Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC) sits down with exhibitor OiLChef to learn more about how the company's innovative technology for commercial deep fryers is helping hospitality businesses reduce their energy and increase the lifespan of their cooking oil. 

Tell us briefly about OiLChef - when did the business launch and what is the product?

The OiLChef was launched in North America in 2013 and launched in the UK in 2021. OiLChef is an eco-friendly technology that is fitted inside commercial deep fryers to increase cooking oil life and reduce energy consumption.

Tell us a bit about the science behind the OiLChef technology

The trade secret formulation of our product slows down the rate at which cooking oils/fats/drippings and shortenings breakdown and expire. The technology is comprised of a rare earth ceramic pellet (which we exclusively mine) and the ceramic pellet is covered by a fusion of other rare and precious metal of which silver is a key ingredient.

This formula acts as a stopper agent and slows down oxidation, and polymerization, resulting in a healthier cooking liquid that takes longer to build up TPMs, FFAs and peroxide values and ultimately the acrylamides in oil.

How does your business help chefs and hospitality business owners? 

Our OiLChef is a game change and many would say an “Industry Disruptor” as we help chefs and hospitality business owners focus on what they sell and not on what they buy! Our focus is food quality, not oil quality. Our technology enables chefs/cooks/owners to produce up to twice the amount of high quality food in half the amount of cooking oil!

This has a massive impact on reducing cost of food, carbon footprint and improves food quality and profitability.

Typically, our clients break even in six months and the product only needs replacing every three years or so. Each unit comes with a full three year warranty and the product is a simple two second self-installation!

Chefs love our product because of its sophistication and its simplicity. Virtually maintenance free, it's unbreakable in a traditional kitchen environment and has no breakable or replacement parts.

How have attitudes to sustainability and energy saving changed since OiLChef launched?

Business owners are now more aware of their environmental responsibility which has been partially driven by consumer demands and public awareness. Today’s savvy consumers are choosing to spend their money in food establishments that are environmentally conscious and responsible and business owners are responding.

By adopting the OiLChef program, business owners are showing consumers that they care about reducing their carbon footprint. In the early days business owners were not so interested in the energy savings, reduction in plastic oil containers, cardboard boxes, palm tree consumption, CO2 emissions from oil transportation and the environmental consequences of used cooking oil ending up in the environment, the focus then was on how much does OiLChef cost, what can I save and how long does the product last..

What types of customers do you have currently?

We have many types of customers including bars, restaurants, cafes, staff canteens, convenience stores, major grocery retail stores, fish and chip shops, hotels, amusement parks/theme parks, academic institutions, military catering facilities, food processing plants, food manufacturing plants, food trucks and many more entities that have commercial deep fryers in their kitchens.

With a money back guarantee and a three-year warranty, who wouldn’t want to double their cooking oil life and save 50% on monthly oil purchases?

To find out more about OiLChef, visit oilchef.com. To keep up to date with the latest trends, news and interviews from HRC, subscribe to our newsletter.