CESA: Chop, chop! Get fresh in the kitchen

Fresh pub food has real customer appeal. The Publican Food Report 2008​ found that 'fresh' is the most popular description, used by 72 per cent of pubs on menus and specials boards.

It can be very tempting for pubs to buy in ready-prepared ingredients to save time and effort, but they typically cost more, and seldom taste as good as the ones made in the kitchen.

Pre-cut, chilled chips are one of the biggest purchases made by pubs. As the recession bites it's time to consider peeling and chopping your own. For many top chefs a favourite gadget is some sort of food prep equipment: a blender, mixer, cutter, slicer or chopper.

Manufacturers have developed an impressive array of power-assisted, automated and semi-automated equipment that can clean, cut, chop, portion and weigh raw materials. They are typically available in a range of sizes or production capacities to meet the needs of all sizes of kitchen.

Powered and automated equipment offers a variety of benefits compared with manually prepping ingredients. As well as being labour saving, they reduce the level of skill required while improving the consistency - size, cut and shape - of the raw product.

In a small kitchen a multi-function tool is ideal. Many commercial mixers have accessories that help produce a whole array of foods, such as mince, sausages and fresh pasta, for example.

And dedicated machines, such as vegetable cutters, meat slicers and potato peelers, will do their jobs perfectly.

As usual, the main rule of thumb is to always buy commercial equipment. Domestic versions simply aren't designed to cope with a commercial kitchen. Not only are they more likely to break down, they could also cause serious health and safety issues.

• The Catering Equipment Suppliers Association (CESA) represents more than 130 companies that supply, service and maintain all types of commercial catering equipment - from utensils to full kitchen schemes. For more information on CESA visit www.cesa.org.uk