Sales soar as consumers seek maximum convenience, though experts say most products don’t need to be kept cool
When it comes to essential fixtures and fittings for bathrooms, the most common are tubs and taps. But now there is a new must-have emerging: a mini fridge.
Used to store everything from beauty products to GLP-1 medication, the growing demand reflects a wider trend in how the wellness industry and weight-loss drugs are reshaping homes.
Emma Lewis, the marketing manager for Sub-Zero & Wolf, a luxury cooling appliance manufacturer in Essex, said the company had seen a tenfold increase in demand for mini fridges over the past two years.
Clients have requested they be installed everywhere from en suites to walk-in wardrobes to home offices.
Lewis described mini fridges as “beverage centres”, noting they were originally used to chill drinks in at-home bars and gyms. But she said nowadays they were more likely to house face creams, jars of supplements, gut health shots and injectables.
“It is more convenient to have products to hand in say a bathroom rather than having to walk to a kitchen fridge,” Lewis said. “That sense of ease is really what people want.”
At Sub-Zero & Wolf, prices start from a whopping £5,000, but the trend is not limited to high-end spenders. On the secondhand retail site Gumtree, where the average mini fridge costs £45, searches rose by 85% from January to June.
Smeg sells a 38-litre compact version of its trademark retro style for £899, while online marketplaces are peppered with colourful versions and even mirrored options for less than £30.
Gumtree’s chief executive, Nav Dhillon, says mini fridges were “moving beyond student halls and hotel rooms to become a lifestyle purchase” with warmer weather further driving demand.
However, Dr Ariel Haus, a dermatologist and the founder of the London-based clinic Dr Haus Dermatology, said the amount of skincare products that require refrigeration was limited.
“A mini fridge is a nice-to-have for a handful of actives, and a gimmick for almost everything else,” he said.
He said vitamin C serums and retinoids – vitamin A derivatives including retinol and tretinoin – were examples of products that should be refrigerated.
“Active forms of vitamin C, like L-ascorbic acid, are highly unstable and oxidise quickly when exposed to heat, light and air,” he said. “Once a vitamin C serum oxidises, it turns yellow or brown and loses potency, so keeping it cool genuinely extends shelf life.”
Retinoids behaved similarly, Haus said, degrading faster in warm conditions