Food Lion unveils first-of-its-kind CO2 cascading system, reduces ozone-depleting refrigerants by 30

New York City Food Lion and refrigeration manufacturer Kysor//Warren unveiled the grocery industry's first cascading refrigeration system with naturally occurring carbon dioxide to keep frozen and fresh foods cold. The system is featured in the chain’s new, 35,000-sq.-ft. store in College Park, Ga.

Food Lion demonstrated the system during an event held for industry peers and members of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, a cooperative alliance working to reduce the use of ozone-depleting gases and curb greenhouse gas refrigerant emissions. The College Park, Ga., location is Food Lion's fourth GreenChill advanced refrigeration store and its third to incorporate the use of CO2, a natural compound that reduces the amount of refrigerants needed to keep products cool or frozen by more than 30%.

The system in the College Park store is described as Food Lion's first "cascading" CO2 refrigeration cycle, which uses a single system and just one condensing unit to refrigerate and freeze foods. Before Kysor//Warren developed this system, grocers incorporating CO2 refrigeration systems needed two condensing units as well as a freezer-specific system and a refrigeration (medium temperature) specific system. This is Kysor//Warren's first CO2 advanced refrigeration system in a retail grocery store setting.

"Food Lion has a long-standing commitment to environmentally friendly operations," said Wayne Rosa, Food Lion's energy and maintenance manager. "The advanced refrigeration system in our College Park store offers sustainability-minded grocers like Food Lion another way to dramatically reduce the amount of ozone-depleting refrigerants their coolers and freezers use."

Food Lion was one of the first grocers to voluntarily commit to the EPA's GreenChill advanced refrigeration partnership, an initiative where companies pledge to go above and beyond regulatory requirements in protecting the ozone layer and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Food Lion was also one of EPA's first Energy Star partners and has 892 certified stores, more than half of the Energy Star certified stores in the United States. In addition, Food Lion is the only grocery chain to win eight consecutive EPA Energy Star awards.

Food Lion's College Park store opened in September. Food Lion, which operates more than 1,300 supermarkets, is a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group.