with one of the key ingredients used in a multitude of food preparations :

businesses of Ital Pizza – known as South

Africa ’ s favourite frozen pizza , Nice ’ n

Easy frozen meals , and Green Valley

baking powder . It was produced in the

frozen vegetables . In that same year ,

back room of a Bielefeld chemist ' s shop in

the world famous Dr Oetker Ristorante

1891 . This is still where the company ’ s

thin-crust frozen pizza was also

headquarters is located in northern

launched here in South Africa .

Germany , while business activities are

actively being managed in over 40

countries by this family enterprise .

OVERVIEW OF THE FACILITY UPGRADE

You may already be familiar with

Dr Oetker wanted to increase their

the brand that brings restaurant style

production and storage capacity since

frozen pizzas into South African homes .

their existing facility was running out of

According to the company ’ s history ,

space . Energy Partners Refrigeration

the first frozen pizzas were introduced

( EPR ) was selected to install a new

at a time when increasing numbers

three-stage ammonia refrigeration plant

of freezers were finding their way into

through the cooling as a service ( CaaS )

households , thus leading to the launch of

model .

this product in Germany in 1970 . Today ,

innovations by Dr Oetker continue

The installation included supply of

cooling to :

A secondary cooling circuit – glycol .

catering to changing consumer needs

focusing on improved quality , and

expansion on their product range .

In South Africa , it was in 2010 when

Dr Oetker acquired the well-established

• the process areas

• process fluids

• blast freezers

• holding freezers

• cold rooms

The solution was provided at the new Johannesburg production facility ( South Africa ). Reclaimed heat from the plant was also included in the solution to generate hot water . With the correct

The refrigeration system was part of a larger project to expand the production capacity of the operation . As with any large-scale project , there are always budget constraints that need to be

selection in the plant , it could be

managed . The outsourced model then

optimised for operational efficiency and

allowed the client to free up budget

redundancy while achieving the lowest

towards the larger project aspects .

possible carbon footprint .

“ We are extremely satisfied with the

Some of the benefits to this upgrade ,

technical solution delivered by Energy

and subsequent CaaS solution , are the

Partners and working with people who

capital-sensitive nature of providing an

have expertise and knowledge in this

optimised project in terms of efficiency ,

field is extremely valuable ,” said Erkan

and the use of natural refrigerants that

Yağar Project Manager — Dr Oetker .

allow the client more flexibility in its

“ Not having to invest a huge amount

capital allocation towards the project

of capital , as well as the cost savings ,

without compromising on the quality of

has enabled us to complete the entire

cooling required .

project . EP has shown us that a good

The client is afforded access to a

quality job can also be offered in South

highly-efficient refrigeration system that

Africa . I see this as the beginning of a

has sufficient capacity to match its future

long term relationship .”

expansions and the comfort that all

The project also offered great

operational and maintenance responsibility

savings in terms of energy efficiency

will be outsourced , giving the client the

and reducing CO ₂ emissions . A baseline

The HP liquid receiver .

freedom to focus more on core activities .

plant estimated at 20 % less efficient will