Cooling the Future: Trends Transforming the Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Market
Commercial refrigeration systems remove heat and maintain temperatures between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (McLoughlin). With temperatures even lower for frozen goods, safe and quality stored vegetables, meats, dairy, and even prepared meals are preserved and stored. Refrigeration keeps products fresh for longer periods and decreases food waste. As the world turns to be more energy-efficient and sustainable, commercial refrigeration equipment is booming and rapidly evolving.
Lifestyle, Technology, and Diet: The Three Pillars of Current Demand Growth
- The Global Demand for Refrigeration
The demand for frozen and processed foods is also increasing. Global demand for frozen meals, ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, and, more generally, processed foods is increasing because of urbanization, busy lifestyles, and rising disposable incomes. Demand in the tourism and hospitality industries also feeds this inflation, particularly for high-volume commercial refrigeration systems.
- Technological Upgrades
Finally, the use of natural refrigerants like CO2, HC, and ammonia instead of HFC and HCFC refrigerants is becoming the new standard due to technological advancements in the refrigeration industry and the refrigerant regulatory systems on the market. New and improved systems of refrigeration, like vapor-compression, ammonia absorption, and other hybrid cooling cycles, are enabling refrigerant systems to run more efficient and cooler.
- Food Safety, Shelf Life & Cold Chain Expansion
The longer the supply chain and the greater the global trade, the more stringent the temperature control from farm to fork. To avoid spoilage, waste, and satisfy temperature mandates, supermarkets, cold storage facilities, and food distributors undertake substantial investments.
- Retail Formats & Out-of-Home Dining
The increasing number of quick-service restaurants (QSRs), cloud kitchens, food delivery services, and smaller retail grocery outlets all necessitate compact and efficient refrigeration systems. Organized retail, which includes supermarkets and hypermarkets, is expanding in many parts of the world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region as organized retail continues to grow in multiple areas of the world, particularly the Asia-Pacific region.
Regulatory Winds & Obstacles
- Phasing Out Harmful Refrigerants: In alignment with the Montreal Protocol and its Kigali Amendment, countries are increasing limits and bans on HCFCs/HFCs and are incentivizing innovation. Phasing out these harmful refrigerants is propelling innovation, but also increasing the costs of transitions.
- Installation & Replacement Costs: Energy-efficient systems typically have higher upfront costs. These initial costs—and even retrofitting to new systems, which many small businesses simply do not have the funds to do—are still a barrier to be overcome.
- Supply Chain Disruptions: The lack of supply chains, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, includes the passing of systems, the importing of finished systems, and the control of the workforce. While many businesses in these areas have rebounded, the remaining effects still impact the costs and timelines.
Anticipating Future Developments
- Increased Use of Natural and Low-GWP Refrigerants:
Increasing use of CO2, ammonia and hydrocarbons to comply with international climate agreements and reduce GHG emissions.
- Increased Use of Smart Refrigeration Systems:
IoT-enabled refrigeration systems use real-time monitoring and predictive algorithms for maintenance and temperature control, minimizing energy waste.
- Increased Demand for Modular Refrigeration Systems:
More and more modular refrigeration systems are being sought by restaurants, supermarkets, and cold-chain logistics for ease of customization and expansion.
- Installation of Refrigeration Systems to Reduce Operational Costs:
Systems such as variable speed compressors and solar-powered systems integrated with waste heat recovery refrigeration reduce operational costs.
- Manufacturing Using the Cradle-to-Cradle Model:
More industries are designing to eliminate waste, and use eco-friendly construction and recyclable and reclaimed refrigerants for responsible disposal.
Conclusion
This cooling Refrigeration industry will no longer just focus on cooling and on meeting the simple customer’s needs, because now the requirements involve the more complex elements of cost and efficiency, environmental sustainability, new technologies, and new demand elements of of globalized and fast-paced diet. The urgency for commercial refrigeration will not only sustain rational or demand-driven absorption cooling, but it will also transcend the more efficient environmental, green, and sustainable absorption refrigeration systems.