A good farm shop is all about showcasing great produce – particularly when it’s food you’ve produced yourself or sourced from local farmers and makers.

Your own meat, locally made cheeses, charcuterie, pies, cooked meats and freshly prepared deli products deserve more than somewhere simply to keep them cold. The right deli display should keep food at the appropriate temperature, make it look fantastic and work practically for the people serving behind it.

So, if you were fitting out a farm shop deli, what would you look for?

Start With What You’re Going to Sell

Before choosing the counter, decide exactly what is going in it.

A counter for cheese, cooked meats and deli products may have different requirements from one displaying fresh meat or other more specialist products. Don’t choose a deli fridge simply because it’s the right size or looks good – check that its temperature range and cooling system are suitable for the food you intend to display.

If you’re selling both raw and ready-to-eat foods, you’ll also need to think carefully about separation and how the counter fits into your food-safety procedures.

Temperature Comes First

However beautiful the display looks, its first job is refrigeration.

Your counter needs to maintain the correct temperature for the food you’re selling, even through a busy Saturday when staff are constantly serving and replenishing stock.

The Food Standards Agency advises that chilled food must be kept at 8°C or below in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and recommends setting refrigeration equipment at 5°C or below to provide a margin for temperature fluctuations. You can read the FSA guidance on chilling food correctly for more information.

The cooling system also needs to suit the produce you plan to display. Fan-assisted refrigeration provides good air distribution across a display and is commonly used for deli counters, while some specialist products may have different requirements. Tell your equipment supplier exactly what you intend to sell so they can help you choose the right counter.

And remember that a display counter shouldn’t be packed so tightly that chilled air can’t circulate properly.

How Much Display Space Do You Really Need?

It’s tempting to buy the biggest counter you can fit, but think about how you’ll actually merchandise it.

A beautifully stocked smaller display can look far more inviting than a huge counter that looks half empty.

Measure the space properly – not just the width. Check the depth and height too, allow room for customers to move comfortably in front of it and make sure staff have enough working space behind it.

If you’re planning to expand your deli offering, it’s also worth considering whether matching or modular counters could allow the display to grow with the business.

Your Produce Needs to Look Good

This is where a deli counter really earns its place on the shop floor.

Customers should have a clear view of the food without having to peer through misted glass or poor lighting. Look at the size and shape of the glass, internal lighting and how much usable display deck you’re actually getting.

Anti-mist heated glass can be particularly useful for keeping the customer-facing display clear, while good lighting helps your cheeses, meats, pies and deli produce look their best.

And think about the overall appearance of the counter. A farm shop often has a very different feel from a supermarket, so your refrigeration should complement the shop rather than dominate it.

Don’t Forget the Staff Behind It

Imagine a busy lunchtime or Saturday morning.

Can staff reach everything easily? Is there enough working space? Can the display be replenished quickly?

Refrigerated understorage can be extremely useful because extra stock is kept chilled immediately beneath the display, ready to replace what’s selling above.

Also look at how easy the display deck, glass and working surfaces are to clean. A beautiful counter soon becomes a nuisance if daily cleaning is unnecessarily difficult.

Deli Counter or Multideck?

For many farm shops, we’d actually consider both.

A serve-over deli counter is ideal when you want customers to browse a display and then have cheese, meat, pies or deli produce served by a member of staff.

A multideck suits self-service chilled products – packaged cheese, milk, drinks, sandwiches, prepared meals and other products customers can pick up themselves.

Using the two together can work particularly well: the deli counter creates the traditional personal farm-shop experience, while a multideck takes care of grab-and-go and pre-packed products.

Think About Where the Counter Is Going

Before ordering anything, check the practicalities.

You’ll need to consider the electrical supply, access for delivery, the route through doors and into the shop, ventilation requirements and the ambient conditions where the counter will operate.

Also think about heat and noise. Refrigeration has to reject heat somewhere, and in a smaller farm shop the position of a large counter can affect both staff and customers.

It’s far easier to deal with these questions before a large refrigerated counter arrives at the door.

New Deli Counters Can Be Big Money

A good deli display is an investment, particularly if you’re creating a substantial counter run.

Anglia Catering Equipment supplies new commercial deli display counters, so if you’re fitting out a new farm shop or refurbishing an existing one, we can help you look at different sizes and configurations.

But new isn’t your only option.

Graded and reconditioned equipment can sometimes give you considerably more counter for your budget – and we currently have a particularly interesting example.

Take a Look at Our Two Mafirol Amalias

We currently have two matching reconditioned Mafirol Amalia curved glass chilled displays, priced at £1,599 + VAT each. (Correct at time of publishing — stock is limited to these two units.)

They were originally part of a longer butchery counter commissioned for a customer who subsequently changed their plans. The original counter was professionally divided into three individual sections and reconditioned.

One has already sold, leaving two matching sections available.

For a farm shop deli, there’s a lot to like:

Curved glass front – gives customers a clear view of the produce on display. ✅

Fan-assisted refrigeration – fitted to each display. ✅

LED display lighting – helps showcase the produce at its best. ✅

Anti-mist heated front glass – helps keep the customer-facing display clear. ✅

Refrigerated understorage with doors – keeps additional chilled stock close at hand. ✅

Stainless-steel display deck – provides a practical surface for displaying food. ✅

Electronic controller – provides straightforward operation. ✅

Automatic evaporation of defrost water – adds another useful practical feature. ✅

Standard 13A power supply – keeps the electrical requirements straightforward. ✅

1 year parts warranty – included with each counter. ✅

Free UK Mainland Delivery – included in the price. ✅

Use one as a standalone deli display, or the remaining two give you the opportunity to create a longer matching run.

Planning Your Farm Shop Deli?

Our advice is simple: start with the food, not the fridge.

Tell us what you’re selling, whether it’s served or self-service, how much space you have and roughly what you want to spend. From there, we can help you look at the most suitable new, graded or reconditioned options.

And if you’ve already discovered just how much a new deli counter can cost, take a look at our two remaining reconditioned Mafirol Amalias, with Fast Free UK Mainland Delivery included. At £1,599 + VAT each, they could be a very interesting alternative.