A qualified floral chiller is specially designed with the delicate features of flowers and plants in mind. The right refrigerator is vital to the success of your floral business.

When you just start your own floral business and planned to equip your retail stores or the floral departments with a piece of equipment to help you store your cut flowers, a floral chiller is a must.

A floral chiller is quite different from a beverage chiller. Although they might look similar from the outside, floral and beverage coolers are different in terms of how they control temperature and humidity. A floral chiller has a general set temperature that is higher than a beverage chiller -- that's what is needed for flowers.

Flowers need high humidity and gentle airflow to remain fresh and beautiful. The average commercial chiller actually creates low humidity because most food items remain the freshest in this type of environment. In addition, rapid air movement helps maintain low humidity in most commercial chillers and this fast airflow can easily hasten the dehydration of your flowers and cause inventory loss.

Thus, if you’re new to the flower sales business, you need to take care of every equipment investment you make. If you’ve been in business for years, you know how important it is to purchase the specific type of equipment you need to run your business as profitably as possible.

Followed are things you need to consider when you want to purchase your own floral chiller.

1. Size and Capacity

The first thing to consider is size – and not just in terms of available space, but also in terms of how much product you expect to keep in the chiller. Flowers inside a refrigerator need room to “breathe,” meaning you don’t want to cram them in there like you would meat inside a freezer. Make sure you purchase a large enough chiller to give the flowers some space.

Conversely, there’s no need to have a huge chiller when you only need one that’s half the size. If you have no idea about the size, don't hesitate to ask SMAD for help whose professionals can guide you to the most appropriate and economical floral chiller for your specific needs.

No matter what type of chiller you choose, be sure to store your flowers in an appropriate model able to preserve and bring beauty to your arrangements.

Doors

When it comes to the doors, many florists opt for sliding door fresh flower chiller. This allows customers to easily grab their arrangement and bring it to the check stand, and also provides a great visual display for customers to peruse. If you decide to purchase a sliding door chiller, try to choose one that is self-contained and ready to plug in. Adjustable shelving is also important, as you will undoubtedly house various stem lengths inside. Finally, look for an environmentally friendly chiller, like those sold by Powers Equipment Company. If you’re in the business of greenery, it only makes sense to keep the earth green as well.

Some fresh flower chillers contain swinging doors. These can be especially helpful as the doors will not get in the way of the arrangements – a customer can easily grab a bouquet without accidentally damaging any others via the weight of the door. Some swinging door models also contain heated door jams and tracks to keep both customers and flowers comfortable.

A final option for a fresh flower chiller is an open-air model. This is the most popular with florists, as it allows customers to touch and smell the bouquets before purchase. This is the most inviting way to display shop flowers, and these chillers are available in a variety of sizes.

Special Features

As you shop for the floral supplies to help make your business venture a success, it can pay to look for special features that can improve the merchandising or holding of your products. Floral chillers have several of these features for you to keep in mind as you compare available models. If going green and saving energy is important to you, there are floral chillers available that use low-emissivity glass. There are also ENERGY STAR floral chillers available.

In order to help you best merchandise your products, most floral chillers have interior lighting. LED lights are offered by some companies, resulting in a brighter appearance while also being more energy-efficient. Some models have glass sides on all four sides to allow for 360-degree merchandising. Others offer a mirrored rear wall on the interior of the cabinet. Locking doors are also available to help you protect your product. Some models offer lighted sign panels, so you can use pre-made or custom signage to market your flowers.

At fresh flower chiller, SMAD offers a wide range of different options. Reach out today to find out more about our available walk-in floral chillers.