“The 3 Degrees project”, an ACES-DP World project directed by the Centre for Sustainable cooling and coordinated by the IIR, aims to assess the scale of the benefits of increasing the set-point temperature of frozen food from -18°C to -15°C. The project also aims to understand whether we need to advocate leapfrogging to frozen food to deliver safe, quality and resilient food while saving energy. Food industries are invited to take part in the project.
Each year, 1.3 billion tonnes of food go to waste globally, making food loss and waste reduction a critical concern, especially with a growing population.
Frozen foods are attracting an increasing interest as an alternative solution to extend postharvest life and reduce household food waste by 47% compared to fresh foods. This consumer trend is driven by the possibility of storing fruit and vegetables for longer, improving affordability, and a preference for less frequent shopping. Currently, the frozen food industry uses a standard set-point of -18°C for refrigeration. This temperature, established in the mid-20th century, is being questioned in the context of today’s food products and real-time monitoring technologies. Increasing the temperature to -15°C for certain foods can help preserve the product’s safety and quality while reducing unnecessary energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
To foster industry and consumer consensus for this change and address energy, environmental, economic, and food quality concerns, a comprehensive research programme is urgently needed. This programme, called “3 Degrees”, would evaluate the implications of changing the set-point on energy systems, business opportunities, food supply chain resilience, GHG emissions, food quality, and broader sustainability goals.
It is essential to understand the views of the food industry on the practical implications of increasing the temperature in frozen food supply chains. We would like to invite you to an interview to discuss the feasibility of this project idea. Contact: Yosr Allouche (head of projects at the IIR and coordinator of the “3 Degrees” Project) y.allouche@iifiir.org
