You’re about to embark on a journey that will take you from your home’s kitchen to the forecastle of an ocean liner, if not sooner. So before we begin, let’s talk about what you’ll need to remember while shopping for restaurant catering equipment. First and foremost, trust in your gut. It’ll never steer you wrong unless it’s been beaten into submission into thinking it’s wrong.
This blog will discuss what you should keep in mind while buying restaurant catering equipment.
Table of Contents
1- Budget:
You should always have a budget in mind when you’re about to buy any equipment for your business. But before you do, make sure that you know how much profit you want from your catering business.
If it is a small catering business, buying commercial-size cooking equipment will be more cumbersome and expensive than buying the same cooking equipment in smaller sizes. So before buying any restaurant catering equipment, always keep knowing about your profit margin.
2- Type of Food you Serve:
You should always note the type of food you serve in your catering business. The food you serve will determine the type of equipment and material you’ll need to buy.
For example, if you serve mostly pizza, buying a wood fire oven would be a good idea because wood fire ovens are more suitable for baking pizza.
If you’re serving a lot of menu changes and you’re not sure about the equipment that would suit your business, then always ask your colleagues who work in restaurants for their recommendations.
But if you don’t know any of your colleagues, this question would be a good start to get some information from fellow caterers.
3- Cost of Food Waste:
Whenever you buy new or existing equipment at your restaurant, always note how much food waste it generates daily. It will help you make a budget for buying equipment that would handle the amount of food waste your business generates daily.
Also, this would help you to know how much money you’ll need to save to make your restaurant fully automated. This food waste cost will help you decide what kind of equipment would work best in your business.
4- Outdoor and indoor temperature:
All the machines and equipment in your catering business serve one purpose; they are supposed to cook, boil and fry the food. So, they should always be able to operate at a specific temperature and the temperature at which it can work the best.
So always make sure that you get the type and size of equipment that can operate in your business’ current temperature range.
6- Catering Equipment Supplier:
You should always choose a good manufacturer and a supplier of restaurant catering equipment. A good manufacturer would ensure that your equipment is durable and lasts a long. Also, he’ll give you comprehensive information about how to use them, clean them, maintain them, etc.
A good supplier would also help you narrow down your search by helping you understand all the different brands available and their specifications, ratings, and reviews. Also, he’ll guide you in deciding which brand to buy.
7- Professional service:
To make your investment in the right equipment worth it, you should always get proper advice from a professional. A professional would help you know the value of your investments, their longevity, and how much it’ll cost you to repair them. This information would help you make the right purchase decision.
8- Availability of spare parts:
If your equipment derails or some part fails, then your supplier or manufacturer will be able to supply you with a replacement part at reasonable rates. You should always keep this in mind before buying any equipment for your catering business.
9- Building’s infrastructure:
You should always note your building’s infrastructure before buying equipment for your catering business. The reason is that; you need to make sure that the building has enough power supply and is there any room for extra power sockets.
Also, you should check out how many air conditioners or air coolers you’ll need to keep the temperature of your kitchen cool. The absence of these points will make you buy the wrong equipment and equipment that is not fully functional. So, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
10- Safety and hygiene:
When dealing with large kitchen equipment, you should always make sure that they are properly certified to ensure your safety and ensure their hygienic usage. Also, you need to check out all the safety and health guidelines while using them.
11- Location:
You should always keep note of your catering business’ location. If you have a small building in a crowded area, you may need to buy your equipment in smaller sizes than usual.
This is because buying huge cooking equipment will increase the risk of theft and would be a hassle for you to clean. So, always make sure that you get cooking equipment in smaller proportions.
If you made all these preparations and decisions before purchasing any equipment for your catering business, then it would be beneficial for you as there will be no waste of time or resources during the process.
Conclusion
After carefully analyzing all the points mentioned above, you might have finalized which type of restaurant catering equipment you would like to buy for your catering business. But, if you are still not sure about it, contact Marox to buy kitchen and bar equipment for your catering business in Dubai.
Also Read: The Ultimate Bar Equipment Checklist
