Five Major Trends In Commercial Cooking Equipment

Over the past decade, the restaurant business has been changing with the innovations in cooking equipment and advent of ghost  and cloud kitchen. These are the future of commercial cooking and the cooking equipment industry must be ready for it.  According to Allied Market Research, the global commercial cooking equipment market is expected to reach $12.9 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 5.2 percent from 2021 to 2027. Expansion of the food service industry, product innovations, and surge in number of quick service restaurants have boosted the growth of the market.

State of Current Commercial Kitchens

If you are even remotely related to restaurant business, you know that the market is driven by technological innovations and surge in consumer demand for quick delivery. Thus, the companies in the cooking equipment market have invested a tremendous amount of money to launch the products that nobody even knew that they were needed. What’s more, after the launch of such innovative cooking equipment, customers can no longer live without them. Just like any other industry, the commercial cooking equipment industry is transformed by innovations in automation, cutting-edge appliances, and digital sensors. All these innovations are centred to make cooking easier and without hassle. So how would the futuristic commercial kitchens look like?

1. Innovations in Commercial Ovens

Heating meals and ingredients is the most time consuming yet fundamental process in restaurant kitchens. Thus, innovation in ovens for restaurant purposes was much needed. Multi-purpose ovens that can do the job of kettle, steamer, fryers, dehydrator, and smoke will gain attention in the future. Moreover, commercial ovens integrated with digital technology in order to offer chefs flexibility will hit the market. These equipment will allow chefs to cook food to perfection.

2. Automation in Dishwashers

Currently, restaurants use automated, conveyor belt dishwashers for convenience they offer. However, in the future, dishwashers will save labor and time. In fact, many cooking equipment manufacturing companies have launched smart dishwashers that use water and energy sensibly, aiming at achieving complete efficiency.

3. 3D Printing and Food

This could be the most out-of-the-box idea for commercial cooking. Food printing is the latest innovation that can allow chefs to print the food with the feature of customizing flavor and nutritional content and meet customer expectation perfectly. This could be the game changer in the restaurant industry as the customer will get exactly what they ordered within a few minutes. 

4. Internet of Things (IoT) and Cooking Equipment

It does not take a genius to figure out that IoT will infiltrate the restaurant business and commercial kitchens. The addition of few sensors to conventional cooking equipment could save a lot of time and energy. The opportunities and benefits of IoT-based cooking equipment are limitless and astonishing. Chefs can remotely monitor the food, save electricity, fuel, and time of cooking a dish. Moreover, restaurants can save a ton of food wastage with such cooking equipment. 

5. Flexible Cooking Equipment

The restaurant business has always been more adaptable. Thus, chefs are more inclined to use cooking equipment that offer utmost flexibility. Moreover, the rise in awareness about sustainability and utility costs have given flexibility more importance than ever. 

While such innovations have hit the market, the most challenging aspect is cost of such novel cooking equipment. The high cost of cooking equipment has hampered the market. However, cooking equipment manufacturers have worked hard to tackle this issue by developing new schemes of financing, interest-free packages, and leasing to increase the use of technologically-advanced cooking equipment. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the foodservice industry hard and from cooking equipment manufacturers to restaurant owners and chefs are looking for new ways to dive back in.

Moreover, there is drastic change in purchasing pattern as well. More and more restaurant owners are more inclined to invest in new kitchen if financial options are affordable and available. The leasing scheme has seen to be profitable in the case of refrigeration manufacturers. Thus, other cooking equipment manufacturers are now following the same route to reach more customers irrespective of their financial background and scale. 

Overall, the commercial cooking equipment trends to watch for are focused on reducing labor, energy, food wastage, and space in the kitchen. These trends will follow the food and beverage trends and will evolve to meet ever-changing customer expectations and demands. However, the smarter technology will continue to change the commercial kitchens and its cooking equipment surely.