/ Food retail /
“ “We want to be a partner for a healthy lifestyle that promotes the ‘together’ in our activities. For us, it is very important that Migros offers a broad range of sustainable products and services, and that it sets high standards for climate protection and resource efficiency,” he explains.
This is a quantum leap for CO 2 refrigeration systems in terms of efficiency - not only in Switzerland, but beyond.”
- Marcus Hoepfl, Frigo-Consulting
Duss is responsible for turning Migros Luzern’s commitments into reality by planning new stores and refurbishing existing ones. He works for one of 10 entities which together make up the Migros Group, run as a cooperative society of which a large proportion of the Swiss population are members – around two million of Switzerland’s eight million-strong population. Owned by its own customers who can vote in the cooperative’s general assembly, more than 90% of its goods are produced by 90 Migros subsidiaries. In addition to supermarkets of various sizes, the Migros portfolio includes petrol stations, electronics stores, DIY stores, garden centres, fitness centres, banks, bookshops, sports shops and many more. No surprise, then, that the Migros Group’s energy and climate commitments are primarily guided by a strategy that binds all Migros companies and includes ambitious targets to reduce energy consumption and environmentally harmful emissions by 2020. Chief among its 2020 goals are reducing electricity consumption by 20% and fossil fuel consumption by 55%, as well as reducing the climate impact from refrigerants by 60%. “Migros’s sustainability programme ‘Generation M’ signifies a balanced approach towards our activities concerning economic, ecological and social consequences, with the target of ensuring the long-term success of the Migros Group,” explains Duss, before adding that progress in the field of refrigerant emissions is measured year on year to verify that the group and its ten entities are still on track to meet their 2020 targets.
A GREEN COOLING LEADER Mindful of the harmful effects of synthetic refrigerants, the Migros Group is committed to using natural refrigerants in its supermarkets and in other Migros companies. Migros phased out a large proportion of HCFCs in 2014. As an alternative to synthetic refrigerants, it is focusing strongly on the natural refrigerant CO2. Migros has made R744 applications a standard across its supermarkets with the aim of adopting the technology in new and existing stores. By 2014, Migros was using CO2 in 455 of
Frigo Consulting’s Markus Hoepfl
continued on p.42
/
March 2016 Accelerate Europe
/
41