Quick Answer
A multideck display fridge is a tall, tiered chiller that shows packaged food and drinks on four or five shelves for customers to help themselves, usually holding –1°C to +5°C. In the UK, plug-in multidecks cost from about £2,300 to £6,000 for 70cm to 1.5m units, and £6,000 to £12,000+ for 2m to 2.5m and premium stainless models. Glass-door versions use far less electricity than open-front ones.
Caterzone supplies multideck display fridges to UK convenience stores, cafés, delis, farm shops, sandwich bars and staff canteens, and the multideck is the cabinet that turns chilled stock into impulse sales. Customers see everything at eye level, pick it up themselves and move on, which keeps queues short at lunchtime and frees staff from serving over a counter.
This guide covers open-front versus glass-door multidecks, plug-in versus remote refrigeration, sizing by width and shelf area, night blinds and security shutters, real running costs from declared energy figures, and the UK food safety rules that apply to self-service chilled display. You can browse the wider commercial refrigeration range as you read.
What is a multideck display fridge?
A multideck is an upright refrigerated display with tiered shelves stepping back from a low front, lit from above and under each shelf. Cold air is blown down the back and across the front of the shelves, so the cabinet can hold temperature even with the front open or the doors opening all day. Most have EPOS ticket strips on the shelf edges for prices and promotions.
That design is different from a glass-door merchandiser (a tall fridge with a hinged door, built mainly for drinks) and from a serve-over counter, where staff serve loose deli items across a glass screen. If your stock is pre-packed sandwiches, salads, dairy, meat packs, desserts and drinks, a multideck is usually the right tool. If you sell loose cooked meats and cheeses by weight, read our serve-over deli display fridge guide first.
Open-front or glass-door multideck: which should you buy?
Open-front multideck fridges give customers nothing to open, which helps grab-and-go sales in busy lunchtime trade. The cost is energy. With no doors, cold air spills into the shop all day, and the cabinet works much harder to replace it. Open-front units also chill the aisle in front of them, which customers and staff notice in winter.
Glass-door multidecks put self-closing doors on the front of the same tiered cabinet. The difference in electricity use is large. Tefcold publishes figures for the same Galaxy+ cabinet in both versions: the open-front Galaxy+ GP10 is declared at 10.83kWh per 24 hours, while the glass-door Galaxy+ GP10FGD is declared at 3.25kWh per 24 hours, roughly a third of the energy for the same 472 litre net volume.
As a rule, choose glass doors for long trading hours, warm shops, drinks and dairy, and any site where the electricity bill matters. Choose open front where speed of access is the top priority, such as a canteen or station kiosk with heavy peaks, and plan to pull the night blind down whenever trade is quiet.
Plug-in or remote refrigeration?
A plug-in (integral) multideck has its compressor and condenser built into the cabinet. You position it, plug it into a 13A socket (check the data plate, as some larger units need a dedicated supply), and it runs. Most cafés, delis and single-site convenience stores buy plug-in units because they need no refrigeration pipework and can be moved later. The Tefcold Galaxy+, PC-B and MCX ranges and the Blizzard multidecks Caterzone sells are all plug-in.
The trade-off is heat and noise. A plug-in multideck rejects its heat into the shop, so the room gets warmer and the air conditioning, if you have it, has to remove that heat again. Several plug-in units in a small shop can push the room above the cabinet's climate class rating.
A remote multideck has no compressor inside. It connects by pipework to a condensing unit or refrigeration pack mounted outside or in a plant room, which takes the heat and noise out of the sales floor. The Tefcold Trojan T14 FGD EHA is an example: an extended-height glass-door cabinet that, as its specification states, requires a remote refrigeration system that is not supplied. Remote cabinets make sense for supermarket-style runs of several metres, but the installation must be designed and fitted by an F-gas certified refrigeration engineer, and that cost is on top of the cabinet price.
What size multideck do you need?
