As reported recently on our sister site Coolproducts.fr, France has announced a voluntary agreement to reduce electricity use in supermarkets. The sector agreed to put in place doors to close display fridges in their stores. This may seem like a small measure, but these fridges actually represent around half of electricity consumption in an average supermarket.
This is an important step because some in the retail world have argued in the past that making products less accessible because of a door would reduce sales of refrigerated products.
However, a number of studies had already demonstrated that adding doors to fridges would have a number of advantages, including:
significant reduction in electricity consumption;
improving customer experience in particular by reducing the "cold feet effect" (cold air escaping and concentrating at floor level...if you live in France, the days of chilly feet in the middle of summer in the milk department are over!).
better conservation of fresh products
According to these studies consumer purchasing behaviour is not affected by the doors.
Europe trails behind
Before we get very excited about this voluntary agreement, we need of course to see whether it will be respected and implemented as agreed. Our experience tells us that voluntary agreements are not always effective in ensuring compliance compared to legislation.
Therefore, in the meantime, it will be interesting to observe what happens in the rest of the European Union. This year, the EU will be debating a measure under the Ecodesign Directive related to commercial refrigeration, including fridges in supermarkets. More information can be found on the Coolproducts site for experts. The potential for this measure to reduce electricity consumption is very high.