FAQs

What equipment comes with your container kitchens?

Our container kitchens are purpose built to suit your application. Should you require additional preparation room, a function-service plating kitchen, a ware washing room for back-up during events, a replacement food facilty during times of redevelopment, or a complete meal-service kitchen with storage and ware-washing facilities for mining, educational, government or event use, we can provide a real solution in a package tailored to your needs.

What is different about your kitchens to other “mobile” kitchens on the market.

Our containerised relocatable, portable style kitchens are built to real world requirements. Many products currently on the market offer “versatile” kitchen layouts on a hire basis, or purpose built kitchens – in “trailer style relocatable/demountable building” format. You can’t always throw a generic kitchen layout in a box and expect it to work. The same applies with any normal kitchen project.

Due to our unique kitchen & container sizing, we can offer full hotel style kitchens, allowing operators to achieve high output food service, similar to a purpose built fixed location kitchen, in a tough, containerised format, that’s proven not to rattle apart at the seams during repeat transport across one of the toughest landscaped continents; Australia.

How many people can your kitchens cater for?

We design your relocatable food service operation to be tailored to your needs. We have completed projects of various size, from models built to cater as pop-up market style kitchens – offering walk up food service, to fully operational hotel style kitchens catering to 500+ patrons, and even a current project scope of a 6-container fleet offering mobile high volume output food & beverage (consisting of function & event kitchens, cold & freezer rooms, full high volume draft beer bar, keg rooms & post mix etc) – to cater for large scale events seeing tens of thousands of patrons over the course of a few days.

Of what quality are your kitchens? Do you import them from china? What equipment is specified?

We stand by our build quality and can assure it is second to none. All components used, are of the highest quality available. Kitchen equipment installed is all of Australian/New Zealand manufacture, built with strong chassis’ and top quality components. There’s no chinese knock-offs here. We use Australian installers, service technicians & subcontractors.

We believe in building products that will do the job they were built to do, and last. The added bonus of lasting products is it can be on-sold to secondhand buyers if required.

What levels of finishes & fixtures are provided?

Think 50mm urethane cold room walls, 3mm thick R11 vinyl, 9 – 18mm compressed concrete sheet floors, 1 – 2mm stainless steel bench work – secured to floors and walls. Equipment is bolted in with stainless steel straps for quick removal/cleaning, or built in on plinths for movement or gaps. Light fixtures all shelves & wall fittings connect through the wall panel to welded lugs, basically everything inside is fixed through to the container chassis, and anything movable is securable to braced fixings for transportation. We’ve literally aimed to build the toughest kitchen possible, without breaking the bank.

Some of your containers look extensively modified and even wider in some instances. Why?

A commercial kitchen is a very intense and workflow dependant environment. Key design factors are involved in every economically operable kitchen. To reach the output levels required by many modern food & beverage operations, certain tools are required.

– Want standard bench depths opposite a 5 meter long cooking line and still have room to move?- Need Gastronorm sized under counter refrigeration within reach?

– Want full Combi oven cook & blast chill facilities, complete with holding cold rooms to keep up with demands?

– Require a flight or conveyor sized back up ware washing facility?

These are all scenarios we’ve considered and designed, and a standard 2.4 meter container can create some compromises for kitchen layouts where workability or high volume is an issue. Only food service professionals know what is truly required to meet demands every time, and, where required, our unique ‘Wide Body’ units allow for a design that will actually perform for your business.

I’ve seen the term ‘Wide Body’ mentioned. What does this mean?

Australian standards specifies minimum distances in kitchen work spaces. Adding this to the depth of modern, full size cooking equipment, and standard preparation stations opposite (including gastronorm refrigeration), to operate to a true commercial kitchen capacity, requires a certain amount of space, not readily available in a standard ISO width container. We can provide almost any real-world food service operation scenario in a relocatable package, using full sized heavy duty food service equipment (not cramped, light duty european / chinese equivalents), and we can do it with a cook line longer than 2.4 meters (a requirement of many modern commercial sized food operations). This requires a wider than “ISO” container. Previous models have seen us rigorously engineer certified extensions, re-using real container steel parts, to extend the original unit. We are now developing a prototype, purpose-built, brand new ‘Wide Body’ shipping container kitchen, specifically designed to operate as economically as possible for your food service need. Contact us to find out more.

Does a wider unit not create difficulties with transportation?

Many demountable style relocatable offices, accommodation and associated portable facility buildings are already built wider than the standard 2.4 meter container width, but may lack in durability and longevity, particularly during repetitive transportation, compared to that of a steel shipping container. Our wide-body portable container units are less than 300mm wider than an ISO container each side, negating the need for escort vehicles and special wide-load transportation costs, and still feature standard fixing locations on top and underneath the container, ready for immediate connection to standard size trailers, site mountings, or stacking for storage.

I need an ISO container, with no exterior protrusions (for transport purposes).

No problems, we have specific designs to allow for specific needs, and have put in the research & development required in creating & using custom fixtures & fittings to create a product that will achieve your needs. Contact us to find out more about what we can achieve.

Do your products meet Health Department & Australian Standards guidelines?

Years of research and development have gone into designing a product to meet the most stringent of standards. Container modifications, hydraulic services (plumbing & gas), mechanical ventilation, WH&S (workplace health & safety), food safety & environmental waste requirements have been considered on every project. We have worked closely with engineers, consultants & government departments to achieve a real, passable product readily available with peace of mind for your small or large scale project.

I need a relocatable facility in a remote area. Is a steel container going to be comfortable to work in?

We factor in location, use, environmental conditions & available budget into your design. Our shipping container modules are professionally lined with 50mm cold room insulation panel, and are coated in a high-quality insulating exterior paint. We’ve also designed removable & fold-up roof structures should your application require. Need air-conditioning during the afternoon preparation? No problem. Our kitchen services include Air-Conditioning as standard, are engineered to suit conditions, and over-engineered to really last! What about ventilation when cooking and running exhaust fans? All openings are available with “CrimSafe” screened options for pest free and secure ventilation.

What’s your experience in the Industry?

The brains behind the container kitchens comes from Hiller & Associates, a longstanding member of the hospitality design, fit out, supply & install sector. For over 30 years, Hiller & associates has been supplying equipment nationwide and abroad. Members of Master Builders, holding full QBCC building & design licences, and equipped with staff from ex-chefs, in-house CAD design technicians and through to building industry project managers. A number of Hillers highly skilled staff are also Certified Food Service Professionals (CFSP – nafes.com.au), giving Hiller & Associates the knowledge in turning food service ideas into a workable reality. Visit www.hiller.com.au for more information.

Why are your products so expensive?

All our container products are specialty items with focus on design details, relevant features, and quality construction. Our locally built container kitchens, bars & facility modules are handled from start to finish by professionals with over 30 years in the Hospitality supply & fit-out industry. There is nothing generic here, and while our container units may be slightly more than company ‘x’, there are quantifiable features to justify it.

Do you have any secondhand alternatives?

An investment that is built to last means it can be on-sold, should your business or food & beverage operation take a different direction, and we can also assist with the facilitation of the sale.

We pre-manufacture some sizes of container kitchens, ready to be fit out with equipment of your choice, depending on your style of business, to help minimise lead times.

Please contact us for information on stock levels of new & used containers.