Food Truck Equipment Checklist Ireland: The Refrigeration & Prep Kit You Actually Need (2026)

Street food and mobile catering have properly taken off in Ireland over the last few years, festivals, markets, retail parks, and permanent trailer pitches are everywhere now. But there's a big difference between a trailer that looks the part and one that actually passes an environmental health inspection and holds up through a full trading season. The equipment is where most new operators either get it right or end up with a costly reshuffle six months in.

This checklist focuses on the part of a food truck or catering trailer build that we know best: refrigeration, cold storage and prep. If you're putting together a food truck equipment list for Ireland, here's what actually needs to go on it, and why. We won't cover every last item, generators, extraction, signage and so on are their own conversation, but by the end of this you'll have the cold chain and prep side of the build properly sorted.

1. An Undercounter Fridge for Your Daily Stock

Space is the enemy on any trailer, so an undercounter fridge is usually the first thing to go in. It sits under your worktop, keeps your daily-use stock at arm's reach, and doesn't eat floor space you don't have.

The Atosa R-MBC24R Undercounter Stainless Fridge is a good example of the size class that works well in a trailer: 605mm wide, 145 litres, running +2°C to +5°C, on castors so you can pull it out to clean behind it. Fully ventilated cooling copes better with a trailer's more variable temperatures than a static unit.

Warranty and delivery vary by brand and model, so always check the individual product page before ordering, but most of our undercounter fridges ship within a few working days. If you'd rather have a positive-temperature and a sub-zero option side by side, the same size class is also available as an undercounter freezer, useful if you're running both fresh and frozen stock in a tight galley layout.

2. A Prep Counter That Doubles as a Worktop

If you're doing anything with fresh toppings, salads, or made-to-order food, a dedicated prep counter fridge earns its keep twice over: it's cold storage and your workspace in one footprint, which matters when every centimetre of trailer counts.

The Atosa Pizza Prep Fridge ESL3852GR gives you a granite worktop, three stainless shelves and fan-assisted cooling underneath, built originally for pizza but just as handy for a burrito van, a sandwich trailer or a burger truck doing fresh assembly to order.

3. A Chest Freezer for Bulk Storage

Upright freezers are brilliant in a kitchen but they're a poor use of space on a trailer, the door swing alone can cost you a walkway. A chest freezer stores more for the floor space it takes and sits comfortably under a low ceiling, which most trailers have.

The Unifrost Chest Freezer CF350W is a compact option at 1035mm wide by 710mm deep, running -18°C to -24°C with a lockable lid, useful if you're parked up overnight and want your stock secured. If you need more capacity, the same range goes up to the CF601 with a stainless split lid and two internal baskets for easier organising.

4. A Compact Ice Maker

Anyone doing drinks, whether that's iced coffee, cocktails or soft drinks, underestimates how much ice a busy service actually burns through. Running back and forth to a shop for bagged ice mid-service is the kind of thing that quietly kills your margin on a good day.

A commercial ice maker sized to a trailer, like the Tefcold TC26 Ice Maker, produces clear, slow-melting cubes with an antibacterial storage bin built in, so you're not storing ice loose next to food.

5. Countertop Cooking Equipment

Not strictly refrigeration, but it's part of the same footprint conversation, so worth including. A countertop griddle or fry top gives you a full cooking surface without needing a floor-standing range, which most trailers simply don't have room for.

The Blizzard 3000w Flat Top Single Griddle BG1A is a good entry point for a single-operator trailer, while the double-plate BG2A suits a two-person setup with more volume going through it.

6. Don't Forget the Niche Add-Ons

If ice cream, soft serve or a summer-only sideline is part of your plan, it's worth looking at dedicated ice cream display freezers too, we cover the static versus ventilated decision in our ice cream display freezer buyer's guide. And if you're running a stall rather than a full trailer, our hot food carts collection is worth a look as an alternative to a full build.

