Food Lion LLC and refrigeration manufacturer Kysor/Warren unveiled the grocery industry’s first "cascading" refrigeration system with naturally occurring carbon dioxide (CO2) to keep frozen and fresh foods cold.
Food Lion demonstrated the system during an event held for industry peers and members of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, a cooperative alliance working to reduce use of ozone-depleting gases and curb greenhouse gas refrigerant emissions. The College Park GA store is Food Lion’s fourth GreenChill advanced refrigeration store and its third store to incorporate the use of CO2, a natural compound that reduces the amount of refrigerants needed to keep products cool or frozen by more than 30%.
The system is Food Lion’s first cascading CO2 refrigeration cycle, which uses a single system and just one condensing unit to refrigerate and freeze foods. Before Kysor/Warren developed this system, grocers incorporating CO2 refrigeration systems needed two condensing units as well as a freezer-specific system and a refrigeration (medium temperature) specific system. This is Kysor/Warren’s first CO2 advanced refrigeration system in a retail grocery store setting.
Food Lion was one of the first grocers to voluntarily commit to the GreenChill advanced refrigeration partnership, an initiative where companies pledge to go above and beyond regulatory requirements in protecting the ozone layer and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The firm’s College Park store opened Sept 30, 2009. The 35,000-square-foot facility employs 74 associates.
A subsidiary of Brussels, Belgium-based Delhaize Group, Food Lion operates more than 1,300 supermarkets, either directly or through affiliated entities, under the names of Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Harveys, and Reid’s. Food Lion employs approximately 74,000 associates in 11 southeastern and mid-Atlantic states.
Kysor/Warren, a division of The Manitowoc Company Inc, operates two manufacturing facilities in Columbus GA. For more information, visit www.kysorwarren.com.
