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End User
Medium-temperature cases in Baldwinsville, N.Y., ALDI
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hen Hillphoenix introduced the AdvansorFlex – a smaller capacity, less costly version of its Advansor transcritical CO 2 booster refrigeration system – in December 2015, the Conyers, Ga.-based OEM had in mind small-format stores as the primary end user.
systems provided by a partnership between Hussmann and Canadian OEM Systemes LMP. More than 10 projects so far have been in remodeled stores, and the rest of the systems were installed in new locations. In stores without CO 2 refrigeration systems, ALDI currently uses R448A.
Enter ALDI US, the fast-growing chain of nearly 1,700 value-oriented supermarkets in 35 U.S. states. The Batavia, Ill.-based company had already started installing Hillphoenix’s Advansor system prior to the AdvansorFlex’s release, but then switched to the smaller system.
With 69 installations, ALDI is the No. 1 user of transcritical CO 2 refrigeration in the U.S. supermarket industry. In North America, it’s second only to Sobeys, which has approximately 100 stores with a transcritical system.
“Hillphoenix engineered the AdvansorFlex specifically for ALDI stores, which have smaller footprints [about 20,000 sq ft],” said Aaron Sumida, an ALDI US vice president based in upstate New York. “The Advansor CO 2 booster system is better suited to traditional supermarkets.” As of August 11, 2017, ALDI had deployed a transcritical CO 2 system – the majority of them the AdvansorFlex – in 69 stores, with more installations coming. Hillphoenix supplied 66 of these stores, with the other three using transcritical
Known for its low prices (up to 50% lower than those of traditional stores, the company says), private brands and no-frills, efficient operation, ALDI US is a 41-year-old independently operated member of Mülheim, German-based ALDI South (Süd). Facing growing competition in the U.S. from traditional grocers and other European-based retailers, ALDI has announced store development plans that are nothing if not ambitious. By the end of 2022, it expects to have nearly 2,500 stores, funded by a $3.4 billion capital investment plan, putting it third in the U.S. in store count behind Walmart and Kroger.
Accelerate America
September 2017