At Rodway, we care about you and your business!
We have created this helpful 6-step commercial food service resources guide to assist you in making the best decision for your business.

STEP 1: CONFIRM SIZE AND USE: Food equipment can range in size dramatically. For example, two-door coolers and freezers can range in size from 24 cubic feet to 49 cubic feet. Make sure you are taking into account the interior volume and dimensions along with the quantity of doors. It is little help saving 25% on a unit that is 50% smaller because you are actually pay more per cubic foot!

STEP 2: ARE PARTS EASY TO FIND?: Increasingly, retailers in Canada and the US have begun re-branding imported equipment by putting English names on foreign equipment. A good tip is, if you can not find the manufacturer’s website online, you are likely buying re-branded equipment and may have difficulty with parts and warranty support.

STEP 3: DOES IT HAVE THE NECESSARY CERTIFICATIONS?: All food equipment used in Canada must be properly certified. These certifications indicate the unit’s electronics are safe to use by Canadian consumers and/or it meets the correct sanitation requirements. Approved products will have the stamps or stickers somewhere on the unit indicating they have been inspected and are suitable for safe usage. It should be noted that border and customs inspectors do not look for certifications prior to admitting products into the country making it easy to import uncertified equipment. However, health and occupancy inspectors have begun to increasingly incorporate verifying equipment certifications during their inspections and will force users to discontinue use of, and remove, non-compliant equipment. At Rodway, we only sell certified equipment and offer a lifetime money back guarantee if any of our products do not meet certification requirements at time of sale.

STEP 4: WARRANTY: Warranties are typically broken down by parts, labour, and compressor warranties. Canadian law states equipment must be sold with a minimum one-year warranty but does not state who is responsible for the warranty. Therefore, warranties can be backed by the MANUFACTURER or the RETAILER. Hint: Foreign manufactured units are often sold with a warranty provided by the RETAILER. So, if your retailer disappears, so does your warranty! At Rodway, we only sell brand name equipment backed with manufacturer supported warranties. This gives you piece of mind if something were to happen in the future!

STEP 5: SUPPORT: Who do you call if you have a problem? At Rodway, we are managed by TRAINED TECHNICIANS who can assist with professional help and expertise thereby saving you time and money when you have a problem from either of our offices in Western Canada. We also stock a wide selection of parts!

STEP 6: LEASE OR BUY: Now that you have decided on the right equipment for your business you can choose to lease or buy. As always, we offer competitive pricing on all our items but we also understand you might want to lease your equipment. Leasing can offer tax advantages and free up capital to spend on other aspects of your business. Let us know how we can help you select the strategy that works for you.