At least three of the main restaurants in Sydney, Australia’s first six-star luxury hotel, the Crown Sydney Casino (currently under construction), will be installing R290 commercial refrigeration cabinets, according to Australia-based CyberChill Precision Refrigeration, manufacturers of this equipment.
“The first few cabinets have started being delivered this month and will be every month until the end of the first quarter in 2020,” said Norma Pickford, Group Creative Director for CyberChill. The project is scheduled to be completed sometime in early 2021.
Transitioning to R290 Standard
CyberChill has begun transitioning to R290 as a standard offering for its line of commercial refrigeration cabinets by the end of this year, according to Craig Pickford, CyberChill’ s Managing Director.
Despite certain risks and challenges, Craig Pickford explained the move is motivated by a desire to position his business to continue being a leader in its sector over the next few years. “In Australia, our challenge has been getting the technicians to become certified and accredited to work with R290, so we’ve simply remained with the traditional refrigerants like R134a and R404a,” said Pickford. “But I’ve made a call that definitely by the end of this year, like it or not, we are going with R290,” he said.
CyberChill mainly supplies its commercial refrigeration equipment to the higher end of Australia’s hospitality and food service market. As such, Pickford said that he believes taking this leadership role adds significant value to the CyberChill brand and how it is perceived among others in the industry. “As a higher-end product, it is important that we lead,” said Pickford. “Somebody has to lead and drag the rest of the industry with it, so that’s the decision we took.”
Pickford is encouraged by the progress he has seen in the industry and the effect CyberChill’s actions have had on others. “We’ve moved along and progressed so much by now in the industry and I think there is far more acceptance of R290 equipment compared to than before,” said Pickford. “Our competitors are finally beginning to follow and have also started introducing R290 which can only be good for the industry.”
CyberChill supplies its refrigeration equipment to businesses in the hospitality industry including cafés, bars, hotels, restaurants, and production kitchens, among others. The company has manufacturing facilities in both England and China.
“I’ve made a call that definitely by the end of this year, like it or not, we are going with R290.”
Craig Pickford, CyberChill
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