Our brief … To design and supply a staff cafeteria for the NEW Woolworths 40,000m2 Distribution Centre in Palmerston North. The equivalent of four rugby fields!

Alongside the development of the giant $100 million Countdown Distribution Centre in Palmerston North, the Teams at Southern Hospitality designed and fitted out a state-of-the-art Staff Cafeteria and Kitchen.

Working closely with Watts & Hughes and MDM project managers, on behalf of Woolworths NZ, the highly experienced Project Team along with our sister company Project Stainless have delivered an environmentally conscience space.

With sustainability and the environment front of mind for this project, one of the features was to install an eWater solution. eWater has an onsite system that utilises electrolysis technology to generate an endless stream of commercial grade disinfectant, sanitiser and multi-purpose cleaning solution- at the press of a button! Replacing packaged chemicals with reusable bottles means no more single-use plastics and no more harsh chemicals going down the drain.

 A range of Festive Devon Ambient, Chilled and heated cabinets were installed to ensure a range of foods were easily displayed and hygienically stored for the staff and contractors at Countdown doing the mahi to keep New Zealand supplied with the essentials. 

Customised stainless steel solutions were required for this large kitchen and our nationwide sister company Project Stainless made the purpose-built fittings as per the customer requirements

Ideal for tough commercial environments to keep food cold and fresh, we installed the Skope Irinox Blast Chiller with high efficiency evaporators as well as  Skope Reflex Underbench Refrigeration Units with power savings and the SKOPEconnect app was installed.

Bringing style and peak performance to this professional commercial kitchen the Convotherm Electric Combi and Waldorf Electric Convection Oven EMW74 were selected to meet the demands.

For speed and durability the Waldorf Electric Twin Pan Fryer , Menumaster Microwaves and Kolb Atollspeed are tried and tested solutions with high quality output and ideal for this large cafeteria. Some smaller benchtop equipment was also required including the Dualit 4 Slice Toaster and Fiamma Contact Grill

To keep things organised a range of Tonon Shelving to optimise space and increase production areas were fitted in the cold rooms and kitchens.

Back of house, a few highlights are the functional Fisher Pre Rinse Bench Mount and the Starline M2C Passthrough Dishwasher with heat recovery unit and reduced energy consumption was installed, not only better for the environment but also for staff wellbeing.

Opening 3 weeks early, to help relieve delivery pressures during Covid-19 lockdown the Team are proud to be involved with this Kiwi success story.

Contact us to talk about your next project and we will find a solution to suit you no matter how big or small your hospitality venue is.