Quick Answer
An upright commercial fridge is a reach-in storage cabinet that holds chilled food between about 0°C and 8°C on adjustable shelves. In the UK, single-door 350–600 litre models cost roughly £760 refurbished and £890–£1,700 new, while double-door 900–1,400 litre fridges run from about £1,850 to £4,200+, with gastronorm 2/1 and heavy-duty stainless models at the top end.
Caterzone supplies upright commercial fridges to restaurants, cafés, pubs, takeaways, hotels and care homes across the UK, and for most kitchens the upright fridge is the main chilled store. It holds the day's prepped food, dairy, sauces and raw proteins in one cabinet, on a footprint not much bigger than a domestic fridge, and a good one will run 24 hours a day for ten years or more.
This guide explains how to choose one: single or double door, gastronorm 2/1 or standard shelving, stainless steel or white, heavy-duty or medium-duty build, climate class, running costs, the UK chilled storage rules, and new versus refurbished. If you are also choosing frozen storage, the same decisions apply to upright freezers, and we cover those in a companion guide. Browse the commercial refrigeration collection as you read.
Single door or double door: which upright fridge do you need?
A single-door upright fridge is usually 600mm to 780mm wide and holds roughly 350 to 650 litres. The Combisteel 350 litre upright (7450.0556), for example, is 600mm wide, 585mm deep and 1,850mm tall, while Combisteel's 600 litre single-door cabinets are 775mm wide and 744mm deep. That is enough for a café, a small restaurant or a pub serving a short menu.
Double-door uprights roughly double the capacity on a footprint about 1,200mm to 1,420mm wide. The Atosa YBF9218GR slimline double door holds 900 litres in a 1,200mm wide cabinet, and the Combisteel Energy Line double door offers 1,400 litres gross (954 litres net) at 1,420mm wide. A busy restaurant, hotel kitchen or contract caterer prepping for 100+ covers will usually need this size, or two single doors.
Two single-door fridges instead of one double has real advantages. If one fails, you still have chilled storage while the engineer is on the way, and you can separate raw meat and fish from ready-to-eat food in different cabinets. A double door is cheaper per litre and takes less wall space than two singles side by side.
How much fridge capacity does a commercial kitchen need?
Size by delivery frequency and menu, not just covers. Count how many days of chilled stock you hold between deliveries, add the food you prep ahead, and remember that air must circulate around everything on the shelves. A packed fridge with product pressed against the rear evaporator cannot hold temperature, so plan to fill no more than about 75–80% of the usable space.
Quoted litres can be misleading. Manufacturers often state gross volume, which includes space you cannot actually use. The Tefcold G-Line GUC70 gastronorm fridge, for instance, is 537 litres gross but 395 litres net, and the Combisteel 1,400 litre Energy Line is 954 litres net. Compare net figures or shelf area where you can.
As a rough guide, a café or sandwich bar with daily deliveries usually manages with 350 to 450 litres. A 50 to 80 cover restaurant typically needs one full 600 litre single door plus undercounter storage on the line. Larger kitchens, or anyone batch cooking and chilling, should look at a double door. Our guide to sizing commercial refrigeration works through this in more detail.
Gastronorm 2/1 or standard shelving?
A gastronorm (GN 2/1) fridge has an internal width sized for 650 x 530mm shelves and trays, so food can go straight from prep or blast chiller into the fridge on the same pan. The Tefcold G-Line GUC70, the Interlevin CAR650 and Combisteel's 1,400 litre Energy Line (six 530 x 650mm grids) all take GN 2/1. Kitchens that cook in gastronorm, use a combi oven or run a cook-chill system should buy GN; decanting into other containers wastes time and adds handling risk.
Standard or slimline shelving is narrower and suits boxed supplier stock, bottles and tubs. The Atosa YBF9206GR is a slimline single door only 600mm wide, with 485 x 525mm shelves. It fits a gap that a GN cabinet cannot, but a full-size 2/1 tray will not go in. Combisteel's 600 litre single doors sit in between, with 668 x 525mm grids.
Bakery-size fridges, built around 600 x 400mm trays, are a third option for pastry and bakery kitchens. If you mainly hold baking sheets, choose the cabinet around the tray you actually use.
Stainless steel or white: does the finish matter?
Stainless steel cabinets cost more but stand up to knocks from trolleys, cleaning chemicals and constant door opening, and they look the part in an open kitchen. White cabinets, usually painted or laminated steel, are cheaper and perfectly hygienic if kept clean. On Caterzone's own range, the Combisteel 600 litre single door costs £969.90 in white and £1,054.90 in stainless steel, with the same 562 litre gross capacity and 0 to +8°C range.
