Collaborating expert research: For healthy cold chain movement

Industry leaders discuss on energising the available resources by infusing the cutting-edge cold chain technologies to the food and beverage industry and amplifying the maximum outreach to cater superior services every day.

Food has always been an integral part of the each and every region of the world. Especially, in a country like India, having multi-lingual states, having their own specialised and unique cuisine, profoundly ingrained to its traditions, lifestyles, religions, climates and agricultural conditions.

However, as we are witnessing, each new generation is ushering socio-economic and cultural changes and this is now reflecting in their overall behaviour, including food habits. The shape, size and construct of food industry is thus changing. This evolution is further supported by continuous improvements in the food supply chain inclusive of product development, production, processing, distribution and marketing.

Trends in food and beverage industry
Food and beverage companies are facing growing uncertainty in the marketplace. The tariff and global trade tensions from 2018 will continue this year, coupled with rising costs. Some companies are already facing issues with on-time delivery due to the truck driver shortage. Consumers and grocery stores will absorb only so much of the cost so companies will have to look to new, innovative solutions to help control their costs and still grow.

Mihir Sanghvi, ISHRAE President, Mumbai Chapter feels, there is a positive change in the food and beverage industry. He says, “Due to lack of facilities in the cold chain movement, over 25 – 30 per cent of the farm produced products, doesn’t reach to the table. Considering this as need of the hour, ISHRAE is cognisant to take the movement to the next level, as an attempt to widen the services.”

There’s a huge wastage of food nowadays. Although, India is talking of achieving great heights and altitudes in the cold chain industry, but, India still remains at the primitive stage. Every day, at almost all places, food is wasted and the leftover food is thrown into the dustbin, which again, doesn’t reach to the people who need them, and this is due to unavailability of storages. Amod Dikshit, AHSRAE, President Mumbai Chapter highlights, “Since the government is firm on improvising cold chain and the food storage facilities of the industry, there is a transformation in the supply chain, which lets the storages serve the food to the consumers.”

India, being one of the world’s largest producers of fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, and seafood, can access not more than 60 per cent of production, largely, due to the inadequate cold chain infrastructure.According to Esequias Pereira Junior, Sales Senior Manager, -Asia-Pacific region, Embraco, India has a huge potential to improve it, by developing the whole system, while reducing the gap between production and cold storage and escaping food wastage.

He further adds, “Embraco’s solutions maintain the food preserved through the whole chain and has a complete portfolio to supply cold room in farms; mobile cold rooms for food transportation; to refrigerate the products in the supermarkets and to keep the food fresh at home. The portfolio includes condensing units and compressors such as NJX, NT, and FMX (variable speed technology).”

Shaping India among global counterparts
The manufacturing sector, and entrepreneurs are the key contributors to the national GDP. It’s the industry’s one of the primary responsibility to upgrade the available technologies with the newer ones, further make them easy to access.

Insisting on creating more awareness, Sanghvi said that, “It’s important to explore and augment the available energy efficient solutions to the consumers while constantly enhancing them with the possible advancements, and adding the newer solutions to improve the air quality indoor.”

He further highlighted on ‘One degree challenge’, an ISHRAE initiative to reduce energy consumption, and said, “We are willing to pose this ‘One degree challenge’, living on various social media platforms, aiming to reach the masses, and challenging them to reduce their air-conditioner by 10C, from their existing temperature. Aiming at embracing the environment, by reducing the energy consumption, and preserving it for the future generation, this initiative will let the people live a habitat, even when the cooling is a little more that the body temperature, yet comfortable.

Whereas, Dikshit, says that any engineer, responsible for creating HVAC&R designs and standards, should consider to match the industry’s needs, the manufacturers and the produces. Moreover, ASHRAE is a platform for these industry, including the manufacturers, producers, distributors, together conduct research, essentially on their specialised areas, and enhance their services and supplies for its customers.
ASHRAE have framed specific standards for every single product and keep upgrading them with time, and they strongly believe in following them, so as to deliver a better product every time, whilst, maintaining a substantial growth. It, as a body, has got more than 55,000 of members across the world, who are jointly working as TGs (technical group), where the worldwide leader collaborates their researches and their expertise to bring in innovative solutions to the problem are and cater better advanced services. ASHRAE set’s the workable standards for worldwide products.

According to Pereira, energy-efficiency, food preservation, better acoustic solutions and sustainability are big trends in this industry. Certainly, variable speed solutions are the ones which best fit such drivers. The use of natural refrigerants is also a success case in many developed countries, as well as in India.

He further added that, “Embraco is focused on attending all of this premises since throughout its 48-year journey, the company has invested in innovative cooling solutions and offers a wide range of applications for household, commercial, such as medical and retail applications, and aftermarket segments. Innovation is part of our company’s DNA and we invest continuously every year from 3-4 per cent of our revenues in research and development. And we are consciously focussed on the emerging economies, with their specific challenges, such as infrastructure.Our success in growing the business in the India market relies on meeting the customer interests which include product robustness and reliability and the differentiation of a portfolio that can work with severe voltage fluctuation. All those aspects reach a high level of efficiency while delivering power consumption reduction.”

