What UK Kitchens Pay: Commercial Catering Equipment Price Index
A Caterzone original analysis · Published 2026-08-18 · Data: 13,515 products
Key finding
Analysing the prices of 13,515 commercial catering equipment products, the median UK commercial oven costs £1,597, a commercial freezer £1,671, a fridge £1,400, a dishwasher £1,156, and a fryer £558. Prices span an enormous range within every category, so "what does commercial kitchen equipment cost" has no single answer — it depends entirely on capacity and specification.
The question
UK operators fitting out a kitchen constantly ask "what does a commercial [X] cost?" — but published answers are vague. To give a concrete, data-backed answer, Caterzone analysed the live prices of its own commercial catering equipment catalogue and calculated the median (typical) price and full price range for each major category.
Method
- Data: 13,515 priced products from the Caterzone catalogue (thecaterzone.co.uk).
- Collected: 2026-08-18.
- What we counted: the lowest current price of each product (its cheapest variant), grouped into categories by product title and type.
- What we left out: products with no price, and categories with fewer than three products.
- Measure: we report the median (the middle price), not the average, because a few very expensive units would distort an average.
Findings: median price by category
| Category | Products analysed | Median price | Price range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial freezers | 1038 | £1,670.95 | £2 – £29,271 |
| Commercial ovens | 669 | £1,596.95 | £2 – £19,000 |
| Commercial fridges | 1800 | £1,400.1 | £2 – £21,276 |
| Ice machines | 157 | £1,389 | £70 – £19,416 |
| Commercial dishwashers | 359 | £1,155.95 | £35 – £40,773 |
| Commercial griddles | 293 | £1,029 | £41 – £8,104 |
| Bain maries | 247 | £790 | £15 – £4,095 |
| Doner kebab machines | 59 | £700 | £10 – £15,201 |
| Commercial fryers | 344 | £557.95 | £10 – £12,853 |
| Charcoal grills | 31 | £557.95 | £13 – £2,844 |
| Coffee machines | 39 | £478.9 | £150 – £3,500 |
| Meat slicers | 89 | £362.95 | £25 – £7,229 |
What the numbers show
Three things stand out. First, refrigeration dominates by volume — fridges and freezers make up the largest categories, reflecting how central cold storage is to every kitchen. Second, the range within each category is enormous: a commercial oven ranges from under £50 to £19,000, so category medians are a starting point, not a quote — capacity and specification drive the real price. Third, entry points are lower than many operators expect: every core category has options well below its median, which matters for start-ups and budget-conscious kitchens.
Limitations
These are Caterzone catalogue list prices at a single point in time, not a market-wide average, and category grouping is by keyword so a few products may fall in an adjacent category. Prices change with stock and specification. The refurbished-versus-new comparison is not reported here because refurbished stock skews toward large equipment while new stock includes many low-cost accessories and parts, making a median-to-median comparison misleading — an honest limitation worth stating rather than a headline worth manufacturing.
Use this data
Writers and buyers are welcome to cite these figures with attribution to Caterzone (thecaterzone.co.uk). For equipment sized to your kitchen, browse our commercial catering equipment range or call +44 7787 069044. We will refresh this analysis as the catalogue changes.
