Commercial catering businesses operate in one of the most demanding food service environments. Unlike restaurants that prepare meals for customers on site, catering companies manage large volumes of ingredients, prepared meals, beverages, and frozen products that must be safely stored before being transported to weddings, conferences, corporate functions, and special events. Reliable refrigeration is therefore essential for maintaining food quality, complying with food safety standards, and ensuring every event runs smoothly.
Relocating a catering business creates an ideal opportunity to improve refrigeration infrastructure rather than simply moving existing equipment from one building to another. Ageing insulation, undersized refrigeration systems, outdated electrical controls, and inefficient pipework can all be addressed during relocation, resulting in a refrigeration system that performs significantly better than before.
This case study showcases how Glotech Group successfully relocated and upgraded the cold room and freezer facilities for Bruce’s Catering after the business moved to its new premises in Paarden Eiland, Cape Town. The project combined refrigeration relocation, freezer capacity expansion, insulation upgrades, new pipework, electrical modernisation, and the installation of a new freezer refrigeration system.
The completed installation transformed an ageing refrigeration setup into a modern, efficient, and dependable cold storage solution that continues to support one of Cape Town’s established catering businesses.
Bruce’s Catering provides professional catering services throughout Cape Town, offering food catering, staff hire, décor hire, and event support.
As the business expanded and relocated to larger premises in Paarden Eiland, the move created an opportunity to improve the refrigeration facilities that support daily operations.
Rather than simply reinstalling the existing equipment, Glotech Group carried out a complete assessment of the refrigeration system to determine which components could continue delivering reliable performance and which required upgrading.
One of the key advantages of relocating commercial refrigeration is the opportunity to modernise the system while everything is dismantled.
The original insulated panels had reached the end of their useful life and were no longer suitable for reuse.
Reusing ageing panels would have reduced insulation performance, increased energy consumption, and placed unnecessary demand on the refrigeration equipment.
To improve thermal performance, Glotech Group installed:
These insulation specifications provide excellent thermal efficiency while reducing refrigeration load and improving long-term operating costs.
The existing cold room refrigeration unit remained in good condition and continued to provide suitable cooling capacity.
Rather than replacing equipment unnecessarily, Glotech Group reused the refrigeration unit while modernising the rest of the installation.
The cold room improvements included:
This approach maximised value while improving reliability.
The relocation also provided an opportunity to increase freezer capacity.
The original freezer refrigeration unit had been designed for a 2m × 3m freezer room, making it unsuitable for the larger freezer planned at the new premises.
Rather than forcing the existing equipment to operate beyond its design limits, Glotech Group specified a new enclosed FRIGA Slim Pack refrigeration system delivering 4.88kW at -25°C suction.
Correct refrigeration sizing ensures:
The enlarged freezer now provides Bruce’s Catering with significantly improved frozen storage capacity while supporting future business growth.
The biggest challenge was access.
The unit was installed on the second floor, which made moving the insulated panels and refrigeration materials upstairs a demanding task. Large cold room and freezer panels are bulky, heavy, and require careful handling to avoid damage.
Despite the difficulty, the team successfully moved the panels into position and completed the installation within the required timeframe.
The project was completed over eight days and included:
Every stage followed recognised commercial refrigeration engineering standards.
Following commissioning, the owner immediately noticed a significant improvement in refrigeration performance.
The previous premises had presented ongoing refrigeration problems that affected reliability and efficiency.
The redesigned installation eliminated these issues through:
The owner described the new refrigeration installation as a breath of fresh air, reflecting the noticeable improvement in day-to-day operation.
One of the reasons for the improved performance was the attention given to installation quality.
Every refrigeration pipe, electrical connection, control component, and refrigeration circuit was installed according to recognised refrigeration engineering standards.
Correct installation practices improve:
These details often determine whether a refrigeration system delivers dependable performance for many years or develops recurring faults.
The completed project delivered:
Most importantly, Bruce’s Catering now operates from its new premises with refrigeration systems that perform significantly better than those at the previous location.
With more than 15 years of experience, Glotech Group designs, installs, upgrades, relocates, repairs, and maintains commercial refrigeration systems for catering companies, restaurants, hotels, food manufacturers, supermarkets, pharmaceutical facilities, seafood processors, educational institutions, and industrial businesses across South Africa.
Our services include:
Every installation is engineered around the client’s workflow, storage requirements, available space, and future business growth.
The Bruce’s Catering project demonstrates how relocating to new premises can become an opportunity to significantly improve commercial refrigeration infrastructure.
By combining new insulated panels, expanded freezer capacity, upgraded electrical systems, professionally designed refrigeration pipework, and a correctly sized FRIGA Slim Pack refrigeration system, Glotech Group transformed an ageing installation into a modern refrigeration solution built for long-term reliability.
For catering companies, commercial kitchens, and food service businesses relocating or expanding their operations, Glotech Group continues to deliver expertly engineered refrigeration systems backed by more than 15 years of commercial refrigeration experience throughout Cape Town and South Africa.
067 153 8332
info@glotechgroup.co.za
Gotech Group offers emergency repair, replacement and installation of industrial and commercial refrigeration units restoring efficient operations in Hermanus & across Western Cape.