Food retail and the changing HVAC&R and controls market place in FranceNovember 2019

After extensive research in the fields of HVAC, Refrigeration, and Controls, BSRIA is publishing a new study on key changes in the food retail sector. 

The first study will be published about France, before other countries are analysed. The focus of the series of studies is on the main European countries. All types of retail are covered in the study, from large hypermarkets to small shops, with small refrigeration loads. This study focuses on drivers and restraints impacting on the food retail sector. In France, a shift is taking place from the past model of large hypermarkets to a model with more convenience stores located in city centres. Internet shopping and the “click & drive” model are having a strong impact on the format of stores. There are many other legislative drivers such as those that will forbid the use of HFC refrigerants in HVAC&R equipment in food retail premises.

Food retailers account for the largest proportion of products such as condensing units, compressor racks, heat exchangers, display showcases, and cold rooms. To ensure heating, cooling and ventilation, products such as rooftops and indoor packaged units have been traditionally installed, while splits, VRF and chillers are also used.

Display showcases include the following categories both remote, connected to a condensing system, and integral. Within this latter category, Water Loop Self Contained (WLSC) showcases are estimated to account for about 4% of the solutions fitted in retail. These integral showcases use water as a cooling medium, or CO2 for negative cooling. Integral showcases are expected to become ever more prevalent as they are viewed as a solution to mitigate the carbon footprint of centralised systems. Some retailers also have their preferences, and only specify plug-ins in stores.

Many other aspects are analysed in this exhaustive study. Among them, the uptake of CO2 racks and their impact on sales number, the reduction in cooling needs for closed-door showcases, the uptake of heat recovery on refrigeration systems, driven by CO2, which is slowly gaining also share in condensing units after compressor racks. In addition, the market for building and refrigeration controls is also an important topic, with the rise in convergence taking place between the two.

This very detailed strategic study also provides market sizes and forecasts in both volume and value for HVAC&R products and controls, refrigerant use by applications, supplier analysis, distribution routes and specification process, and case studies.

Contact details: 

-    Abdel Eljidi  Abdel.Eljidi@bsria.co.uk   +44 (0) 1344 465 645 (Sales)

-    Greg Corty   Greg.Corty@bsria.co.uk - +33 665 214662 (Senior Market Intelligence analyst)