A catering business lives or dies by getting food from the kitchen to the venue in perfect condition. A refrigerated van makes that reliable, whatever the weather and the traffic. Here’s how to choose the right one.
Size
Work out what a typical busy job looks like: how many trays, boxes and drinks, and how you load them. A larger van carries more but is harder to park at venues with tight access; a smaller one is easier to handle but may mean two trips. Size it for the work you have now, not the work you hope to have in three years. See what size fridge van do you need?
Temperature
Most catering needs a chiller, holding 0 to 5°C. Chilled food must by law be kept at 8°C or below in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Food Standards Agency recommends 5°C or below. If you carry frozen products as well, you need a freezer or a van with two compartments. See chiller van or freezer van?
Layout: one compartment or two?
A fixed or moveable bulkhead splits the load space in two, so you can carry chilled and frozen food together, or chilled ingredients and ambient equipment, or keep products apart to avoid contamination. A moveable bulkhead lets you change the split from job to job.
Shelving and loading
Shelving, fixed or folding, can be designed into the conversion so trays aren’t stacked on each other and nothing slides about. Curtains across the doors hold the cold in when you’re in and out at a venue, and a load lock system with restraint poles stops the load moving in transit. See our accessories.
Power at the venue
The standard fridge unit runs while the engine runs. If the van will be parked for hours at an event, or loaded the night before, electric standby lets the fridge run from a mains supply with the engine off. It has to be specified when the van is built; it can’t be added later. See do you need electric standby?
Reliability
A breakdown on the way to a wedding is the catering nightmare. Keep the van and the fridge unit serviced on schedule, and have a plan for a backup van. Our used fridge vans are checked by our own engineers and come with a warranty on the van plus 12 or 24 months on the fridge unit; new vans come with the manufacturer’s warranty.
New, used or finance
New vans come as cancelled factory orders, or built to your spec. Used vans are converted and checked by our engineers before delivery. Finance is available for business customers from a £500 +VAT deposit, subject to status. See new or used? and finance.
See our catering delivery vans and every fridge van in stock, read why you need a refrigerated van for events, or call us on 01444 245555 and tell us how you work.
