Glass, eco-friendly materials and an ultramodern design. The field of cooling, thanks to the new needs of consumers and the evolution of out-of-home spaces, changes face and throughout Europe becomes the protagonist of a revolution in spaces, not only those belonging to restaurants and bars, but also to large-scale distribution. “In recent times we had already become accustomed in supermarkets to a greater use of technology, all in order to facilitate purchases”, explains Pedro Amaral, Sales manager of the Portuguese Arcaboa, a firm specialized in the manufacture of equipment for the large-scale retail trade. He adds: “After the pandemic, this trend will accelerate further. We will soon have supermarkets where artificial intelligence will replace payment transactions, will allow us to order and collect products without queues and suggest to us which goods to buy ”. On the innovation front, the Lusitanian company is working on more eco-sustainable cold equipment, as well as on more ecological distribution solutions. "Not surprisingly, at Host2021 we will present a new product for supermarkets where the extended glass surface will match the lowest consumption known up to now".

Something similar can be told regarding catering, where the German Viessmann is focusing decisively on technologies that can “physically” bring the customer closer to refrigeration. “This is a metaphorical image, but not that much,” explains Rainer Gahn, Export Sales Manager of the company, underlining how the cold rooms of the future will be characterized by a design capable of harmonizing with the surrounding environment; whether it is a room or an open kitchen, thanks to particular colors or the presence of glazed spaces, the result will always be beautiful to see. "In this way, the restaurateur will be able to show off all the freshness of the raw materials, giving the customers the possibility to choose what will be cooked directly by taking a look inside the refrigerator cabinet". But that's not all, because among Viessmann's objectives two of the most important concerns are safety and hygiene. "From cold to heating or air conditioning systems, we have patented some cleaning systems that allow us to keep our equipment in perfect working order, while at the same time saving energy and improving its performance".