom line, but it’s also an ethical responsibility on your part.
A high-quality refrigeration unit can be your business’s saving grace, in this scenario. This is because they’re designed with durability in mind, helping ensure that whatever’s contained within its walls is safe, fresh, and properly cooled.
- It Enhances Kitchen Workflow
Another perk of a high-quality refrigeration unit is its ability to make your operations more efficient.
Your kitchen’s layout plays a major role in influencing how long it takes for ordered food to end up on your customer’s plate. If it’s poorly designed, you could create an environment where your staff will bump, crowd, or get in each other’s way.
Creating an environment with an optimised kitchen workflow can reduce the aforementioned instances and promote efficiency in the kitchen. One way of promoting such an environment is by investing in the right appliances to minimise disruptions—like a well-situated refrigeration unit.
Some items in a restaurant, like bottled drinks, are often best displayed near the front of the restaurant where customers can choose and make the selection on their own.
If your restaurant gets busy, putting up a high-quality display refrigerator on your counter can be an excellent way to increase your bottom line without disrupting kitchen operations. It also ensures a high standard of cleanliness for these items, as they’re less likely to be contaminated by uncooked ingredients from the kitchen.
- It Improves Customer Satisfaction
Another perk of a refrigeration unit is its ability to improve customer satisfaction.
High-quality refrigeration allows you to keep ingredients at their optimal temperature more reliably. This can enhance the texture and flavour of dishes, making them more palatable to your customers.
A bad-quality fridge, on the other hand, can increase the risk of your customers getting bacterial infections, soggy salads, and warm beverages. The former can lead to expensive lawsuits, while the latter two can lead to relentless lambasting on social media and review websites.
With a good refrigeration unit, food quality consistency can be assured. This can satisfy customers and keep them loyal to your company. It can also make them more likely to reach out to others and spread the good word about it.
As restaurants need loyal customers to keep on dining for their survival, ensuring that you have the best appliance is one way of achieving that guarantee. So don’t skip out on it if you’re serious about making your food business grow sustainable over the long term.
- It Has a Longer Lifetime Value
Over time, appliances get worn out and beaten up due to constant use. This is especially true for refrigeration units, as they’re constantly operational 24/7.
Naturally, old refrigeration units of substandard quality tend to clock out at an earlier rate than higher-grade refrigerators. This means you’ll have to replace it every 10 to 12 years, and put it in maintenance several times before its expected expiry. This is due to a combination of factors like cheaper material, thinner seals, less robust compressors, and so on.
If you don’t want to turn over your refrigerator equipment at such a rapid rate, investing in a higher-quality refrigeration unit is the best move to make. Since these appliances are built with sturdier materials, you can squeeze up to 25 years with this fridge type.
If you’re in it for the long haul, this reason alone may be enough to convince you of the benefits of opting for the higher-quality option.
- It Can Entice More Sales
At the end of the day, food entrepreneurs are in the business for the profit potential. And if you want to invest in an asset that can give you some returns, getting a high-quality fridge has the potential to expand your food business’s offerings.
For example, if you’re serving meat dishes without a complimentary beverage, you’re leaving money out of the table. If you want to sell beverages like soft drinks on top of your usual dishes, you can do so by putting a display fridge stocked with these drinks.
Your appliance not only keeps your food and inventory fresh, but it can also attract customers to buy your food. The visual appeal of pastries and baked goodies in food display cabinets, for instance, can entice customers to make impulsive purchasing decisions. This might have never occurred to them if the pastry was tucked behind a hidden fridge at the back!
A high-quality refrigeration unit can help generate sales for your company, which in turn can help your business establishment continue to serve its customers for years to come.
