Rational has confirmed that all combi steamers on backorder remain on schedule to be delivered in 2022 – but said any new orders won’t reach kitchens until January 2023 at the earliest due to the ongoing global supply situation.
In a statement issued last week, the company said: “Continued high demand for our cooking systems demonstrate that the hospitality industry is picking up again. However, as with many other industries, the combination of elevated demand and disruptions to global supply chains are unfortunately resulting in additional restrictions.
“Current challenges like the Ukraine/Russia conflict and renewed lockdowns in China are putting further strain on the supply chain and have escalated the situation dramatically to our current situation.”
Rational said it is still investing large sums of money to procure delayed or unavailable parts and assemblies as quickly as possible.
“Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, we are unable to accommodate the increased customer demand for our products in a timely manner. We are aware that this will lead to dissatisfaction for our customers and partner network. We sincerely regret this.”
The company said it wanted to take the opportunity to reiterate that it is aiming to fulfil demand as quickly as possible.
“Customers and our partners should continue to specify and place orders with Rational with consideration to our current lead time. Now, however, we cannot make any reliable predictions as to when global supply chain delays will abate. We hope that the challenges we are currently facing will be resolved quickly, and that the situation stabilises as soon as possible.”
