How old is my Cafe unit?

Cafe is part of GE Appliances / Haier. 1 serial format sourced across refrigerator, range, dishwasher, washer, dryer, microwave.

Serial number decoder for Cafe

Serial no.

Type the serial from the data plate, not the model number. Nothing is sent anywhere; the tables are in this page.

Format example: LR821547C

Cafe refrigerator serial numbers in the 1977 to present format encode the year as letter 2 via 12-year cycle (table below) and the letter 1 = month (table below) (source: products.geappliances.com).
Example: serial LR821547C decodes to 2020 or 2008 or 1996 or 1984 (June).
The 1977 to present format is ambiguous: Official GE Appliances page. Year letter repeats every 12 years, so GA = April 2001 or April 2013 (GE's own example); GE says to use the print date on the owner's manual (e.g. 02-20) to pick the cycle, or contact them with model + serial. Building-center's Hotpoint page text says '1st = year, 2nd = month' - that is backwards (its GE page, GE's page and the VZ902110G plate stamped NOVEMBER 1988 all say month first). Pre-1977 codes (E=1969/1948, N=1972/1956, two-letter codes AY..DB for 1961-68, B/C/J/K for 1945-53) are in the official table but rarely matter. Worked examples: VZ902110G = Nov 1988 (building-center plate photo), ZV700153M = Dec 1975/1987/1999, LR821547C = Jun 2020, RL059433C = Aug 2018, ZR525322 = Dec 1996, LV227019H = Jun 1999 (Hotpoint), RD166115R = Aug 2002 (Hotpoint) (appliancedates).

Decoder pages by product

1977 to present VERIFIED
AA######ARefrigerator, Range, Dishwasher, Microwave, Washer, Dryer

Official lookup: the authority

Open the official GE Appliances lookup takes n/a; returns support hub; URL partial

Open the official GE Appliances lookup takes serial number; returns warranty / registration lookup; URL verified live

This site is a reference built from published tables. The manufacturer's own lookup wins whenever the two disagree.

Cafe is treated as sharing GE Appliances's format because the source lists it in that family; the corporate relationship itself is an estimate.
No official online lookup URL was verified for Cafe.
GE Appliances premium brand (launched 2018) built in GEA plants; GE's age page covers all GEA serials. cafeappliances.com returns 403 to curl; no building-center page.