By Yvonne Pflieger
We have a new Fruit & Veg Fridge and are very excited! What do you think about our new fridge?
Let us explain why we replaced our old fridge. You know that based on our values we’d want to reuse and repair as much as possible, rather than buying new. In this case though, there were a few reasons that made us consider buying new instead:
Our old fridge was an open fridge which means it was not very energy efficient (we only buy renewable energy, so it was not that much of an issue, but still it meant increased energy cost),
Our lovely shop staff had to spend an excessive amount of time stocking the fridge with fresh vegetables in the morning and emptying it at night (this added at least half an hour if not more each day to their workload and our cost – time and money that can be better spent on more productive tasks).
Also the more we handle our fruit and veg the more likely it is to get bruised and spoil quicker. We trialed keeping the fridge on at night and leaving our veggies in there, but then …
It also started having trouble keeping the temperature low, leading to some of our veggies wilting and withering, meaning increased food waste (which we compost, but still not ideal).
So after a lot of back and forth the board decided to research a new fridge and the criteria were clear: energy efficiency and the right size (and price). Closed door fridges are significantly more energy efficient. Closed Door also means that our shop coordinators don’t need to do the stocking up and emptying each day. We can also display more of our beautiful produce (and other products) and get more space in our cool room. We decided new over used due to the warranty we get – et voila here it is. 🙂
A big thank you to Ian for negotiating a better price and helping with the transport and installation together with Colin, Sarah and Keelah! It is always team work here at the Co-Op! 🙂