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Beware of the world of Import throw away restaurant equipment

As a leading restaurant supply & commercial kitchen company for well over 20 years, it is amazing how many of our clients come into our showroom and ask if we can price match. In all honesty we would love to be able to offer this to all, however, we provide much more than the average online cheap import equipment that is available.

It is important to understand how some of these internet restaurant supply companies have grown to be what they are today. First, it is amazing that they actually took brand name companies and convinced them into giving pricing that were below the cost of what many of the dealers in the industry actually pay for such equipment.  These rogue sellers did this with the promise that they would outsell every dealer in the US combined. As the prices actually continued to decrease and the brick and mortar dealers like us at Restaurant Equipment Paradise lost more and more customers to the internet; there was also the loss of sales to many of these legitimate “brand Name” manufacturers.

Most internet companies pull a “bait and switch”. They advertise brand name commercial refrigerator “X” and when you clicked on the item, they would have their own low-quality Import brand “Y” pop up at sometimes over 100% less than the US or brand Name brand “X”. It did take a while before the brand name manufacturers caught onto this scheme of unscrupulous dealers. Unfortunately, these internet dealers were sitting in the driver seat to bring in more and more Import “JUNK” or “throw away merchandise”. In a world where we are trying to work on Global Warming, recycling and many other things that are going to affect our future on earth, these dealers are offering the consumer items that are so cheap it is not worth fixing (sometimes they cannot even be repaired). They are just import, low quality restaurant equipment to be thrown away when they break down.

When you take these imports that are basically ‘throw away’ restaurant equipment units and break them down, are you really saving any money in the long run? When you purchase a quality brand name such as Continental, True, Norlake, Southbend, Star and Bakers Pride, just to name a few - they work constantly to make a better product. They are also built to be more efficient, and do things such as commit to Energy Star for savings, HC (hydro carbon gas) to help with the ozone and much more.

Import throwaways are just plain junk and they will soon take over scrap yards, landfills and many other places that we cannot even fathom. When you buy a commercial piece of restaurant equipment you want it to last, you want a company (manufacturer) to stand behind it. These import companies do not do that, they get your dollar, work on volume only. They then wish the unit breaks the day after their short warranty runs out in hopes you will scrap it and buy another.

The brand name products we endorse have been in restaurants, cafeterias, nursing homes, stadiums, food chains, and mom and pops locations for decades. These legitimate manufacturers are a bit more expensive, but for good reason – you are getting a top-quality piece of restaurant equipment. Don’t be fooled by the import junk it is not always best to just shop based on price, just as the most expensive does not mean it is always the best either.

Be smart when it comes to buying equipment for your restaurant or commercial kitchen. You may spend a few hundred dollars more for a USA manufacturer, and our company can honestly tell you the reasons are worth it. From cost of ownership to longevity and energy efficiency you will save over and over, compared to the “crap imports”. The biggest downfall for certain USA manufacturers that are now trying to compete and they have to make their products of inferior quality in order to be competitive – Do we really want this for the restaurant industry? – ask yourself that before you purchase your next piece of restaurant equipment. Whether it’s a stove, refrigerator, grease trap, fryer, slicer, or any other piece of restaurant equipment, just remember you sometimes pay for what you get.