SUPERMARKET REFRIGERATION
within the cabinet, which in turn, has consequences for the shelf life, appearance and food safety of perishable merchandise. For example, a temperature range of -1°C to +7°C is accepted as safe and suitable for the display of dairy product, convenience food and chilled snacks.
Temperatures below that range off er the potential for ice crystal formation and higher temperatures will lead to bacterial proliferation. In short, food held within an accurate and stable temperature bandwidth will be maintained at better quality for longer, leading to a more enjoyable product for the customer and less merchandise price discounted or thrown away due to deterioration in quality or appearance. The outfl ow of chilled air from cabinets also promotes cold aisle syndrome, which is the chilly and often uncomfortable temperature experienced by shoppers and staff in the refrigerated departments of supermarkets. Many retailers recognise that cold aisle syndrome can compromise the shopping experience and, during seasonal cold periods, operate costly heating regimes and cold air retrieval systems to temper the chill factor.
In an attempt to off set cabinet cold air spillage, some OEMs and retailers have trialled refrigerated display cabinets with glass or perspex, hinged or sliding doors. Doors are undoubtedly a solution for low footfall stores where the doors are opened infrequently, but they are inappropriate for busy supermarkets with frequent openings. Our tests have demonstrated that glass door cabinets designed for up to 10 openings per hour experience signifi cant loss of temperature control at an opening frequency of 30 or more per hour. Doors can have a negative impact on the visibility of merchandise and act as a
physical barrier to shopping. There are also cleaning and maintenance issues associated with doors on cabinets, which increase operational costs. The ‘holy grail’ for supermarket retailers is a refrigerated display, which eliminates cold air spillage to reduce energy, ensure stable and accurate temperatures and temper the eff ect of cold aisle syndrome, whilst at the same time providing maximum visibility of merchandise and unfettered cabinet access for browsing,
Aircell divides the cabinet’s merchandising envelope into separate air fl ow managed cells with low pressure air columns.
shopping and restocking. Hitherto, such a refrigerated display system has not been available.
At Adande, we have adopted a holistic approach to meeting all of the retailer focussed requirements, by overcoming the fundamental fl aw of open deck multi deck cabinets – the single air curtain, which causes cold air spillage.
Our solution is Aircell, which works by dividing the refrigerated display case’s merchandising envelope into separate air fl ow managed cells with small, low pressure air columns. Each cell has its own air curtain, which is more effi cient than a full case height air curtain on a conventional multi deck case.
The net result is less pressure on the air curtain of each cell and a substantial reduction in cold air spillage from the case. This helps maintain tighter temperature bandwidths, reduce energy consumption by up to 30% and temper the eff ect of cold aisle syndrome. Crucially, Aircell does not
require back panel fl ow to support the air curtain, so it does not over cool and freeze food at the rear of the cabinet. Inevitably, there will be room for more than one type of refrigerated display, to meet retailer focussed requirements, even within the same store. Understanding trading volumes and specifi c merchandising objectives will help with the specifi cation of the most appropriate solution. Glass door cabinets are suitable for retailing areas with minimum footfall and low sales, whilst conventional open front multi decks will continue to be the answer for operations where merchandising fl exibility and frequent changes to shelving confi gurations are required.
Aircell provides all of the advantages of the shopper friendly open front multi deck and is particularly suited for areas with high traffi c and large volume sales, whilst delivering signifi cant energy savings, tighter holding temperatures and a more comfortable shopping experience.
www.acr-news.com
October 2017 29
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