Running a bar or drinks trailer instead of a food menu? A backbar fridge does the same job as an undercounter fridge but built for bottle and can storage with better display. The Unifrost Bottle Cooler BC10HBE holds 96 bottles in a 605mm-wide footprint, runs +1°C to +10°C, and comes with a 1-year parts warranty and 1-2 working day delivery, solid numbers for a trailer that needs to turn drinks around fast.

What to Look for Beyond the Spec Sheet

Two trailers can look identical on paper and perform very differently once they're actually in service. A few things worth checking before you order:

• Ventilated versus static cooling. Ventilated (fan-assisted) units recover temperature faster after the door's been opened and closed all day, which matters far more on a trailer than in a kitchen where the fridge stays shut between services.
• Castors, not just feet. Nearly everything on this list comes on castors as standard, worth confirming, since you'll want to pull units out to clean behind and under them regularly in a small space.
• Replaceable door gaskets. A trailer takes more knocks than a fixed kitchen. Units with a simple, replaceable gasket save you a full unit replacement down the line over a worn seal.
• Digital controllers with a visible display. You want to glance at a temperature reading without opening the unit, especially useful for HACCP record-keeping, which environmental health will ask to see.

Getting the Sizing Right

A few things trip up first-time trailer operators more than anything else on the equipment side:

• Power supply. Most trailers run off a generator or a limited hook-up, so check the running wattage of everything you're adding, not just the fridge, before you commit to a layout.
• Ventilation. Compressors need airflow to work properly. A unit crammed against a wall with no clearance will run hotter, work harder, and wear out faster.
• Weight and footprint before features. It's tempting to buy the biggest unit that fits on paper, but trailers have axle weight limits too, so check gross weight, not just external dimensions, before you order.
• Water and drainage. Ice makers need a water feed and a drain, whether that's mains-connected or a tank you top up and empty yourself. Work out which before you pick a spot for it.
• Commercial-grade only. Environmental health officers inspecting a food truck or trailer will expect commercial refrigeration, not a domestic fridge freezer from a home appliance shop. It needs to hold temperature reliably under continuous use, and be built for a mobile environment.

What Does It Cost?

Every trailer build is different, but as a rough guide, ex VAT: compact undercounter fridges in this size class typically run from around €700 to €1,050, chest freezers from around €680 to €1,100 depending on capacity, and compact commercial ice makers from around €1,400 to €1,700. Countertop griddles start lower, from around €540 for a single flat top. Browse the full catering equipment range for current pricing on any of the above.

FAQ

Can I use a domestic fridge in a food truck in Ireland?
No. Environmental health officers expect commercial-grade equipment built for continuous use and food safety compliance, not a domestic appliance.

What size undercounter fridge fits a standard trailer?
Most trailer builds work well with a 600mm-wide undercounter unit, it's the standard footprint for the space under a worktop without eating into your working area.

Is a chest freezer or an upright freezer better for a food truck?
A chest freezer almost always wins on a trailer. It stores more for the floor space used and doesn't need door-swing clearance, which is scarce in a mobile unit.

How much ice does a busy food truck actually need?
It depends entirely on what you're serving, but a dedicated ice maker sized for your daily covers is nearly always cheaper over a season than buying bagged ice.

Does an ice maker need a plumbed water connection on a trailer?
Most commercial ice makers are designed for a mains water feed and drain, but they can also run from a topped-up tank if your trailer isn't plumbed, just factor in the extra job of filling and draining it during service.

What warranty should I expect on trailer equipment?
It varies by brand and model rather than being a blanket rule, most of the units in this guide carry somewhere between one and two years on parts. Always check the individual product page rather than assuming, since it differs unit to unit.

Ready to Kit Out Your Trailer?

Every one of these categories ships across Ireland, and our team can help you size a fridge, freezer or ice maker to your exact trailer layout before you buy, rather than after. Browse our full range of commercial refrigeration and catering equipment here, or get in touch if you want a hand picking the right combination for your build.