Electrolux reinforced its focus on sustainability at EuroCucina, unveiling a future appliance concept, Gro, aimed at reinventing the kitchen and enabling people to enjoy food in a way that is sustainable for personal health and the planet.
“Building on Gro, we want to understand how we can best encourage consumers to take sustainable eating into their home. It is not about hitting them over the head with a sustainability sledgehammer, it is about educating them and taking them with us on our journey. Looking to the future when we look at our individual products or portfolios – this will always retain a focus through a lens of sustainability,” Electrolux director of sales, Chris Coen told Appliance Retailer.
“When it comes to products – we will continue to see how we can encourage consumers to eat more healthily and more sustainably – whether it is steam cooking to provide best solutions to revitalise food and ensure that it tastes as it did the first time or providing information on reducing food waste. Induction technology also has a role to play – it is more energy efficient compared to gas or standard electric – without losing the focus on the cooking experience and maximising the taste profile of foods cooked using this technology.”
A new large-format integrated refrigeration platform – currently being built at Susegana just 300km from Milan – is an exciting development for the Australian market, according to Coen.
“The smaller European 60cm wide format is not as attractive to our retailers and consumers, however the 75cm bottom mount format delivers an additional 44 litres of capacity as well as delivering on our core sustainability message,” he said.
“The refrigeration platform is manufactured using 50% recycled plastic material – with no detriment to overall performance. The product itself is 87% recyclable at the end of life as well. In addition, emissions are 25% less than a standard production refrigerator which is also a significant environmental benefit.
“One of the key operating features of the new refrigerator is a default Eco Function that also pre-sets the product to an optimal fridge and freezer temperature to deliver maximum energy efficiency while also ensuring that food waste is minimised by keeping food fresher for longer.
“We will see this product in Australia, but we are waiting on timing to be confirmed through regulatory requirements and approvals. Our ambition is for this approach to become the new standard and to roll out more product using recycled material across our global manufacturing base including our local plants in Dudley Park and Rayong. The next stage of product development will be reliant on the availability of the seed stock material used and this requires complex partnerships with waste recyclers globally,” Coen said.