What size multideck do you need for dairy displays?

Dairy display units must be many things for many products within the one unit. So, how do you go about keeping a multideck stocked up but accessible and all under the magic 5°C?

There are a large number of units that you could go with within our multideck range, but your choices will depend on what products you’re stocking and what are your biggest sellers. This blog explains what to look for.

What are you including in your dairy display?

As with any choice for a multideck fridge, the first thing you need to confirm is what you’re looking to stock, and how often you’re expecting to have to restock. By looking at these two factors, you can then narrow down the features that will have the biggest impact on your bottom line.

The more time and consideration you take at this stage in your process, the more certain you’ll be that the unit you’re purchasing will give you exactly what you need for your dairy display to be efficiently stocked and give you maximum return on investment.

Be specific

Looking to the stock that you are going to include in the unit, you need to list every item to be included and what those items are. Be as specific as possible with heights, weights and quantities as well as how many facings you’d like to have before restocking is needed.

Next, look to the unit itself and how much space you’ll need. You know what you’d like to include from your inventory, so you then need to look at the width of each product and the number of products on each shelf. Keep in mind when looking at the bare numbers that the way people buy needs to be considered, with the smaller products keeping higher up at eye level to catch a potential buyer’s eye, rather than the larger milk bottles being lower down as they’re so much larger they will always be seen.

Don’t forget to factor in depth when making your calculations on space. How many items deep you can stock the fridge before restocking will also have an impact on your ROI.

Airflow and load capacity

Now that you have all your internal measurements for the stock you’re looking to include and how often you’ll be restocking, you can look at the dimensions for possible units. An important first step though is that you should never look to pack at 100% capacity. Cold air needs room to freely circulate around your dairy products to maintain safe and legal temperatures.

The ventilation gap that you need to leave is approximately 20% of the internal volume of the fridge, but you should also be cautious on the internal placement of stock so as not to block any internal vents and ensure good air circulation. While this may seem a waste of money in terms of the space ‘wasted’ within the multideck, this is key to the unit running efficiently and effectively so as not to spoil the product or cost you more than you should be paying in energy bills.

Showcase your products

Once you have your dimensions, including the 20% of internal capacity for airflow, you can look at the units themselves and what will work for you. There are many features that you can prioritise over others. If your unit is not going to be super high volume on stock, you should look at doors as opposed to open front as this can cut your energy consumption by a third and if there is plenty of space around the unit for people to browse it shouldn’t have a huge effect on sales from the barrier of the door being in place.

If you’re stocking a large amount of heavy milk cartons, then lower shelves need to be sturdy and ideally wire to help circulate the airflow around the product efficiently and also be up to the task of holding that much liquid on each shelf.

Lighting inside is also key to showcasing the products as customers can see at a glance the range that you’re carrying and also other products that they might not have initially considered (but now remember they need (such as butter, if they’re buying cheese and crackers).

Let us help you make the choice

Now that you’ve narrowed down your options, you know what’s important and the size of unit that you’re looking for get in touch with Fridgesmart. You can go online to our dedicated multidecks section on the website where you can pick the features that you want, set a budget range and then see the options that are available. Then you click through to each product for more information on the unit itself and the features included, as well as full photography to show it from each angle.

Alternatively if you’re still not 100% on the features that are key, or the size of the unit that you’re after and would prefer to chat it over with someone, then give us a call on 01792 677169. One of our team can talk it over with you and offer advice to help you confirm what you’re after and you’re not overlooking a more suitable option. It’s what we do and we’d be delighted to help.