Central England Co-operative works smarter by re-inventing its tender process for refrigeration

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 20/12/2017

Central England Co-operative recently completed a tender for refrigerated display cases for their on-going store investment programme. Like all food retailers, refrigeration is one of the Society’s biggest investments in capital expenditure and also a significant portion of operating costs and carbon footprint.

Kevin Collins, Facilities & Administration Manager at Central England Co-operative said:

‘We decided that procurement of refrigerated display cases warranted a more vigorous process than was previously being conducted. A test programme was devised in collaboration with Central England Co-operative’s independent consultants Mistral Technical Services, to benchmark a 2500mm medium temperature display case fitted with wardrobe style doors to our specification from four short-listed case providers.’

The supplier short list was produced based on traditional metrics; capital cost, ability to deliver to the store development programme and energy figures based upon the manufacturer’s published data in line with the testing methods in ISO23953:2014 Climate Class 3 (25°C / 60% RH).

Central England Co-operative was keen to understand energy performance in a store environment. A consistent baseline and comparison of how four cases compared under the same conditions was achieved in a portioned off non-trading section of a store for a one month test period during the summer of 2017. The four cases were each piped to independent condensing units of the same manufacture and model. Performance was logged using an energy monitoring system with factory fitted case probes supplemented with a product probe installed in the identical position in each case.

Testing looked at aspects such as energy monitoring, air-flow, insulation, structural integrity and the Society’s retail colleagues were invited to assess any merchandising issues and score the cases.

The testing results arrived at one clear winner. The best energy performing case (43% more efficient than the worst performing) was the sole case designed specifically for cases with doors, with a corresponding evaporator coil design. This also led to a 25% reduction in refrigerant charge compared to the other cases, which will prove a helpful tool in reducing the retailer’s direct carbon emissions.

All other cases were designed for open application and fitted with doors. The testing revealed these designs suffered from excessive air spillage ( some with doors closed) and significant air spillage upon door openings to the three other cases during smoke testing. These same issues were also evident in thermal imagery as was the superior insulation properties of the best performing case which was the only one designed for dual carcase purpose.

The generally accepted notion with open cases is that the larger the total display area, the larger the penalty in energy performance. However, testing showed that the reduced evaporator coil design and a case designed from the ‘ground up’ for door application resulted in the best performing case on energy consumption also having the largest total display area by a significant distance.

There have been some significant findings for Central England Co-operative:

• The Society’s traditional tendering would have arrived at the wrong buying decision, with the historical approach prioritising in favour of initial capital expenditure as the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
• Any retailer standardising on a selection of medium temperature cases with doors should investigate to ensure they are buying equipment designed specifically for door applications.
• The best energy performer needs to be judged against air flow efficiency, evaporator design, component selection and thermal integrity.
• Whilst ISO23953:2014 Climate Class 3 data is an invaluable benchmark tool and not in dispute, it is also important to test against typical store conditions e.g. ISO23953:2014 Climate Class 0 (20°C/50%RH) to optimise on capital spend and energy usage.

Kevin Collins is happy to elaborate on the testing programme and findings with any interested parties wishing to make contact.

Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. It is a modern, forward-looking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with gross sales of £927 million in 2016/17. The Society’s principal areas of activity are food, funeral services, and property investment. Central England Co-operative has over 400 trading outlets across 16 counties including; West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.  The Society has an ambitious food store development programme for 2017.

Central England Co-operative is proud of its reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.  It is a member of Business in the Community, the membership organisation that stands for responsible business, and has also won many business awards for excellence.  The Society supports a number of charities including Dementia UK and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.

Becoming a member of Central England Co-operative offers a whole host of benefits ranging from collecting points every time you spend in store to earn a share of the profits, access to members activities and community initiatives including the Community Dividend Fund, which hands out grants of up to £5,000 to charities and good causes across the Society’s trading estate.

Find out how to become a Central England Co-operative member by calling 0800 0501 601, emailing members@centralengland.coop or visiting https://www.members.coop

For more information visit www.centralengland.coop, follow Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative

Sarah Ashton / Rob Smyth at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140

Email –publicrelations@centralengland.coop