Look inside too. A stainless interior, as on the Atosa YBF9206GR and Tefcold GUC70, is the most durable. ABS plastic interiors, as on the Hamoki HA-R600SS (stainless outside, white thermoformed ABS inside), are lighter, resist moisture and are easy to wipe down, but can crack if heavy pans are thrown in. For a back-of-house fridge out of customer view, white is a sensible saving. For a line fridge in a busy kitchen, stainless is worth the extra.
Heavy-duty or medium-duty: what is the difference?
Heavy-duty fridges are built for kitchens where the door opens dozens of times an hour. Typically they have larger compressors, fan-assisted cooling for fast temperature recovery, thicker insulation, stronger shelves, self-closing doors and a higher climate class. The Combisteel Energy Line, for example, has 90mm insulation and a 40°C maximum ambient, and the Atosa YBF9206GR uses a top-mounted Embraco compressor, carries climate class 5 and rates each shelf at 40kg.
Medium-duty and light-duty cabinets are fine for back-up storage, low-volume cafés, or a fridge in a cooler storeroom that is opened a few times a shift. They cost less to buy but will struggle if you put them next to a fryer and open them all service.
Fan-assisted (ventilated) cooling is the feature that matters most for a busy kitchen. It spreads cold air evenly so the top shelf and the bottom shelf stay at the same temperature, and pulls the temperature back down quickly after the door has been open. Static cooling is simpler and cheaper, but uneven and slow to recover.
Upright commercial fridge comparison
| Fridge | Capacity | Key specs | Best for | Guide price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interlevin single door (refurbished) | 600L | GN 2/1, stainless in and out, 1.26kWh/24h, climate class 4 | Tight budgets, GN kitchens | £760.95 |
| Combisteel 350L upright (7450.0556) | 350L | 600mm wide, 4 shelves, digital thermostat, lockable | Cafés, sandwich bars | £887.90 |
| Combisteel single door, white | 562L gross | 0 to +8°C, 38°C max ambient, 4 grids | Back-of-house storage | £969.90 |
| Combisteel single door, stainless | 562L gross | 0 to +8°C, 38°C max ambient, 66mm insulation | Restaurants, pubs | £1,054.90 |
| Atosa YBF9206GR slimline | 410L | 600mm wide, climate class 5, Embraco, stainless in and out | Hot, narrow kitchens | £1,439.10 |
| Tefcold G-Line GUC70 | 395L net | GN 2/1, fan-assisted, +2 to +8°C, climate class 4 | Cook-chill and GN kitchens | £1,689.60 |
| Atosa YBF9218GR double door | 900L | 1,200mm wide, 6 shelves, climate class 4/5 | Busy restaurants | £1,850 |
| Combisteel Energy Line double door | 1,400L gross / 954L net | 6 x GN 2/1 grids, 1.27kWh/24h, 40°C max ambient | High-volume kitchens | £2,253.90 |
Climate class: will the fridge cope with a hot kitchen?
Climate class is the hottest room a cabinet is tested to hold temperature in. Under the EN ISO 22041 test standard used for professional storage cabinets, climate class 4 means a room up to 30°C (at 55% humidity) and climate class 5 means up to 40°C (at 40% humidity). Some manufacturers also quote a maximum ambient instead: Combisteel's 600 litre single doors are rated to 38°C and the Energy Line to 40°C.
A UK kitchen next to a range, fryers and a combi oven can easily pass 30°C in summer. If your fridge sits on the cooking line or in a poorly ventilated kitchen, choose climate class 5 or a 38–40°C rating. A class 4 cabinet is fine in a storeroom or a cooler prep area.
Siting matters as much as rating. Keep the fridge away from heat sources and direct sun, and leave the clearance in the manual around the condenser. Top-mounted refrigeration, as on the Atosa uprights, takes in cooler air above the kitchen floor and keeps the condenser away from floor dust and grease, but needs space above the cabinet to breathe.
What does an upright fridge cost to run?
Professional storage fridges sold in Great Britain carry an energy label (A to G) and a declared energy use. Efficient cabinets are cheap to run. The Combisteel 1,400 litre Energy Line is rated at 1.27kWh per 24 hours and the refurbished Interlevin 600 litre at 1.26kWh. At around 25p per kWh, either costs roughly 32p a day, or about £115 a year. An older, poorly maintained cabinet of the same size can easily cost several times that.
