Commercial kitchen finance for New Zealand restaurants, hotels, and food service operators .

A full commercial kitchen fitout in NZ commonly runs $30,000 to $200,000+ ex-GST depending on cuisine, cover count, and brand tier. Smaller cafe and bistro fitouts (combi oven, compact cookline, pass-through dishwasher, prep benches) sit at $30,000 to $80,000. Mid-size casual dining restaurants serving 50 to 100 covers run $80,000 to $150,000. Flagship restaurant and hotel kitchens with multiple combi ovens, dual cooklines, walk-in cooler and freezer, and multiple dishwashers run $150,000 to $200,000+. Brand tier (Rational and Hobart at the upper end, Convotherm and Winterhalter mid, alternative brands lower) materially shifts the band.

Specialist hospitality finance routes lead the NZ commercial kitchen pool. SilverChef offers Rent-Try-Buy 12-month flexible products and Lease-to-Keep 4 to 5 year structures across most kitchen equipment categories. Southern Hospitality, the largest NZ commercial kitchen distributor, runs in-house finance alongside its supply network. Generic asset financiers (Heartland Bank, UDC Finance, Spinach) cover independent purchases through any dealer. Prospa covers unsecured top-up for smaller-ticket prep benches and fittings. Major banks (ANZ, BNZ, ASB, Westpac) cover larger restaurant groups and hotel chains.

SilverChef Rent-Try-Buy is a 12-month flexible rental product covering most NZ commercial kitchen equipment categories. The operator rents the equipment for up to 12 months at a published monthly rate, then has three options at any time within the 12 months: return the equipment with no penalty, continue rental on a month-to-month basis, or buy the equipment with 75% of paid rental applied as credit against the purchase price. SilverChef retains title throughout the rental period. The product suits new concepts wanting to validate cuisine and cover count before committing to 4 to 5 year capex. SilverChef publishes the product terms in full.

SilverChef Lease-to-Keep is a 4 to 5 year structured lease covering NZ commercial kitchen equipment. The operator pays a fixed monthly rental over the lease term, with a small residual payment at the end clearing title. SilverChef retains title until the residual is cleared. Lease-to-Keep suits operators with clearer hold intent than Rent-Try-Buy candidates but who prefer rental cash-flow shape over chattel-mortgage cash-flow shape. GST is claimed across the rental payments rather than upfront. SilverChef publishes the product terms in full.

A GST-registered hospitality operator can typically claim the full GST component on combi ovens, cooklines, dishwashers, refrigeration, and stainless fabrication acquired under chattel mortgage as input tax in the next GST return after settlement, subject to the accountant's confirmation. Where the equipment is acquired under hire purchase, the same upfront GST treatment generally applies because legal title passes at the start. Where it is acquired under operating lease or a SilverChef Rent-Try-Buy or Lease-to-Keep product (which are structured as rentals with title retained by the lessor), GST is typically claimed across the rental payments rather than upfront. The accountant is the right person to confirm the structure choice and GST timing on the specific business position.

IRD publishes asset-class depreciation rates that vary by category. Commercial kitchen equipment commonly sits across several asset classes: refrigeration equipment, cooking equipment, dishwashers, and stainless steel fabrication. Each class carries its own published diminishing-value or straight-line rate, and the IRD asset-class look-up is the authoritative reference. The accountant is the right person to confirm the rate that applies to each line item on a kitchen fitout. Depreciation is calculated against the GST-exclusive cost of the asset, not the GST-inclusive cost. On disposal, any gain or loss against the depreciated book value is brought to account.

The Food Act 2014, administered by MPI through local-authority Verifiers, requires most NZ food businesses to operate under a Food Control Plan (higher-risk operations such as restaurants and cafes) or a National Programme (lower-risk operations such as packaged-food retail). The kitchen design must support the registered plan, including separation of raw and ready-to-eat zones, dishwasher temperature compliance (typically 60 degrees C wash, 82 degrees C rinse for sanitation), refrigeration monitoring, and hand-wash station placement. Lenders do not generally underwrite Food Act compliance but commonly check that registration is in place or planned. The local MPI Verifier signs off the kitchen at commissioning and conducts ongoing verification visits.