Multidecks are sold mainly by width, typically from around 70cm up to 2.5m for plug-in units, with longer runs built by joining cabinets with a multiplexing kit. Capacity is quoted as net volume in litres and, more usefully for retail, as total display area in square metres. For example, the Tefcold Galaxy+ GP10 offers 472 litres net and 1.57m² of display area, while the wider GP14 offers 629 litres and 2.09m².
Work out what you need to face up at peak. A café selling 40 to 60 packed sandwiches, salads and drinks over lunch can often manage with a 1m to 1.3m cabinet. A convenience store carrying dairy, meat, ready meals and soft drinks usually needs 2m or more of multideck, often split between two cabinets so one can be defrosted or serviced without losing all chilled display.
Measure the delivery route as well as the final position. Full-height multidecks are close to two metres tall and often around 80cm or more deep, and some weigh over 200kg. Tefcold notes that its Galaxy+ FGD range is built to a standard depth so it fits through most doors, but always check the door widths and any steps on your route before ordering.
Low-height multidecks, at around counter height, suit cafés that want chilled grab-and-go stock beside the till without blocking sightlines. The 900mm low-height multideck with glass doors is an example of that format.
Multideck display fridge comparison
| Multideck | Type | Key specs | Best for | Price (inc VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard 1.5m open front | Plug-in, open front | Night blind as standard, 4 shelves, LED per shelf, dual 13A supply | Cafés and kiosks with lunchtime peaks | £3,895 |
| Tefcold PC1250B | Plug-in, 2 glass doors | 764L, 5 shelves, R290, 5.87kWh/24h, energy class B | Convenience stores, off-licences, coffee shops | £3,678 |
| Tefcold Galaxy+ GP10 | Plug-in, open front | 472L net, 1.57m² display, soft-closing night blind, 10.83kWh/24h | Delis, sandwich shops, farm shops | £4,917.60 |
| Tefcold Galaxy+ GP10FGD | Plug-in, 2 glass doors | 472L net, frameless doors, 3.25kWh/24h, energy class B | Long trading hours, lowest running cost | £5,522.40 |
| Tefcold MCX90M | Plug-in, open front | 370L net, stainless steel, lockable security shutter, castors | Canteens, colleges, hotels | £5,336.40 |
| Tefcold Trojan T14 FGD EHA | Remote, 2 glass doors | Extended height, 2.01m² display, remote system not supplied | Shops wanting heat and noise off the floor | £4,454.40 + remote install |
Night blinds, shutters and doors: what are they for?
A night blind is a roller blind that pulls down over the open front of a multideck when the shop is closed or quiet. It holds the cold air inside the cabinet, so the compressor runs less overnight and the stock stays at a steadier temperature. Open-front multidecks such as the Tefcold Galaxy+ range and the Blizzard open-front models come with a night blind fitted. Use it every night; leaving an open cabinet uncovered for 12 hours a day throws away much of the energy the blind is there to save.
A security shutter does a different job. The Tefcold MCX range has a rigid, lockable shutter that stops access to stock when the counter is closed, which suits canteens, hotels and university outlets where the cabinet sits in a space that stays open to the public. A night blind is not a security device.
If you are choosing between an open front with a blind and a glass-door cabinet, the glass door wins on energy during trading hours, which is when most of the cost builds up. Many retailers have moved to doors on chilled multidecks for that reason.
What does a multideck cost to run?
Commercial display fridges sold in the UK must carry an energy label rated A to G with a declared energy consumption, so you can compare cabinets before buying. Using the declared figures and an electricity price of about 25p per kWh:
- Tefcold Galaxy+ GP10 open front, 10.83kWh/24h: about £2.70 a day, or roughly £990 a year.
- Tefcold Galaxy+ GP10FGD glass door, 3.25kWh/24h: about 81p a day, or roughly £300 a year.
- Tefcold PC1250B glass door, 5.87kWh/24h: about £1.47 a day, or roughly £540 a year for a larger 764 litre cabinet.
Your real cost depends on your tariff, the room temperature and how the cabinet is used, but the comparison holds: over a ten-year life, doors on a 1m multideck can save several thousand pounds of electricity, more than covering the higher purchase price.
