THE STORY OF GRAND PRIX CATERING EQUIPMENT….

The Equipment Co* is so proud to have played a small part in the success of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2025.

Working with Food & Desire, one of Melbourne’s best caterers, we’ve helped them deliver their hospitality experience by building 9 kitchens with over 230 pieces of equipment.

Our equipment supplied includes combi ovens, hot boxes, deep fryers, refrigeration, freezers, dishwashers, handwash, shelves and stainless steel trestles to name a few of the items.

Beyond our support of Food & Desire, we helped another 14 retail vendors with over 70 pieces of equipment including oven ranges, griddle plates, pizza ovens, bain maries, handwash and stainless steel trestles.

For us, the event starts 6 months in advance when we review last year’s event and brainstorm the innovation we could bring for the coming year. We research our innovations, then do some more research, discuss the ideas with our partners, plan, find suppliers, test the equipment and finally purchase it.

Around 8-10 weeks in advance of the race we start preparing the 300+ pieces of Formula 1 catering equipment. We do repairs, testing and re-cleaning to confirm everything is working properly and ready for the busy race week.

Our deliveries into the racetrack start around 3 weeks in advance of race week and with a bit of luck and some hard work, are completed 1 week in advance. That’s 14 truckloads packed, delivered and positioned over 10 days. As the individual kitchens are built by the Harry The Hirer team, we do the delivery and positioning of our equipment so the plumbing and electrical teams can connect the power, waste and water. We work hard to make sure everyone that is depending on the equipment being onsite and in position can do this job in a timely manner.

As a final check, our team spends a day walking to each kitchen and vendor, turning everything on, whether it be gas or electric, running cooking cycles on ovens, washing cycles on dishwashers and polishing the last of the fingerprints off all that stainless steel!

We give every kitchen and vendor as much support as they need each race day by having a team on site and on call. Faulting equipment is no good to anyone doing Grand Prix catering! Being able to see our equipment in action and being put through its paces is truly remarkable.

What an amazing effort from every inch of the business – from providing advice to clients on their equipment selections, to preparing the equipment, delivering it, setting it up for use and then providing the on-ground support during the event……

We’re now looking forward to playing our small part in the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2026.

Need to know more? Reach out and chat with the team – https://www.equipmentco.com.au/contact-us/