SPECIAL:


THE FUTURE EDITION


Induction for the planet


The foodservice industry is increasingly turning to electric cooking equipment to reduce energy consumption and cut costs. Induction cooking is a key pillar of this trend, though its high upfront cost has slowed its uptake. Jim Banks looks at its benefits, its challenges and considers a future where it might be the mainstay of commercial cooking


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nduction cooking is not new. It was first showcased at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1933 and was demonstrated as a groundbreaking technology in the 1950s by the Frigidaire division of GM. In the intervening years, the technology has been refined and commercial induction cookers are now widely available, offering operators significant reductions in energy costs and flowing into the world’s slow but steady move away from fossil fuels. The technology relies on an induction coil that operates as a powerful high- frequency electromagnet. Its electromagnetic field generates a rapid flow of electricity directly to a pan or pot, and the eddy current produced in the cooker causes pans made of ferrous metal such as steel or iron to heat up quicker without making the stove top hot. “NASA developed induction cookers that they used for the space program,” says consultant Marco Amatti FCSI at MAPA


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Associates in Brazil. “More units were developed in the United States, but encountered some issues such as low reliability, power as well as noise problems.


“The popularity of induction cooking failed in the US at that time, but further development continued in Asia and Europe,” he adds. “Since the late 1970s, induction cooking technology has become more popular and, since late 2010s, more accessible.” According to Future Market Insights, the global commercial induction cooktop market is expected to reach $17.5bn in 2032, with strong growth expected over the next 10 years. This growth is largely expected because commercial induction


cooktops take up less space and use less energy compared to electric or gas cooktops. They are also considered more


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