How to Choose a Commercial Food Display for Your Cafe

Hot Food Displays: When You Need to Hold and Serve

The main purpose of hot food displays is to keep cooked foods at serving temperature, typically around 60°C or above. They’re perfect for preparing food ahead of time, while keeping it hot for quick service, cutting down queues during the lunch and smoke rushes.

Hot commercial food displays are what you’ll normally see at the front of bakeries, takeaway shops, service stations, school canteens and cafés with grab-and-go lunch options. Depending on the type of display, they can keep pies, sausage rolls, pastries, fried items, grilled foods, breakfast wraps, hot sandwiches and other hot treats deliciously warm and ready to serve. Customers can even self-serve for convenience too if you have the setup.

Heated Air Versus Humidity Hot Food Displays

Limp chips and soggy fried foods are not something you want to be serving to your customers. But you also don’t want dried out pastry either. Humidity control is just as important when you’re shopping for hot food displays as the temperature they keep.

What you’ll find is that some hot displays use heated air, some use humidity and others combine both. Which you need will depend on what you plan on storing. For foods you need to keep crisp, like pastry, you’ll want less humidity, while some may benefit from it to stop them from drying out. Choose accordingly.

Cold Food Displays: For Fresh, Chilled, and Perishable Items

Cold food displays are made specifically for products that need to stay chilled. They lock in the temperature at 5°C or below, with most units operating between 0°C and 5°C, keeping everything on display, but also safe to eat too.

Almost anything that needs to be kept chilled can be stored in a cold food display. You’ll commonly see them used to display sushi, sandwiches, salads, fresh wraps, fruit cups, dairy-based desserts, cold meats, drinks and freshly prepared meals. Customers can grab and go, or staff can quickly serve up orders even during peak times.

Open-Front or Glass-Door Cold Food Displays?

There are quite a few options for cold food displays. One of the most popular are open-front cabinets and fridges, which make it quick and easy for customers to grab items quickly and go. They’re what many takeaway shops, convenience-style cafés and self-service areas.

Most operators also look at glass-door displays. One on hand, they do hold temperature well as the chilled air is trapped more effectively. But the trade-off is people are less likely to impulse buy than with open cabinets. So, choose based on your needs.

Cake and Ambient Displays: Showcasing Without Temperature Control

It isn’t always a case of hot food display versus cold food display. For cakes and stable-temperature foods, it’s often more about being able to see the items and making them easy to reach. This is what cake display cabinets are designed for.

Ambient displays, like cake cabinets, work best for those low-risk foods that are dry, packaged, shelf-stable or sold quickly, like muffins, cookies, croissants and wrapped bakery items. The aim isn’t keeping food safe, but to make them look their most tempting, selling more products.

Sizing and Countertop Space

Most cafés don’t have endless counter space. So, a café food display needs to both fit into the service area, keep food the ideal temperature and not look too crowded or awkward.

When you’re looking at commercial food displays, make sure you consider:

• Shelves and trays versus gastronorm pan capacity, making sure the display can hold enough stock for your busiest service periods without looking overcrowded.
• External dimensions, including the full width, depth and height, not just the internal display space.
• Bench depth and clearance as some units need extra room for ventilation, doors, cleaning access or staff movement.

Displays should also not block visibility of staff and customers while engaging with one another. For example, you want to make sure food and drink collection areas and payment spaces are kept clear to prevent confusion or bottlenecks.

Food Safety Compliance

Remember, commercial food displays are much part of your food safety system as they are your visual fit-out. Hot displays must hold food at 60°C or above, while cold displays must hold food at 5°C or below, no questions asked.

Temperature logging is also required under Australian Food Safety regulations. The right display can make this easier, helping your team maintain consistent temperatures throughout service. It can also lower the risk of your team needing to constantly move products in and out of storage during busy periods. It’s as much about supporting your workflow as it is protecting your products.

Shop Food Displays at AGC Equipment

Display your food while keeping it at the right temperature. Browse AGC Equipment’s range of commercial food displays to find the right options for your food business.