Stay cool! It’s the freezer’s birthday

POS TUNING as a competent partner for optimally equipped freezers

Bad Salzu­flen (bre). Have you ever thought about your free­zer? Proba­bly not. The contents are usually more inte­res­t­ing. Is there still enough pizza and ice cream? And is there still room for the chips?

But it is actually worth looking into the history of the free­zer, because this year there is a special anni­ver­sary: a proud 145 years to cele­brate! In 1876, the German engi­neer Carl von Linde deve­lo­ped the first tech­ni­cal-chemi­cal refri­ge­ra­tion machine with ammo­nia liquefac­tion. At first, the refri­ge­ra­tion tech­no­logy was only used in dairies, brewe­ries, slaugh­ter­hou­ses, choco­late facto­ries and the food indus­try. But it was the start­ing signal for the unique path to success of this type of food storage.

But the road was not easy: initi­ally, scep­ti­cism spread. It was not until 1955 that frozen food was intro­du­ced at the Gene­ral Food and Drink Exhi­bi­tion (ANUGA) in Germany. With mode­rate success. Nobody seemed to be inte­res­ted in it. To give the new unknown “product from the ice” a bit more momen­tum, a year later 400 free­zers were set up in Rhine­land grocery shops in a field trial. This trial was called the “Colo­gne-Bonn free­zer test”. The idea was to whet the appe­ti­tes of parti­cu­larly coura­ge­ous custo­mers for the new frozen food products. But the real breakth­rough was not yet in sight. In 1960, the average consump­tion of food from the free­zer was 400 grams per year. Today, per capita consump­tion is almost 45 kilo­grams a year. Accor­ding to a study by the DTI (Deut­sches Tief­kühl­in­sti­tut e.V.), Germans consu­med an average of 89.8 kilo­grams of frozen food per house­hold.

The fact that a lot has happened in 145 years of “free­zer history” can be seen not only in the further deve­lo­p­ment of free­zer cabi­nets. In the begin­ning, there were big bulky free­zers and chest free­zers, which also had a hard time from an envi­ron­men­tal point of view. The first models were cupboard-like contai­ners on four legs and the gases that some­ti­mes escaped were highly toxic.

Today, models are on a much more advan­ced path. Modern free­zers and cabi­nets are energy-saving. They come in every conceiva­ble size and design. For use at home, the choice is also versa­tile. In super­mar­kets, there are now long rows of free­zers in addi­tion to the fami­liar chest free­zers. The products presen­ted in them outdo each other in variety. Spin­ach, pizza and chips have long since gained some compe­ti­tors in the hunt for the customer’s favour.

And the custo­mer is happy to take advan­tage of this variety. Fish, meat, poul­try, fruit and vege­ta­bles and all kinds of baked goods are only part of the wide selec­tion. With the variety of products, the way the products are presen­ted has also had to evolve. The times when a free­zer cabi­net resem­bled a “rummage table” in a depart­ment store are over. The custo­mer wants to be able to find his products quickly and reach them without any effort. Crou­ch­ing or tipto­e­ing to find the product in the far corner is no longer an option.

So it is not only the free­zer that has chan­ged over the years, but also the custo­mer and the way they shop. Refri­ge­ra­ted cabi­nets must be desi­gned in an envi­ron­men­tally friendly way and offer space for the variety of products, some­ti­mes in a limi­ted space. The perfect inte­rior design is the key to success.

With its solu­ti­ons, POS TUNING is a compe­tent part­ner for opti­mally equip­ped free­zers. It does­n’t matter whether it’s a free­zer cabi­net or a chest. POS‑T lift systems bring products in the free­zer right to the top and thus into the field of view and reach in a way that promo­tes sales. This makes it easier for the custo­mer to remove the products and also mini­mi­ses the amount of main­ten­ance requi­red by the staff. The clear and tidy appearance increa­ses the impulse purchase rate and thus also turno­ver.

Product presen­ta­tion in free­zers can also be perfec­ted with POS TUNING’s push feed systems. All products are always in the front row. The custo­mer no longer has to search long or stretch for his product. This shor­tens the door opening time and saves energy. But there is also less risk of products getting stuck in the back of the cabi­net. The feed systems are desi­gned to keep the risk of icing as low as possi­ble. Shelf gaps are also detec­ted more quickly and out-of-stock situa­tions can be better avoided.

145 years of the free­zer — part of the story is behind us. What can we expect in the future?

Tech­no­logy will conti­nue to deve­lop, because the demands for climate protec­tion will also increase. Demand for space-saving refri­ge­ra­tion solu­ti­ons will proba­bly increase, because mini super­mar­kets are beco­ming more and more popu­lar. This also means that product place­ments and presen­ta­ti­ons will have to make do with less and less space. So only mature and inno­va­tive ideas that create more space in a small area can help. POS TUNING has alre­ady deve­lo­ped solu­ti­ons for this. For exam­ple, a stacked presen­ta­tion of ice-cream cups so that two facings can be accom­mo­da­ted in one space. So it remains exci­ting. But whate­ver happens — POS TUNING will “Make. Shop­ping. Simply. Better.”