Fresh Thinking - Blog

If your job involves showcasing meat and seafood in ways that are attractive to the customer and maintain the integrity of the product, conductive heat transfer can dramatically expand your window of opportunity. Moist and even cooling – the kind that actually extends the life of meat and seafood – are hallmarks of the conduction approach to refrigerated display case design. Conduction is heat transfer through the direct physical contact of two objects (or surfaces) at different temperatures. When two objects are in contact, heat flows from the warmer surface of one to the cooler surface of the other until

Want to attract more customers to your high-margin meat and seafood departments? Start by standing where they do — in front of your refrigerated display cases. Then ask yourself a few questions: Is your attention stolen by crowded signs, melting ice, visible cleaning equipment or other distractions? Does lighting give meat an off-putting, brown or grayish hue? Does seafood look slimy, rather than moist? Does product look dry around the edges? Do employees have to turn their backs on you to weigh and wrap product? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need a meat department

Meat and seafood departments present huge, high-margin opportunities for supermarkets. In the consumer’s mind, purchasing meat and seafood from a trusted grocer best ensures it is fresh and safe. These offerings enable grocers to differentiate their stores from discount and online retailers and build loyalty with local shoppers. But meat and seafood departments present challenges, too. The product is costly and highly perishable. Grocers must make sure they’re refrigerating and displaying meat and seafood properly to reduce waste and the risk of contamination — and to increase sales. One problem I see in supermarkets again and again is displayed meat

To understand how conduction heat transfer preserves the natural moisture content of meat and seafood, it helps to understand the alternative: traditional convection-cooled cases. Most convection-cooled meat and seafood display cases work in one of two ways. The most common way uses fans to drive the circulated air; this method is called forced convection. A second approach relies on the natural tendency of cold air to sink and warm air to rise. A particular type of evaporator called a gravity coil is mounted at the top of the case instead of at the bottom as is typically used in forced-air