Food Retailers Add Refrigeration Load in Response to Pandemic

摘要

Last month's FROSTlines article looked at how food retailers were rapidly adapting to changes brought about by the pandemic. This included accommodating customers who wanted to place their orders online and either pick them up in person - called click-and-collect - or else have those orders delivered to their homes. In either case, stores had to quickly add refrigerated staging areas that could be used to hold the increasing number of online orders that were being placed. As the pandemic lingers, changes will continue to affect all parts of the cold chain, from food retailers to distribution warehouses. This will give every part of the grocery sector the opportunity to be innovative and perhaps try new technologies that, to date, they have only thought about implementing. As far as cold storage is concerned, Tony Welter, grocery practice director and vice president at Henderson Engineers in Kansas City, Missouri, predicts that the grocery sector is going to see smaller distribution centers in order to address the "last mile" to a customer's home. However, there will likely be a variety of cold storage needs coming with midsize and large distribution centers. "Henderson has seen an uptick in grocery cold storage projects in the last year," he said. "Larger cold storage projects can utilize packaged equipment as used in most stores, or they can opt to have a refrigerated plant design. Each client has their own needs when it comes to design, and it is important to present the options and costs in a way an educated decision can be made."