Commercial kitchen equipment on chattel mortgage commonly runs 4 to 5 year loan terms. Combi ovens, cooklines, dishwashers, and walk-in coolers all attract 4 to 5 year terms reflecting useful life. Smaller-ticket items (prep benches, hand-wash stations, mobile workstations) sometimes attract shorter 3 to 4 year terms. SilverChef Rent-Try-Buy operates on a 12-month flexible rental basis; SilverChef Lease-to-Keep runs 4 to 5 years. The loan term should fit within the expected useful life of the equipment for the cuisine and cover count; high-throughput restaurants wear equipment faster than lower-volume venues.

Indicative rates on commercial kitchen finance commonly sit in the 9% to 13% per annum band depending on structure, security, and operator profile. Chattel-mortgage finance secured by new dealer-supplied equipment for an established restaurant operator sits at the lower end (commonly 9-11%). SilverChef Rent-Try-Buy is structured as rental with a published monthly rate rather than a quoted interest rate. Generic unsecured term loans on smaller fittings sit at the upper end (commonly 12-15%). Final rate is set by the lender after assessment.

Where equipment is financed under chattel mortgage and the restaurant closes before the loan is repaid, the lender typically has a security interest registered on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) and can take possession of the equipment to recover the outstanding balance. Any shortfall between resale value and balance owing typically falls to the borrower and any personal guarantor. Used commercial kitchen equipment (combi ovens, dishwashers, refrigeration) typically retains 40-60% of value over a 5-year hold period; bespoke fabrication holds less. SilverChef Rent-Try-Buy and Lease-to-Keep equipment is returned to SilverChef on default rather than sold to clear a balance, because title remains with SilverChef.

Yes. Larger commercial kitchen fitouts ($100K+) are commonly financed in stages tied to fitout milestones, particularly where the build sequence includes structural work (extraction, plumbing, electrical) before equipment install. Specialist hospitality finance lenders (SilverChef, Southern Hospitality finance) and asset financiers (Heartland, UDC) can structure staged drawdowns: a deposit drawdown on order, a progress drawdown on delivery, and a final drawdown on commissioning. The MPI Verifier sign-off (Food Control Plan) is commonly the trigger for the final drawdown to release. The kitchen designer or distributor coordinates the drawdown schedule with the lender.

Lenders do not directly underwrite Food Act 2014 compliance but commonly check that Food Control Plan or National Programme registration is in place or planned with the local MPI Verifier as part of the application file. Established operators provide the existing registration; greenfield operators provide evidence of MPI Verifier engagement and the draft plan. A kitchen design that does not support the registered plan (for example missing raw-vs-ready-to-eat separation, insufficient dishwasher temperature, no refrigeration monitoring) creates Food Act compliance risk that can affect operating viability and therefore loan serviceability. The local MPI Verifier is the authoritative reference on plan compliance.

Yes. Used commercial kitchen equipment (3 to 7 year old combi ovens, dishwashers, walk-in coolers, cooklines) is widely financeable through generic asset financiers (Heartland Bank, UDC Finance, Spinach) and through dealer trade-in programmes via Southern Hospitality. SilverChef Rent-Try-Buy and Lease-to-Keep cover both new and ex-rental refurbished equipment in their rental pool. The indicative rate band on used equipment commonly sits 1 to 3 percentage points above new equivalent because the security position is weaker. Used equipment with documented service history (dealer-supplied) finances more cleanly than equipment bought from private sellers.

Yes. Established restaurants with 18 to 36 months of clean trading history commonly refinance existing kitchen equipment loans into tighter pricing, particularly where the original loan was written at a higher rate during a greenfield application or at a peak rate-cycle point. Refinancing is also commonly used to consolidate multiple equipment loans (combi, cookline, dish, refrigeration) into a single facility, or to release equity to fund a kitchen upgrade or second-site fitout. Early-repayment fees on the original loans, the resale or carrying value of the existing equipment, and the security position across the asset stack are the main considerations.