The use of less energy in the kitchen has a direct influence on the working environment as it results in lower noise emissions and less heat is generated. Foster products have been designed with ergonomics in mind to minimise time wasted and to make the workplace as friendly an environment as possible. Finally, all Foster products are up to 98.3% recyclable.  

 

 Foster Refrigerator’s commitment to the environment does not stop here. Over the last 10 years, Foster Refrigerator has embarked on a programme of education for the catering and bakery industries. The Foster Blue and, now, Green Paper Series, have been written in conjunction with UK industry experts and provide caterers with in-depth information on key topics, including several environmental issues.  

 

 At the start of 2006, Foster launched its Green Paper series to offer authoritative industry guides for caterers, on energy and environmental issues. They offer tips on how to minimise energy wastage, how to choose an energy efficient fridge and contain information on servicing and maintaining your refrigerator and wider energy saving practices that can be employed across the whole bakery.   

 

Additionally, the company has just introduced the Foster Green Procurement icon to inform customers that the product it accompanies conforms to ECA scheme criteria, meets ISO 14001 Environmental Standards and is available with Hydrocarbon refrigerant at no extra cost.   

What are future trends in the refrigeration sector?
The two hot topics people in the industry will continue talking about are energy efficiency and food safety. From Foster’s experience as previously outlined, there has been a dramatic increase in sales of energy efficient hydrocarbon products during 2006.  

 

 We are also continuing to see trends of bakers prioritising convenience, simple operation and food safety. The catering industry is experiencing the biggest changes in food safety laws for 15 years, due to the new HACCP legislation, which came into effect on 1 January 2006. HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) is an internationally recognised and recommended system of food safety management. The legislation was changed to clearly set out the duty of food businesses to produce food safely, with the key aim of reducing the number of cases of food poisoning.  

 

 The new legislation requires that all food businesses, regardless of size, put in place, implement and maintain food safety management procedures based on HACCP principles. In the long term, the new legislation will clearly improve food safety, making all businesses responsible and accountable without bureaucracy or time wasting, and should enable businesses to compete more effectively. Foster has produced guides on the issues which give free, practical advice: a Blue Paper HACCP – An update for catering businesses and a Green Paper Energy Efficiency – How to save energy in the kitchen(1)..