Matteo Zanesco

Dubai, UAE, 15 May 2019: The increase in population, rise in tourism and shifting dietary habits leading to a demand for more food options coming from remote parts of the world have all contributed to the steady and continuous growth of the Middle East’s refrigeration sector for the past few years, said Matteo Zanesco, Managing Director, Carel Middle East. While Saudi Arabia and the UAE are still driving the majority of the investments, Zanesco said Egypt, Qatar and Oman are also showcasing rapid growth, making the countries an attractive market for stakeholders.

Mirko Travaglin

Mirko Travaglin, Marketing Manager Refrigeration – EMEA Region, Carel, added that while there is strong potential for growth in the refrigeration market, particularly for food and pharmaceutical applications there is also a need to educate the market to move towards quality solutions, as small- and medium-sized projects in the Middle East are mainly focused on capital cost-savings. “As Carel has always invested in high-efficiency control and monitoring solutions, we are promoting a different approach to evaluating investments, which takes into consideration the return on investment in terms of lower operating costs and higher quality food preservation,” he said.

Zanesco said that changing the mindset of main stakeholders will take some more time but that legislation, along with global market trends towards best practices, will accelerate adoption of better quality equipment. Travaglin added that in Europe, end-users are increasingly investing in advanced and more efficient technology, sustainable maintenance practices and integration of natural refrigerants. Zanesco said investing in better quality equipment is also a good way of future-proofing equipment. “Any decision that is taken today will affect the next 10-15 years, which is the life-cycle of an industrial product,” he pointed out. “For this reason, we are always promoting the state-of-the-art technology that will help bring about changes in the future.”

Zanesco said that Carel aims to create technologies that provide advanced usability by allowing users to connect to smart devices, such as mobile phones, through a dedicated app. “This will considerably support technicians and supervisors in having full control of the main parameters and help ensure quality of the installations,” he said. “Moreover, each Carel product can be connected for remote monitoring and data analysis, and so installation quality and good practices are assured by data collection and reports to easily compare several sites and understand how to improve efficiency and solve existing issues.” Regulations may accelerate changes, Zanesco said; however, efficiency and connectivity constitute worldwide trends that are already affecting the Middle East market.