Article | Online Grocery Why the rise of online grocery shopping requires a new approach to refrigeration The pandemic has prompted a change in consumer shopping habits. Indeed, many have switched to buying groceries online, whether choosing home delivery or clickand-collect. But for OEMs working in food retail, this switch to e-commerce requires new refrigeration solutions. By Hans Ole Matthiesen, Head of Refrigeration Marketing, Danfoss Climate Solutions With online grocery shopping looking to sustain a 10%* growth post-COVID , click-and-collect models—including local distribution centers, supermarket drive-ins, and refrigerated food lockers—are increasingly viable, bringing new opportunities and challenges when it comes to maintaining food temperature. lockers—with individual cells for different products—enabling customers to collect their order from a convenient location. They’re efficient, minimize delivery and maintenance costs for retailers, and significantly reduce labor. But developing these lockers isn’t an easy task. It requires the right equipment and expertise. Unlocking new alternatives to the expensive last mile Creating standalone refrigeration lockers is a complex process. Each locker needs to withstand conditions outside, and to be closely monitored, to guarantee food safety. And when you’re storing different types of produce—for example, storing meat alongside tomatoes—you’ll need to incorporate different temperature zones. It’s like fitting an entire supermarket into a closet. Online grocery shopping isn’t new, and delivery services have been growing in popularity for years. However, the cost of last-mile delivery can outweigh its benefits. High vehicle maintenance and running costs result in a high delivery cost for every order. And last-mile storage temperatures can be difficult to control, potentially compromising food quality— from the frozen lettuce to the melted ice cream. Reliable refrigeration and monitoring solutions are needed to maintain the cold chain during the transport. Micro-fulfilment centers, shortening delivery trips, are one alternative. Another is local pick-up points or food refrigeration * www.nytimes.com What do OEMs need to consider when developing outdoor grocery refrigeration? There are several factors for you to consider when designing sustainable, efficient refrigeration solutions to enable grocery s

Monitoring In many parts of the world, food retailers need to comply with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) standards for food hygiene and safety. That requires them to accurately monitor control points, such as temperature—which might be difficult across a network of remote locations. Thankfully, digital solutions can help. With smart remote monitoring, retailers will be able to protect perishable stock, align with regulations, and reduce food loss costs. For example, solutions like IoT enablers and cloud services—available in the Danfoss Alsense Food Retail range—can connect...

In fact, we’ve already helped several of our customers— including one of the largest retail technology providers in Europe—to develop and test complex refrigeration units. With multiple temperature zones to maintain, they needed the right equipment and tools to ensure constant, reliable temperature in each one. By delivering a full portfolio of compressors, valves, condensers and more, qualified for use with R290 and A2L refrigerants, we helped them develop and test a new range of grocery lockers—delivering precise temperature control, alarm monitoring. Today, they’re being rolled out across...