Emerson creates cold chain organization

Emerson Commercial and Residential Solutions – a U.S. company that makes many components for systems that use natural refrigerants like CO₂ and ammonia –  has formed a new “cold chain organization” focused on supporting temperature-sensitive and asset-optimization solutions “wherever commercial goods are moved, stored or sold,” the company said in a statement.

Emerson Commercial and Residential Solutions is a division of St. Louis, Mo.-based Emerson.

Emerson’s cold chain organization “will offer customers a total-channel approach to protect foods and other critical cargo every step along the cold chain — from grower and processor, to distributor and retailer,” the company said.

The new cold chain organization is led by a team of longtime Emerson executives, including John Rhodes, named group president of cold-chain for Emerson Commercial and Residential Solutions; he previously managed Emerson’s refrigeration business.

Within the cold chain organization, there are now market-focused teams focused on four sectors: food retail, foodservice, transportation and aftermarket distribution. These teams are led by Ed McKiernan in his new position as president of the cold chain business. In addition, to accelerate development of new cold chain technologies and services, group president Mark Dunson leads the company’s global Electronics & Solutions business.

André Patenaude is the director of food retail growth strategy, cold chain for Emerson’s Commercial and Residential platform. He is responsible for marketing, business development and growth strategy for the food retailing space and the chiller market. Emerson’s cold chain organization, he said, allows for “more synergies among all business units – all have common objectives.”

Patenaude added that he is “still looking after CO₂ and supporting customers using CO₂.”

Emerson pointed out that $990 billion is lost in food waste globally each year and keeping food fresh is a $32 billion global investment in energy. This makes energy management and maintenance “major concerns of operators from the standpoint of profitability as well as their carbon footprint.”

“There are big challenges to solve with the amount of food wasted, revenues lost and energy consumed globally, and this is why we are expanding our role in safeguarding the cold chain,” said Rhodes. “Organizing our expertise and resources to focus on the cold chain and deliver unique solutions that help improve food quality, reduce energy use and optimize business effectiveness will allow us to bring more value to our customers while making a positive impact on the environment.”

“Our focus on connected controls and monitoring services, twenty-plus years of data-driven insights and recent investments in the cargo space make us an even stronger partner for customers looking to holistically manage and optimize their buildings, equipment and perishable inventory,” said Dunson.

Emerson’s recent acquisitions in cargo monitoring “complement other areas of our business to help take us from farm to fork,” added Patenaude, “You can pick produce off the field, put it in a case, and track the temperature through the journey, including geo-tracking if a door is opened and the product is exposed to light.”