Oakland International Extends Investment in Online Energy Efficiency Technologies

Ethical family business Oakland International has increased its investment in online energy-efficient technologies, helping to reduce energy consumption and delivering advanced sustainability across its temperature-controlled operations.

Oakland’s new investment in Danfoss means that they have improved online technological control over their temperature-controlled storage environments.

Oakland International Strategic Development Manager, Pete Vaughan, explained: “We wanted to improve the management and visibility of our chilled and frozen storage environments and to achieve this we decided to expand our Danfoss installation online. With the Danfoss system, site cooling can be configured and controlled remotely, and the system can inform our team if the temperature levels shift, enabling further investigation before any extensive temperature change can occur.”

With a respected reputation for its advanced engineering, Danfoss is a global leader in energy efficient technologies across industries such as commercial buildings, the food and beverage sector, refrigeration and natural energy markets. With industry energy costs varying and higher during peak periods, having the ability to control temperature systems is highly advantageous.

Pete added: “Having the ability to control energy consumption during peak periods means we can reduce our energy costs significantly.

“In many cases, businesses with temperature-controlled storage can run plant to lower temperatures in the run up to the 16.00hrs to 19.00hrs peak charging zone, meaning the building is colder than actually needed and Oakland can programme plant to turn off and reduce energy consumption throughout the most expensive time zone. We can use the scheduling and temperature monitoring elements of the Danfoss system to programme plant activity and to ensure storage units never get too warm; this protects product integrity and keeps costs lower, thus benefiting Oakland and our customers.”

Aiming to be the first carbon-neutral business within its sector, Oakland International is a BRC AA accredited business, a double Queen’s Award for Enterprise recipient for International Trade and Sustainable Development and is a specialist contract packing, storage, picking, food distribution and brand development support provider for ambient, chilled and frozen food to the retail, convenience, discount, wholesale and food service markets in the UK, Ireland and via their partner in Spain.