Daikin Gewerbekältestrategie

Daikin Commercial refrigeration:

future-proof complete solutions from one source

Daikin has further expanded its European market presence in commercial refrigeration through recent acquisitions of AHT, Hubbard, Tewis and Zanotti. With the acquisition of these four companies, Daikin will continue to provide its customers with high-quality refrigeration solutions from a single source: Installation and maintenance combined with high competence and fast service cover all requirements of the retail food trade, gastronomy as well as food production, storage and transport. “With our total solution approach ‘from field to fork’, we can offer customers from our large portfolio the right technology to suit their requirements and provide added value. We have adapted the entire portfolio to our equipment technology. We think safety, environmental protection, energy and cost efficiency together,” says Niko Baekelandt, Department Manager, Refrigeration Department Daikin Europe N.V., explaining the company strategy.

Stable demand forecast

Annual sales of commercial refrigeration systems worldwide amount to about 32.2 billion euros. The European market accounts for around 6.4 billion euros of this, ranking second behind the USA. Commercial refrigeration is also the fastest growing sector for Daikin. The acquisition of AHT, Tewis, Hubbard and Zanotti further strengthens Daikin's outstanding position in Europe. Starting in Europe, the company plans to expand its business in this segment in Asia and the USA, where significant market growth is expected. Due to growing environmental awareness and ever stricter legal requirements in Europe, the demand for energy-efficient product solutions continues to grow. Daikin's own commitment to the environment, combined with a high level of innovation, makes it a competent partner for industry and commerce.

Daikin’s commercial refrigeration strategy

Since 2000 Daikin has been selling highly efficient refrigeration and freezer systems for supermarkets and grocery shops in Europe. With the acquisition of Italian refrigeration specialist Zanotti and British refrigeration specialist Hubbard Ltd. (at that time already a subsidiary of Zanotti) in mid-2016, the Daikin Group was already expanding its product range in commercial refrigeration for the entire cold chain. The result is efficient product solutions ranging from food processing, drying and storage to refrigeration and freezer systems for the retail sector. This was followed in 2018 by the acquisition of Tewis Smart Systems S.L., one of Spain's leading companies for standardised and customised refrigeration solutions. The acquisition of the Austrian refrigeration specialist AHT Cooling Systems GmbH was completed at the beginning of 2019. “Thanks to these investments, we can now find Daikin inside the supermarket, not only in the form of air-conditioning units on the ceiling, but also refrigerated shelves and freezers. In this way, we can ensure that in future all devices are optimally connected in terms of control technology and can condition the market in a particularly energetic and efficient way,” emphasises Niko Baekelandt.

AHT  ̶  Market leader for plug-in commercial refrigeration and freezer systems

With a turnover of around 500 million euros, AHT, headquartered in Rottenmann, Austria, is the world's leading manufacturer of plug-in commercial refrigeration and freezer systems. With an innovative and energy-efficient product range, AHT has been supplying all well-known supermarket and discount chains as well as ice cream and beverage manufacturers for more than 35 years. The globally positioned AHT Group of companies employs more than 1,800 people and operates four production facilities in Austria, China, Brazil and the USA, 12 sales and service offices and an in-house business unit for research and development. At Euroshop 2020, AHT Cooling Systems will present Kalea, the new generation of upright freezers, for the first time. With the inbox technology, which has been thought out down to the last detail, the service requirements of refrigerated and deep-freeze shelves of the Kalea series is reduced to a minimum.

Tewis – the expert for CO₂ refrigeration systems

Tewis is a leading company in the field of planning and technical implementation of refrigeration systems. In addition to its expertise in customer-specific control and regulation systems (including monitoring), Tewis and its 100 employees offer comprehensive overall solutions for air-conditioning and refrigeration applications. In recent years, the manufacturer has focused specifically on the development of CO₂ refrigeration systems and has established long-term relationships with major Spanish and Portuguese food retailers. The focus at Euroshop will be on the compact Mini NS21 system for cooling and deep-freezing with a footprint of less than one square metre. The special design facilitates maintenance thanks to easy access to all technical components. With its range of CO₂ product solutions, Tewis complements the current Daikin/Zanotti product ranges, enabling the company to respond to the ever-increasing demand for natural refrigerants. Since the optimum refrigerant for a particular application depends on the application type, capacity/temperature range and safety requirements, Daikin is committed to offering a wide range of refrigerants.

Hubbard – Leading in commercial refrigeration, beverage and transport refrigeration

British refrigeration specialist Hubbard Products, Ltd. based in Ipswich, offers a wide portfolio of solutions for commercial refrigeration, food production and transport, supermarkets and hospitality. These include condensing units using CO₂ refrigerant. Hubbard is the market leader in the field of temperature control of wine cellars and beverage cooling for the catering industry. Hubbard also supplies refrigeration units for the delivery service of many British supermarket chains. The company relies on CO₂ condensing units with rotary compressors. The new, particularly compact MT and LT models in the power range from 1.5 kW to 24 kW represent a comprehensive solution for reliable food refrigeration.