Unilever Ice Cream & Frozen Food has launched eco-friendly freezers which it claims could save multiple and independent retailers hundreds of pounds per year in electricity bills.
The Vision 12, priced at £399, and the Maxivision, priced at £899, use as refrigerants hydrocarbons, which do not harm the environment.
The manufacturer is offering vouchers for £200 off the list price for its ice cream products with every cabinet. It claimed the freezers could save retailers up to 15% on the cost of running existing models.
It said forecourt and motorway service station trials in August 2003 showed that the Maxivision boosted ice cream sales 29% and could store more products than older models of a similar size.
The company aims to replace its 75,000 existing freezers in UK outlets with the latest versions within 10 years and plans to install 3,000 by 2005.
Unilever said it would recycle older freezers it replaced even if it had not supplied them, and would donate the cash from recycling to kids’ environmental charity Groundwork.