Hoshizaki to Transition All Standard Freezers and Refrigerators for the Japanese Market to Natural Refrigerants by the End of 2024

Exhibiting Lineup of Pre-Launch Eco-Friendly and Efficient Products at the Japan Food Service Equipment Show 2023

HOSHIZAKI CORPORATION (Head office: Toyoake City, Aichi; Representative Director, President & COO: Yasuhiro Kobayashi; hereafter “Hoshizaki”) will exhibit a new lineup of products at the Japan Food Service Equipment Show 2023 to be held at Tokyo Big Sight from February 7 to February 10, 2023.

Environmental Protection; Savings in Labor, Space, and Cost; and Improvement in Flavor and Sanitation

The business environment around food services is dramatically changing. In addition to focusing more on environmental and social initiatives, our customers are now required to achieve further cost reduction and efficiency as they confront rising prices and labor shortages.

Hoshizaki listens closely to the needs of those on the front lines of the food business and continuously strives to offer superior products and services in a timely manner for better flavor, sanitation, and efficiency. Through its products, Hoshizaki is also working to meet global environmental expectations and to provide the highest energy efficiency possible.

Hoshizaki will exhibit products currently on the market, as well as seven product lines in four different categories set for release within the year, at the Japan Food Service Equipment Show. Visitors to the show will have the chance to see and try a broad lineup of products covering cooling and heating to cleaning equipment. Hoshizaki will also present optimal plans for introducing equipment and propose ways to use the equipment through cooking demonstrations. These comprehensive solutions will support not only the restaurant industry but also various food-related facilities, as well as services such as distribution, food processing, and facilities.

Transitioning All Commercial Standard Freezers and Refrigerators for the Japanese Market to Natural Refrigerants by the End of 2024

Hoshizaki began taking orders in Japan for commercial refrigerators and freezers that use natural refrigerants¹ and are free of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) starting May 2022 and August 2022, respectively.

HFCs do not deplete the ozone layer but, as greenhouse gases, have an extremely high global warming potential (GWP) ranging from several tens of times to more than ten thousand times that of carbon dioxide (CO²).² Therefore, international society at large has shown a growing interest in the shift from HFCs to natural refrigerants.³

Hoshizaki will add more products to its lineup this year with the aim of transitioning all commercial standard freezers and refrigerators for the Japanese market to natural refrigerants that are also HFC-free by the end of 2024. By providing products that are environmentally friendly throughout their life cycles, Hoshizaki will contribute to reducing the greenhouse gases that customers emit in the process of using its products. These products are also expected to reduce the procedural burdens that customers had to bear in relation to equipment with HFCs, because natural refrigerant-based products are outside the scope of the Act on Rational Use and Proper Management of Fluorocarbons (Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act).

Through the manufacture of original products based on proprietary technologies, Hoshizaki will continue to offer innovative solutions, as well as timely and high-quality services, for more convenient and efficient food service environments.

■Hoshizaki Exhibition Booth Overview

Event: HCJ2023: Japan Food Service Equipment Show 2023
Date: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Closes at 4:30 p.m. on last day), Tuesday, February 7 to Friday, February 10, 2023
Venue: Booth No. 1-R13, East Exhibition Hall 1, Tokyo Big Sight

Notes:
1. Natural refrigerants refer to substances that exist naturally in the environment and are used as coolants for freezing and air conditioning. These eco-friendly refrigerants have an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of zero and a very low global warming potential (GWP). The GWP is a value indicating the potential of a greenhouse gas to warm the earth when the value for carbon dioxide (CO²) is set at 1. Currently, Hoshizaki uses isobutane and propane as natural refrigerants, both of which have a GWP of 3.

2. Information cited from the Ministry of the Environment’s portal site on the Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act (in Japanese).

3. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which entered into force in January 1989, has undergone several amendments. In October 2016, the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol held in Kigali, Rwanda, amended this international agreement to make mandatory systemized cuts to the production and consumption of HFCs due to the high greenhouse effect (the Kigali Amendment). Today, 147 countries and the EU have ratified, accepted, or approved the Kigali Amendment (as of January 25, 2023, according to the United Nations website).
Japan accepted the Kigali Amendment in December 2018. In 2019, Japan added HFCs as specified substances under the Act on the Protection of the Ozone Layer Through the Control of Specified Substances, etc. and Other Measures and revised its Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act.

[Attachments]

■ New Products to be Displayed at the Exhibition

□ Commercial Freezers and Refrigerators: Expansion of HFC-free Products Using Natural Refrigerants

〇 Commercial Freezer

●Tentative release: Spring 2023

〇 Commercial Refrigerator

● Tentative release: Spring 2023

HR-120NA
Commercial Refrigerator

□ Cube Ice Maker: Industry’s First⁴ Refrigeration/Frost Cleansing Control for Enhanced Sanitation

● The previous model was upgraded for enhanced performance.

■ Refrigeration Control
The new model adds a temperature sensor to realize temperature control in the ice-making chamber. The sensor keeps the temperature low in the ice-making chamber even when not making ice. Cold air flowing through the machine chamber and ice storage bin sustains a more sanitary ice-making environment.

■ Frost Cleansing Control
The frost cleansing control function mitigates the adhesion of scale—the crystalized mineral components of water—by regularly frosting the ice-making chamber walls, then quickly defrosting them to wash all of the surfaces. This feature ensures a more sanitary ice-making chamber.

IM-230DN-ST
Cube Ice Maker

● Product Specifications (Main Model Only)

● Tentative release: Spring 2023

Notes:
4. Industry’s first, according to Hoshizaki internal research as of December 2022.
5. Ambient temperature: 20°C; water temperature: 15°C; 50/60 Hz

□ Commercial Dishwashers

〇 Undercounter and Door Types: Better Convenience and Energy Savings

● The new mechanism has wash and rinse spray arms that can be attached and detached with a single touch to improve user convenience. A lower quantity of rinse water also improves energy-saving performance.

● Tentative release:

Undercounter typel: Spring 2023
Door type: Summer 2023

JWE-400TUC
Commercial Dishwasher
Undercounter Type

〇 Compact Tabletop Type: Smallest in Hoshizaki Series

● The use of hot water directly from a facility’s water heater for wash and rinse cycles eliminates the time necessary to heat water. The top and bottom rotational spray arms serve to shorten the wash cycle to six minutes by spraying water from the top and bottom to clean dishes. Up to 10 racks can be washed per hour by alternating between the two standard racks. Innovations to remove the heating function decrease power consumption and eliminate the need for a dedicated power outlet.

● Tentative release: Fall 2023

JW-100A
Commercial Dishwasher
Compact Tabletop Model

□ Thawing Refrigerator: Uniform Thawing for Better Flavor

● The unique duct structure uniformly circulates warm air throughout the cabinet to ensure consistent thawing. This product is the industry’s first⁶ warm-air thawing refrigerator to be equipped with a liquid-crystal display touch control panel, which makes it easy to check the state of operation at a glance.

● Tentative release: Spring 2023

Note:
6. Industry’s first, according to Hoshizaki internal research as of December 2022.

HD-63A
Thawing Refrigerator

*The product release is subject to change.