Tapping into the trend towards flexibility in European food retail, SANDEN Environmental Solutions is pursuing a ‘Sanden inside’ strategy of fitting CO2 refrigeration units into cabinets built by Hauser, Arneg and TEKO.
“The strategy is to deploy our CO2 solutions as widely as possible – in commercial refrigeration and also for heating,” Olivier Campy, chief operating officer (EMEA) at SANDEN Environmental Solutions, told R744.com.
The ‘Sanden inside’ strategy sees Sanden install its equipment in different types of cabinet. “What we’re showing at our partners’ booths is that we’re deploying this strategy with different condensing units, whether it’s remote units or plug-in units, or air-cooled or water-cooled – basically, any solution for small or medium-sized stores,” Campy said.
Accelerating CO2 rollout in Europe
By combining Sanden’s CO2 technology expertise with the knowhow of the cabinetmakers, Campy hopes to speed up the rollout of smaller CO2-based cooling systems in Europe.
“Europe is driving the market for CO2, with systems installed in around 8,000 stores already. The trend for us has always been very clear – small-format stores will drive the market. We have decided to tackle the market as a technology provider,” the Sanden chief explained.
Campy believes the stunning success of CO2 transcritical and subcritical refrigeration systems for larger supermarkets has paved the way for manufacturers to target smaller stores too – including the discount market. “We see a great future here” – not just in Japan and in Europe, but also in the United States, he said.
Sanden’s portfolio features a wide variety of CO2-based cooling equipment.
“We have a range of solutions, from 0.6 kW to 9 kW, for medium and low-temperature applications,” Sylvain Gillaux, European Sales & Marketing Manager at SANDEN Environmental Solutions, told R744.com.
He was speaking alongside a Hauser display cabinet at the EuroShop tradeshow in Düsseldorf, Germany. The company has been collaborating with Hauser for a year already.
“We want to provide the market with our small, innovative CO2 solutions, with or without DC inverters,” Gillaux said.
Hauser opting for water or glycol-loop solutions
Martin Dorninger, Senior Key Account Manager at Hauser, showed R744.com how the technology works. “This is a CO2-cooled, semi-plug in cabinet with Sanden technology inside. Circulating in a loop inside is either water or glycol,” he said.
Hauser sees the market for refrigerated cabinets using CO2 or hydrocarbon solutions growing strongly as the EU’s f-gas phase-down takes hold. “We see competition between different natural refrigerant-based solutions growing,” Dorninger said.
Italian cabinet manufacturer Arneg is also putting the Sanden unit inside display cases both large and small. “In the future, many refrigerant gases will be banned – leaving us with the choice of CO2 or propane. Some of our customers will prefer CO2 to propane, because propane is flammable and restricted to a charge of 150g,” said Francesco Ferrari, who works in Arneg’s R&D laboratory.
“The trend for us has always been very clear – small-format stores will drive the market. We have decided to tackle the market as a technology provider.“
Olivier Campy, COO (EMEA), SANDEN Environmental Solutions
Sanden helping TEKO to widen its customer base
TEKO is another of the companies that are partnering with Sanden. It sees the unit as a means of widening its customer base to new store formats. “We want to provide for our customers a whole portfolio with natural refrigerants. For many smaller shops, until now there are only HFC solutions available. We want to go this way with natural refrigerants,” Managing Director Andreas Maier told R744.com.
Propane is an option for smaller stores but many of TEKO’s customers are already used to using CO2 solutions – hence the partnership with Sanden. Shop extensions are “a big market” for the Sanden unit, allowing store managers to easily add one or two cabinets according to requirements.
TEKO is planning to hold a roadshow in Germany, showcasing the Sanden solution, to demonstrate to the German market that CO2 solutions are already available for smaller stores.
“We see competition between different natural refrigerant-based solutions growing.”
Martin Dorninger, Hauser
