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Buying Guide
For Schools and Education Catering
Choosing commercial refrigeration for education catering
Running a kitchen in a school, academy or college comes with its own set of demands. Meals need to be prepared safely, often to a tight schedule, while budgets need to stretch as far as possible.
Refrigeration plays an important part in keeping food safe and kitchens running smoothly, so choosing the right equipment is essential.
Understanding your kitchen’s needs
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to refrigeration in education catering. A primary school serving lunch to 100 pupils or less will have very different requirements from a secondary school with over a thousand hungry students to feed. The needs of a college kitchen can also depend on the size and type of catering service they provide, too.
Start by looking at how your kitchen operates day to day. Consider how many meals you prepare, how often deliveries arrive and how much chilled food needs to be stored between deliveries. Your menu can also make a difference. Fresh ingredients, dairy products, prepared dishes and other chilled foods all need appropriate storage.
The size and layout of the kitchen matter, too. Not only do you need to look at the area available for the equipment, but you also need to think about how staff move around the kitchen. KORE by Foster Gamko includes 1-door and 2-door fridge and freezer cabinets, as well as 2/3 door counter fridges, giving catering teams options to consider depending on their available space and storage requirements.
The 1955mm height of the cabinets within the KORE by Foster Gamko range can also help where getting equipment into the kitchen is a consideration. Checking doorways and access routes before ordering can prevent an unpleasant surprise on delivery day plus prevent unnecessary disruption to service.
Food safety and temperature control
Safe, chilled storage is essential for any education catering operation. The Food Standards Agency recommends setting fridges at 5°C or below, helping to ensure chilled food stays within the legal maximum temperature of 8°C in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Temperature checks and appropriate records should also form part of your food safety procedures.
Refrigeration needs to work alongside your HACCP procedures and existing temperature monitoring processes. Staff should be able to use the equipment confidently and carry out routine checks without adding unnecessary complexity to a busy kitchen.
KORE by Foster Gamko cabinet models feature self-closing doors, helping to minimise the time the door is left open and reducing unnecessary loss of cold air. This can support more consistent temperature control during a busy service.
Consider the cost beyond the purchase price
The Department for Education highlights equipment, utility and maintenance costs as considerations when planning school catering provision, so naturally it will be a big factor when choosing your refrigeration. However, it’s worth considering what the refrigeration will cost to operate over its working life too.
Energy efficiency can have an impact on ongoing running costs, particularly for equipment that operates throughout the working day. KORE by Foster Gamko has been developed with improved energy performance, with the range achieving energy grades from B to D depending on the model and temperature application.
The range has also been designed to offer a more practical price point, making it worth considering for education catering operations where budgets need to be carefully managed without overlooking the overall quality and specification of the equipment.
Getting the purchasing process right
Schools, academies and colleges will have their own procurement processes, which may include approved frameworks and suppliers.
Whoever is involved in the buying process needs to have an understanding what the kitchen actually needs before equipment is chosen.
Capacity, available space, energy performance, usability and budget can all help shape the specification.
We have some questions that you can ask to help you reach your decision.
What does your kitchen actually need?
Start with the demands of your kitchen rather than choosing a fridge based on capacity alone. Consider what needs to be kept chilled or frozen, how much storage is required and where that storage needs to be located.
You may need a combination of upright cabinets, undercounter refrigeration or counter refrigeration depending on your kitchen layout and the way food is prepared and stored.
How much storage do we need?
Consider meal volumes, delivery schedules and the ingredients you regularly keep chilled or frozen.
This will help you work out how much capacity you need without taking up more valuable kitchen space than necessary.
Where will it go?
Measure the available space and think practically about where high traffic areas are in the kitchen.
Be sure to also check the route into the kitchen, including doorways and access points to ensure it’ll fit.
What will it cost to run?
Consider both the initial cost of the equipment and the cost of running it over time. Energy performance can have a significant impact on ongoing running costs, particularly for refrigeration that operates throughout the day.
Looking at both gives you a clearer picture of what your refrigeration could cost over its working life.
The right refrigeration for your school
Choosing refrigeration for education catering is about finding the right balance between what the kitchen needs and what the budget allows. KORE by Foster Gamko provides a range of cabinet and counter refrigeration designed to meet those everyday requirements, with improved energy performance and useful yet innovative features at a more practical price point.