Suggested innovation in commercial refrigeration
With so many different products available for purchase in a multitude of channels from in-store, farmer’s markets, online, social media and more, product innovation and differentiation will be important to middle market food and beverage companies. Large companies are already looking to emerging technologies for help with this.

On the same thought, Dikshit emphasises that the ASHRAE conducts an in-depth research on a product, introduced to apprehend its proficiencies and malleability and upgrade them with the latest technologies for a smooth functioning. Any technology or any product can’t continually sustain to level A, they require upgradation to level B, and so on, and this must be done by calculating the requirements and the calibre of any product and verify if they will comply with the available upgradation.

Sanghvi, puts this in a different way, according to him, the existing technologies must be upgraded but, with the holding capacity, and not just the technical coverage. It must defy the technology for a wide space allowing additional coverage, within the available space.He objectifies it by saying, “Earlier, 1 ton air-conditioner was designed to amplify an area of only 50sq.ft, but today, they have widened the coverage from 50 sq.ft. to 800 sq.ft. This stands as a classic illustration of technology with wider outreach.

This indicates that, not just the industry, but people too are inclining towards adapting the energy saving parameters, by widening the outreach within the available set of technologies. Moreover, even the government is conscious efforts by adding up BEE ratings.On this note, Dikshit says, “The technical group are responsible to create a better amicable environment by enhancing the existing services and withstanding a sustainable atmosphere.”

Pereira, has a different say for the Indian market, they, in fact offer variable speed solutions and products that use natural refrigerants as technological features that have the best results in energy efficiency and sustainability. Additionally, for the Indian market they aim at offering a portfolio to the companies, and to its customers, that can work with any voltage fluctuation and achieve high levels of power consumption reduction.

He further highlights on the services of Embraco’s cooling systems, one of their latest launch; FMFT, the first commercial refrigeration bivolt compressor and one of the world’s most efficient in its capacity range. Its variable capacity feature, aligned with the usage of R290 refrigerant, allows reducing refrigeration system energy consumption by up to 30per cent. For being bivolt, it serves different regions in the world, even in situations of electric grid instability.

Here are some of the latest blend of Embraco’s technical, commercial product offerings:
• BIOMA: A tailor-made, remarkably silent condensing unit for urban areas that brings easy maintenance, fast installation, and meeting space restrictions
• Plug n’ Cool: A complete self-contained solution designed for reach-in applications in food retail, which reduces the store’s energy consumption with refrigeration by more than 30 per cent
• Sliding unit: Efficient and stackable condensing unit that offers for installer’s easy access to components

Choosing right refrigerant for food processing
The criteria for this kind of choice depends on a number of variables, like business strategy and market environment. According to Pereira, Embraco, already works with a wide range of options to attend any market demand and has a pioneering history in the use of natural refrigerants.

Pereira positively mentioned the 25 years of vast industry experience of Embraco and said they use only natural refrigerants in their compressor portfolio for commercial and household as an alternative to reduce the negative impact on the ozone layer and greenhouse effect, improving at the same time the equipment’s energy efficiency. These fluids have low GWP (global warming potential) index and their contribution to climate change is negligible. Furthermore, hydrocarbons such as Propane R290 and R600 represent the best solution for light commercial and household refrigeration applications both in low and medium pressure.

Embraco’s portfolio of products and solutions attends the new regulations in India, offering high energy efficiency and natural refrigerant use. “We provides solutions that meet the specificity of each country. Taking into consideration voltage energy fluctuation, for example, we offer products for household and light commercial segments that are appropriate to maintain refrigerators working at full potential despite energy fluctuations,” adds Pereira.

In Europe, these solutions are on hand to satisfy all kinds of demands – an added motivation is the fact that high-GWP refrigerants will be banned completely by the end of 2022. Moreover, as Europe is leading the way in sustainable thinking, the “green solutions are paving the way to the future that should be more bearable to our planet.

In line with a customer-centric approach, Embraco presents a complete portfolio line-up in natural refrigerants up to 2hp with alternative solutions to customers that will not migrate to hydrocarbon solutions. Solutions have been approved for the transitory period and the company continues testing the solutions for the long range.

It’s important to explore and augment the available energy efficient solutions to the consumers while constantly enhancing them with the possible advancements
Mihir Sanghvi, president, ISHRAE- Mumbai chapter

ASHRAE have specific standards for every single product and keep upgrading them with time, so as maintain a substantial growth
Amod Dikshit, President, ASHRAE- Mumbai chapter

We are consciously focussed on the emerging economies, with their specific challenges, such as infrastructure
Esequias Pereira Junior, Sales Senior manager, Asia- Pacific region, Embraco