Established more than 100 years ago, Hussmann is promoted as the leader in refrigeration merchandising solutions. Its acquisition by Panasonic in 2016 has brought new products and solutions.
“The secret to our success in Australia is having a deep understanding of the retail landscape and understanding of our customer needs and changing requirements,” says Hussmann General Manager Australia, Deputy Managing Director and Engineering Director Vinney Kumar.
He believes a retailer’s choice of equipment has a “fundamental impact” on aspects such as store design, ambience and total cost of ownership.
Addressing store design, he says supermarkets are rapidly changing store formats to suit the “ever-changing” needs of customers.
“Stores are getting smaller and more customised to demographic needs,” says Mr Kumar. “As formats change, Hussmann has also pivoted and introduced new lines to suit the changing landscape.”
On further trends, he notes that Hussmann is seeing more adoption of digital technologies to combat rising labour costs and to address efficiencies in the workplace.
“Hussmann has a new division tailored to cater for the needs of a more digitalised supermarket with the inclusion of products such as lockers, electronic shelf labels and IoT devices.”
Sustainability is, of course, also an important factor to consider.
“Hussmann provides not only cutting edge and innovative products, but also those that contribute to a sustainable future,” says Mr Kumar. “The need for energy efficiency and substantiality is embedded into our design philosophy, offering cost efficiency in terms of installation and maintenance.”
Looking ahead, he returns to his point on store formats and suitable equipment.
“With the ever-changing consumer landscape, we at Hussmann believe that store formats will continue to evolve,” he says. “With this in mind, we’re creating new products that are seamless in design and can apply to many applications, whether it be small, medium or large format stores.”
Read more from suppliers in the refrigeration space in the October issue of Retail World.