Top 10 benefits of glass door refrigeration for your retail business

For large-scale retailers, especially those in the retail sector, glass-door refrigeration and freezers are an excellent solution for storing and selling food products that require specific temperature control.

Used as a way to showcase your offering, it’s never been more important for your merchandising units to be energy efficient, food safe, and compliant with the latest legislation for your country.

At True, we’ve been building glass door units for many years, serving some of the world’s largest retailers, so we know what matters most to successful businesses when purchasing equipment.

To help you make the right choice for your business, we’ve compiled ten benefits below.

1. Food service approved units

Did you know, not all glass fronted fridges are created equal? Some are intended just to store drinks and don’t necessarily maintain the required ≤5°C temperatures for fresh packaged food. Do you know how to tell the difference?

When purchasing refrigeration equipment for your business, ensure it is certified for food and not just beverages by checking the “Type of refrigerating appliance” listed on EPREL, the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling. Products listed as “Supermarket cabinet” have been tested and approved for food, whereas products listed as “Beverage coolers” are not. Neglecting this could lead to health issues, especially in hot weather when food can spoil if not kept at the correct temperature.

Our expert team are always on hand to help educate both users and the wider refrigeration market to understand the difference between the equipment and its sole function. Even though a buyer may find a cheaper fridge more appealing, it doesn’t make it a good investment if it hasn’t got a food safety certification – something which all of our glass door refrigeration units have.

2. Perfect temperature holding

Legislation now mandates specific holding temperatures for refrigeration equipment to guarantee food is kept fresh and safe to consume.

The tests used for verifying these temperatures involve simulating a real-life environment, before seeing whether it maintains safe food holding temperatures, as well as how much energy it uses and whether it operates efficiently.

True’s glass door products uphold the same strict temperature range and fast pull-down times as our commercial kitchen storage cabinets and are all fully in-line with the current legislation.

Our low cabinet temperatures are ideal for packaged food merchandising in fast-moving customer facing and self-serve environments.

3. Save on energy costs

Everyone wants to save costs on their energy and a good place to start with this is by switching from “open” (or “multideck”) to glass door refrigeration and freezer units.

In the UK, the Co-operative incorporated glass door refrigeration in its stores to save on energy costs and reduce the amount of breakdowns their refrigeration experienced in hot weather. Aldi also introduced doors to its fridges as standard in its new and newly refurbished stores, in the hope of saving an equivalent of over 2,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.

Are you aware of the operating costs of your current display refrigeration cabinets? If they’re more than a few years old, the expenses might be higher than you think.

Today, every fridge manufacturer in Europe is required to submit results of their performance testing to the EU Commission, who will verify the results before the product can be legally placed on the market. In the UK, equipment is also legally required to have a comparable energy performance label.

At True, we conduct our own performance and regulatory testing in-house at our independently accredited facilities.

Additionally, we’ve already launched an energy cost calculator to provide an estimate of the lifetime electrical (kilowatt-hour) savings that could be achieved by choosing one or more energy-efficient products from True, compared to others on the market.

4. Meet your sustainability goals

As customers focus more and more on the environmental impact of their operations, True shares in this common goal by producing a responsible product using Natural Refrigerant.

Unfortunately, previous generations of commercial refrigeration equipment typically operated on environmentally unfriendly refrigerant gasses, many of which have since been banned under the F-Gas Regulation. Businesses still operating older equipment today (produced before 2020) may want to check what gas is being utilised, as any leaks could have a considerable negative impact on the environment.

5. Durable equipment that you can trust

When looking for glass door units, especially ones customers will be interacting with directly, you will want to choose equipment which has been designed to be highly durable. Otherwise, you may find yourself let down after only a short service period.

We believe that our retail refrigerators and freezers are an investment in the ongoing success of your business. The equipment is built to last, using the same materials and manufacturing processes as our foodservice equipment, which is tried and tested in some of the most demanding restaurant kitchens. It all comes with our industry-leading five-year parts and labour warranty, we’re that confident in it’s reliability.

6. Upsell with maximum product visibility

In order to whet a customer’s appetite, you need your produce to be easy to see and grab.

Some retail business owners are still wary about glass door refrigeration, thinking that it may be a barrier between their customers and cause a loss in sales, compared to fully “open” cabinets.

However, glass door refrigeration units make it easy for customers to browse and access products without having to open the doors, while our GDM freezers offer similar benefits, minimising temperature fluctuations caused by frequent opening and closing. This enhances shopping convenience and reduces disruption to temperature levels.

True’s extensive product offering includes our TVM range of Visual Merchandisers, designed with low-profile thin door frames and no centre mullion to increase product visibility.

In comparison, the GDM range offers different door types, including hinged swing doors or slide doors to make retrieving products as easy as possible.

7. Grab your customers’ attention

Make your glass door fridges stand out from the crowd with bespoke features.

The True customisation design service allows you to pick a colour which best suits your retail business.

All of these additions can help attract customers’ attention and enhance the visual appeal of your store. Most True products can be customised, so whether it’s a full exterior revamp, a front-only facelift, or an interior enhancement, visit our custom design page to try our customisation tool.