City Holdings has commissioned its fourth CO2 transcritical project, fitting an SCM Frigo plant at a small-format Coles Local store in Melbourne, Victoria.

“We’ve commissioned another CO2 transcritical refrigeration system, this time at Coles Local in Surrey Hills,” said Brian Toulson, senior project enginner, City Holdings (Aus) Pty Ltd.

Italian multinational SCM Frigo, part of the Beijer Ref Group, provided the system, which was commissioned today (7 December).

“It’s another great project using natural refrigerants, and our fourth transcritical project for the year,” Toulson said.

“It’s another great project using natural refrigerants, and our fourth transcritical project for the year.

Brian Toulson, City Holdings

‘Local neighbourhood supermarket’

Coles’ first ‘local neighbourhood supermarket’, which features an in-store chef and a barista, is the retailer’s answer to Woolworths’ small-format Metro shops.

“Coles Local gives the Surrey Hills community the convenience of a supermarket with the character of a specialty store,” said Coles Chief Executive Steven Cain.

The 1,280 m2 Melbourne store is about half the size of the retailer’s regular supermarkets. It sells local gourmet produce and speciality ranges, with exclusive Coles Local-branded products including ready meals, the ‘Beyond Meat’ vegetarian and vegan range, and gourmet bakery and pastry ranges.

The use of natural refrigerants corresponds to Coles’ vision of environmentally friendly Coles Locals featuring 100% Australian-grown fresh fruit and vegetables and a zero-food waste policy.

Coles plans to extend the format to other parts of Australia, and will “listen carefully to customer feedback on the Surrey Hills store as we seek to roll out smaller format stores in coming years”.

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