Unilever is launching trials of warmer ice cream freezer cabinets with the aim of reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by around 20% to 30% per freezer.
The company said the two pilots, beginning this month in Germany with a second to follow in Indonesia next year, are the first step in exploring and understanding the product performance of the ice cream and the energy consumption of freezers at warmer temperatures.
With a current industry standard in many markets of -18°C, Unilever’s ambition is to move the temperature of its retail sales freezers to -12°C to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a move that it hopes will drive industry-wide change.
“These pilots will provide valuable information on how much energy we can save and how our ice cream products perform in warmer freezers to ensure we deliver the same great-tasting ice cream,” said Matt Close, President of Ice Cream at Unilever.
“We’re actively seeking to collaborate with partners from across the ice cream and frozen food sectors to drive industry-wide change, so the collective positive impact is far greater.”
Unilever said it will work to ‘warm up’ its last-mile freezer cabinets in a phased approach if the pilots are successful, starting with the markets where its freezer cabinet carbon footprint is highest, to achieve the maximum reductive impact on its own carbon emissions.