Most new fridges now use natural hydrocarbon refrigerants such as R600a or R290, which have a very low global warming potential. GB F-gas rules have banned new hermetically sealed commercial fridges and freezers using HFCs with a GWP of 150 or more since 2022. Older refurbished cabinets may run on legacy gases; these remain legal to use and repair, but ask which refrigerant a refurbished unit contains.
Keep running costs down by cleaning the condenser coil every three months, replacing split door gaskets, keeping doors shut during service, never loading hot food (cool it first, ideally in a blast chiller), and leaving space for air around the stock.
What are the UK rules for commercial chilled storage?
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, food that needs refrigeration must legally be kept at 8°C or below. Food Standards Agency guidance recommends setting fridges to 5°C or below to give a safety margin, and most commercial fridges run between +1°C and +5°C in practice. In Scotland, the law requires chilled food to be kept cold rather than setting a number, and Food Standards Scotland guidance likewise recommends 5°C or below.
Check and record fridge temperatures at least once a day with a calibrated probe or data logger, and keep the record with your food safety management paperwork (Safer Food Better Business or your HACCP plan). The controller display reads air temperature near the sensor, so probe products occasionally as well.
Store raw meat and fish on the lowest shelves, below ready-to-eat food, or in a separate cabinet. Cover and label everything with a use-by date and rotate first-in, first-out. Electrically, most single-door uprights run from a standard 13A socket, but check the data plate, especially on double doors, and include the fridge in your annual PAT testing. Any repair on the refrigerant circuit must be done by an F-gas certified engineer.
Should you buy a new or refurbished upright fridge?
A refurbished heavy-duty fridge is often better value than a new budget one. Caterzone's refurbished Interlevin single-door upright offers 600 litres, stainless steel inside and out and GN 2/1 shelving for £760.95, and the refurbished Blizzard H400WH white upright is £650. Refurbished units are tested before sale and honestly graded; B-grade units may have cosmetic marks that do not affect performance.
Buy new if you want a full manufacturer warranty, the latest efficiency figures, a natural refrigerant, or a specific GN or climate class 5 specification. Over ten years of 24-hour running, a more efficient cabinet can repay a higher purchase price, so compare the declared kWh figures alongside the sticker price.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an upright commercial fridge cost in the UK?
Refurbished single-door upright fridges start at around £650 to £760. New single doors typically cost £890 to £1,700 depending on capacity, finish and whether they take GN 2/1 shelves. Double-door uprights range from around £1,850 to over £4,000, with heavy-duty stainless gastronorm models at the top.
What temperature should a commercial fridge be set to?
Set a commercial fridge to 5°C or below; most kitchens run between +1°C and +5°C. The legal maximum for chilled food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 8°C, so 5°C gives a margin for door openings. Record the temperature at least daily.
What does GN 2/1 mean on a fridge?
GN 2/1 means the fridge takes gastronorm 2/1 shelves and trays measuring 650 x 530mm. It lets you move food from prep, oven or blast chiller into the fridge on the same pan. If you mainly store boxed stock, a slimline fridge with standard shelves may be the better fit.
Is a stainless steel fridge worth the extra money?
For a busy line fridge, yes. Stainless steel resists knocks, chemicals and corrosion better than painted white steel. The price gap can be small: Combisteel's 600 litre single door is £969.90 in white and £1,054.90 in stainless. For a storeroom fridge out of sight, white is a sensible saving.
Can I put a commercial fridge next to an oven?
Only if it is rated for the heat. Climate class 4 cabinets are tested to 30°C and class 5 to 40°C, and a cooking line can exceed 30°C in summer. Choose class 5 or a 38–40°C rating for hot kitchens, and leave the ventilation clearance shown in the manual.
Where to buy an upright commercial fridge in the UK
Caterzone stocks new and refurbished upright fridges from Combisteel, Atosa, Tefcold, Interlevin, Hamoki and Blizzard from its base in Northampton. Browse the commercial refrigeration collection, or go straight to the Combisteel 600 litre stainless single-door fridge at £1,054.90, the Atosa YBF9206GR slimline upright at £1,439.10 for hot or narrow kitchens, or the Tefcold G-Line GUC70 gastronorm fridge at £1,689.60. For high volume, the Combisteel 1,400 litre Energy Line double door is £2,253.90, and on a tight budget the refurbished Interlevin 600 litre upright is £760.95.
Planning the rest of your cold storage? Read our refrigeration sizing guide and our commercial refrigeration buyer's guide. For help choosing a fridge for your kitchen and menu, call Caterzone on +44 7787 069044 or email info@thecaterzone.co.uk.
