Keeping it cool Norpe

KEEPING IT COOL

Leading manufacturer of commercial refrigeration solutions Norpe Oy is well on target to becoming the preferred vendor for food retailers across Europe thanks to innovative solutions and a focus on customer enjoyment. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to CEO Matti Virtanen to find out how this is being achieved.

Established in Porvoo, Finland, in 1953, commercial refrigeration solutions manufacturer Norpe Oy has continually expanded to become one of Europe’s leading companies in its field. With subsidiaries across Europe and a wider comprehensive partner network, Norpe delivers refrigeration to clients in the supermarket, bar and restaurant, retail, and food and beverage cooling sectors.

In the two years since Industry Europe last spoke with Norpe CEO Matti Virtanen, the company has continued its upward trajectory, with new products launched and an ongoing expansion programme. Mr Virtanen said, “We’re doing very well. We are no longer particularly affected by the recession, especially as the food, beverage and supermarket sectors did not really slow down anyway, so the last two years have seen us continue with our ambitious plans for growth and continued development. We’ve introduced lots of new products that have been created in direct response to our customers’ changing needs, and indeed the demands of their end user - the consumer.”

Totally chilled

Mr Virtanen explained that Norpe had enjoyed a strong performance at the retail industry’s trade exhibition EuroShop in 2011. Held in Düsseldorf, EuroShop was the perfect opportunity for the company to launch its latest product line. Mr Virtanen explained, “We had a fantastic EuroShop last year and we’ve continued to capitalise on the opportunities arising from our attendance, both in terms of new product introduction and customer relationship building. We launched our innovative Aida cooling cabinet for the convenience store sector, and this has already gained fans across Europe and is selling well. Aida is an attractive, curve-fronted cooling cabinet that is suited to a wide range of applications for clients in the prepared food display arena.”

A full line product, Aida is targeted at both the convenience store and the buffet food sectors. The clever design allows for greater display space, which helps the store or restaurant owner to sell their products more effectively. Using high quality glass and great lighting so that the products are well lit, Aida helps food look good.

EuroShop also saw Norpe’s announcement of its intention to further expand its German subsidiary. Norpe is rapidly gaining new customers in Germany and is keen to continue this trend, particularly with the value-focused German supermarket chains that are enjoying excellent performance across Europe as new customers appreciate their cost-conscious approach to quality food products.

Mr Virtanen added, “We are also keen to expand our activities in Russia. We are in a strong position to grow in the region as we have recently established an office in Moscow and we are steadily making progress thanks to our understanding of the local retail trends. Both Germany and Russia represent important aspects of our expansion programme and we expect this to continue.”

Norpe is also experiencing growth in its domestic Nordic markets. With many of its customers investing in new stores and/or refurbishing existing stores, Norpe is able to capitalise on this by offering well-priced, high-quality commercial refrigeration that meet the standards demanded by discerning end users. Mr Virtanen pointed out that it is essentially governed by the end user – the shopper in the supermarket or the customer in the restaurant – seeing that the food products look attractive, so its R&D is largely focused on this in addition to the technical performance of the cabinets.

Cool and green

Many of Norpe’s existing and most recent products are focused on delivering energysaving solutions – a trend which is important to both Norpe and its customers. For example, within the cooler segment for supermarkets, Norpe has introduced the EcoCooler. The EcoCooler is a refrigerated cabinet specifically for beverages and it has excellent energy-saving credentials, with a payback time of just one year.

In addition to ecological advantages, Norpe products are designed to boost customers’

sales too. Mr Virtanen said, “One example of this is our complete line of Sofie cabinets which are for fish sales in supermarkets. Able to display more fish per square meter, the Sofie cabinets help fish look attractive and allow fresh and packaged fish to be displayed in the same place. Customers have already reported that their fish sales are up by 70 per cent, so it’s a very interesting product.”

Norpe’s ongoing R&D is focused on three key areas, all of which are customer-focused. Firstly, it works hard to ensure its cabinets are the lowest possible life-cycle cost. Secondly, it is continually working to improve the features of its cabinets so that they sell products better, and thirdly Norpe aims to modularise its cabinets and accessories so that they can be flexibly adapted to meet whatever standards its customers require. This third point is especially important for European-wide or indeed international supermarket chains, which represent a key target area of growth for Norpe in 2012 and beyond.

Mr Virtanen concluded, “All of these aspects come together to ensure that we will meet our aim to become the preferred commercial refrigeration partner to large and medium-sized food retailers across Europe, by providing the lowest life-cycle-cost cabinets and enhancing consumer enjoyment.” n Plascore PC Honeycomb Core improves air flow in refrigeration cabinets worldwide. Out of our facilities in the United States and Germany we supply PC Honeycomb Core made to your specification. Send us your inquiry today –You can do more with Plascore.

Plascore GmbH & Co. KG Feldborn 6, 55444 Waldlaubersheim Phone: +49(0)6707 9143 0 • Fax: +49(0)6707 9143 40 • E-mail: sales.europe@plascore.com www.plascore.com