Hoshizaki Europe’s New R290 Commercial Fridges Boast Significant Energy Reductions

Hoshizaki Europe B.V., a subsidiary of Japan-based Hoshizaki Corporation, announced the addition of two new propane (R290) models to its lineup of "Snowflake GII" brand commercial refrigerators, improving the energy efficiency of the range significantly, according to a press release on December 21.

The new models, named "Snowflake GII+", are available in one-door and two-door configurations. Both models are offered in a medium-temperature range (0 to 10°C/32 to 50°F) and a low-temperature range (-22 to -5°C/-7.6 to 23°F).

Compared to the previous Snowflake GII lineup, the new Snowflake GII+ models have "achieved a 42% reduction in energy consumption for the one-door type configuration and a 36% reduction in the two-door type,” according to the company.

Hoshizaki has long been providing hydrocarbon-based commercial refrigerators in the European market.  In Japan, the company first debuted an isobutane (R600a) commercial refrigerator aimed at the Japanese hotel and restaurant sectors at the HOTERES Japan 2020 trade exhibition.

In addition, several of Hoshizaki's hydrocarbon-based commercial refrigeration units have recently been trialed in the Japanese retail market. For example, Japanese convenience store chain Lawson opened its first freon-free store in September 2019. using only CO₂ equipment supplied by Panasonic and hydrocarbon (both R290 and R600a) plug-in equipment supplied by Hoshizaki.