BRAINTREE, Mass. — TopSource here, a division of Topco Associates, normally looks for good deals on store equipment, energy management and other “not-for-resale” areas for its food retailer members. But in its “refrigerated case initiative,” the sourcing company went a step further.
The initiative was launched in 2009 on behalf of 11 food retailer members who brought a combined $31 million in buying power to the marketplace for the purchase of refrigerated cases and walk-in coolers and freezers, said Mary Ward, senior sourcing manager for TopSource.
The retailers participating in TopSource’s refrigerated case initiative have saved an average of 10% on their costs, with one retailer achieving a 30% saving; seven retailers collectively saved more than $1.6 million on the purchase of refrigerated cases.
But beyond obtaining those savings, TopSource also did an energy analysis of each manufacturer’s cases as part of its sustainability program, Ward noted. “We looked at the annual cost of the cases in kilowatt-hours of energy usage in each retailer’s region.”
One TopSource member, K-VA-T Food Stores, Abingdon, Va., used the energy analysis conducted by TopSource last year to justify purchasing refrigerated cases with glass doors for dairy, beer, smoked meat and luncheon meat departments at a new Food City store in Morristown, Tenn., said Don Smith, K-VA-T’s vice president of store planning and development. A second new Food City location with medium-temperature glass-door cases is scheduled to open in Kingsport, Tenn., in May.
“We are so pleased with the energy-saving features of these new glass-door cases, that our new store currently under construction in Loudon, Tenn., will carry this concept over into the produce department,” Smith said. “This store will display about 50% of its produce department cases behind glass-door cases.” K-VA-T redesigned its refrigeration system for those stores, reducing overall compressor and condenser size to reflect the lower demand resulting from enclosed cases. The chain also redesigned its HVAC system because of the reduction of cold air spilling out into the shopping aisles.
TopSource’s refrigerated case initiative will continue through the end of 2012. Ward said TopSource is seeking to add to the 11 who have participated to date from Topco’s 54 retail members. Besides K-VA-T, the participating retailers included Acme, Bi-Lo, Brookshire Grocery, Coborn’s, Hy-Vee, Raley’s, Stater Bros., Weis Markets, Price Chopper and Tops Markets. Price Chopper and Tops only purchased walk-in coolers.