Refrigerant matters too. Most new plug-in multidecks now use R290 (propane), a natural refrigerant with very low global warming potential, as the Tefcold Galaxy+, PC-B and MCX ranges do. Remote systems use different refrigerants chosen with the condensing unit; the Trojan cabinets are specified for R449A.
Keep running costs down by keeping the front air grilles clear of stock (a blocked air curtain is the most common cause of warm cabinets), cleaning the condenser every one to three months on plug-in units, keeping the cabinet away from doors, heaters and direct sunlight, and checking door gaskets on glass-door models.
What are the UK rules for self-service chilled display?
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, chilled food that needs temperature control for safety must be kept at 8°C or below; in Scotland the law requires it to be kept chilled, and 5°C or below is the recommended guidance. Most food businesses aim lower, and multidecks for packed meat, dairy and ready meals are designed to run at –1°C to +5°C, which gives a safety margin.
Check the cabinet's climate class against your shop. Climate class 3 cabinets, such as the Tefcold Galaxy+ and Trojan ranges, are tested to hold their rated temperature in a room up to 25°C and 60% humidity. A sunny shop front or a small store full of plug-in fridges in July can exceed that, and the cabinet will then struggle to keep the top shelf cold.
Load only pre-chilled stock, never above the load line marked inside the cabinet, and rotate first-in, first-out with use-by dates facing forward. Record the cabinet temperature at least daily as part of your food safety management system (Safer Food, Better Business or your own HACCP plan), and probe product as well as reading the display. Raw meat packs should go on the lowest shelves, below ready-to-eat items.
A plug-in multideck should be PAT tested, and any work on the refrigerant circuit, plus the installation of a remote system, must be carried out by an F-gas certified engineer.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a multideck display fridge cost in the UK?
Plug-in multidecks from 70cm to 1.5m wide typically cost from about £2,300 to £6,000 including VAT. Wider 2m to 2.5m cabinets, glass-door premium models and stainless steel versions run from around £6,000 to over £12,000. Remote multidecks need a separately priced condensing unit and installation.
What temperature should a multideck fridge be?
Most multidecks run at –1°C to +5°C for packed meat, dairy and ready meals. UK law requires chilled food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be at 8°C or below, so holding 5°C or below gives a safety margin. Record the temperature daily.
Are glass-door multidecks cheaper to run than open-front ones?
Yes, usually by a wide margin. Tefcold's Galaxy+ GP10 open front is declared at 10.83kWh per day, while the glass-door GP10FGD is declared at 3.25kWh per day for the same 472 litre cabinet. At 25p per kWh that is roughly £990 versus £300 a year.
Do I need a remote or plug-in multideck?
Most cafés, delis and small convenience stores choose plug-in multidecks because they need no pipework and can be moved. Remote multidecks suit long cabinet runs where the heat and noise of several plug-in compressors would overwhelm the shop, but they need an F-gas engineer to design and install the external refrigeration.
What does a night blind do on a multideck?
A night blind covers the open front of a multideck when the shop is closed, keeping cold air in the cabinet. It cuts overnight energy use and helps stock hold temperature. It is not a security device; for that, choose a model with a lockable shutter such as the Tefcold MCX range.
Where to buy a multideck display fridge in the UK
Caterzone stocks plug-in and remote multidecks from Tefcold and Blizzard, in open-front, glass-door, low-height and shutter versions. Popular choices include the Tefcold PC1250B two-door multideck at £3,678, the Tefcold Galaxy+ GP10FGD at £5,522.40, the open-front Tefcold Galaxy+ GP10 at £4,917.60, the Blizzard 1.5m open-front multideck at £3,895, and the stainless Tefcold MCX90M with security shutter at £5,336.40. Browse the full refrigeration collection for more sizes.
Planning the rest of your chilled display? Read our serve-over deli display fridge guide and our bottle cooler and back bar fridge guide. For help choosing a multideck for your shop layout and trading hours, call Caterzone on +44 7787 069044 or email info@thecaterzone.co.uk.
