NEW ZEALAND – The 4^th IIR (International Institute of Refrigeration) conference on sustainability and the cold chain is set to begin this Thursday in Auckland. The event, which is being held at the Massey University campus, will run until its conclusion on Saturday the 9^th of April. This year marks the first time that New Zealand will host the prestigious conference, welcoming an international audience of researchers and industrialists and bringing together all cold chain stakeholders. The conference is designed to will provide an opportunity for showcasing leading edge developments in sustainability, retail refrigeration and the cold chain.

The biennial conference has a well-deserved reputation for attracting an international audience of researchers and industrialists, providing an opportunity to showcase cutting edge developments in sustainability, retail refrigeration and the cold chain.

This year, the conference theme will be divided into 3 categories, namely cold chain refrigeration equipment; monitoring, evaluating and responding to conditions and finally developments in sustainability.

For the section concerning cold chain equipment, the conference will address such issues as process and equipment design innovation, progress in industrial refrigeration, storage and transportation, retail and commercial display cabinets, domestic refrigeration and the cold chain in developing countries.

Similarly, the section on monitoring conditions will seek to cover topics such as devices for monitoring conditions and performance, “Big data” handling and analysis of cold chain conditions, modelling product responses to conditions, predictive food quality and safety, corrective actions in the cold chain.

The sustainability segment is also set to deal with the key issues facing the industry, including the integration of heating, cooling and heat pumps, refrigerants, containment and the refrigerated future, innovative technologies, life-cycle analysis of cool chain systems and supply chains, energy efficiency in the cold chain and renewable energies in the cold chain.