Energy solutions for food & beverage manufacturers
From process utilities to low-carbon heat, we support your projects across the entire lifecycleEnergy solutions for food & beverage manufacturers
From process utilities to low-carbon heat, we support your projects across the entire lifecycle
As a food and beverage manufacturer, you operate under some of the tightest constraints in industry: strict hygiene standards, unbroken cold chains, continuous production pressure and growing regulatory requirements on energy and carbon. At the same time, the cost and availability of gas is making traditional heat production harder to justify.
We work with manufacturers across the full spectrum, from meat and dairy to brewing and frozen food, to address these challenges through three interconnected areas: process utilities, industrial refrigeration and low-carbon heat.
Process
Process machines that preserve product quality at every stage.
In food and beverage production, the machines in direct contact with your products (freezing tunnels, drying systems, controlled atmosphere storage) are where quality is won or lost. Temperature, humidity and airflow must be precisely controlled at each step: a deviation doesn't just cost energy, it costs product.
We design and integrate process machines tailored to your products, your production cycle and your quality standards. Each system is engineered to your specific requirements (product type, process temperatures, throughput) and controlled from a single central system with real-time monitoring across all parameters.
From energy audit to long-term operations
- IQF and tunnel freezing, tailored to your product: fish, meat, convenience foods, vegetables
- Condensation drying and heat pump drying: gas-free, energy-efficient, no outside air dependency
- Controlled atmosphere and intelligent cold storage with precise humidity and CO₂ management
- Integrated process control: real-time monitoring of temperature, humidity, CO₂ and energy consumption, locally or remotely
- HACCP-compliant design and food safety standards throughout
- Process utilities where required: steam, compressed air, purified water
Industrial cold
Cold chain, from design to round-the-clock maintenance.
We design, install and maintain industrial refrigeration systems for food and beverage manufacturers through dedicated local entities across our markets, including Axima Réfrigération in France, Equans Belux in Belgium, Equans Refrigeration & Heating Solutions in the Netherlands, Equans Kältechnik in Austria, and Zimmermann in Germany.
Wherever you operate, we work to meet your production constraints, your energy targets and your regulatory obligations (HACCP, ISO 22000) without interrupting your operations.
Sectors we work in
Refrigeration systems and technologies
- Maintaining an unbroken cold chain without interrupting production
- Reducing energy consumption while preserving cooling performance
- Complying with evolving refrigerant regulations (F-Gas, natural refrigerants)
- Ensuring food safety and hygiene standards across all cold environments
- Keeping full visibility over your system: temperatures, humidity and energy consumption in real time
- Minimising downtime through preventive maintenance and rapid response
Recent projects
Low-carbon heat
Cut gas from your process heat without cutting output.
Steam and hot water for process or cleaning are used across every stage of your production: cooking, blanching, pasteurisation, sterilisation, evaporation, drying. Most of it is still produced by gas-fired boilers. HEATEO is our offer for replacing them.
Industrial heat is one of the hardest decarbonisation problems in manufacturing. We combine waste heat recovery, thermal storage and low-carbon heat production to replace gas boilers with systems that deliver the temperatures your process requires.
We don't propose a product. We engineer the right combination of technologies for your situation, and guarantee the performance.
How we approach it
Every HEATEO project starts with an inventory of your steam and heat demand, process by process. We capture available waste heat and use it directly where possible, upgrade temperatures with heat pumps where needed, and complement with low-carbon production where gaps remain.
The heat technologies in our toolkit
- Waste heat recovery (from refrigeration loops, process effluents, neighbouring sites)
- Industrial heat pumps up to 120°C, built for your process temperatures
- Electric steam boilers from 1 MW, hybrid option available
- Mechanical vapour compression
- Thermal energy storage
- Heat-as-a-Service contracts available
Recent projects
Making the right decisions across process, cold and heat
Food and beverage manufacturers rarely face a single challenge in isolation. Decarbonising your heat affects your process. Optimising your cold chain creates opportunities for heat recovery. Choosing where to invest first, and in what sequence, requires a view across all three.
Carbon Shift is our decision-support offer. We map your current energy and process situation, identify where the biggest gains are, and help you build a roadmap that connects process, cold and heat into a coherent investment plan, with performance guarantees where applicable.
How we support your decisions
- Cross-site energy and process audit (process machines, refrigeration, heat)
- Prioritised investment roadmap covering energy efficiency, cost reduction and decarbonisation
- Technology selection and business case across cold, heat and process
- Energy Performance Contracts
- Ongoing performance monitoring and optimisation
Frequently asked questions
We cover the full energy lifecycle of food and beverage production: process utilities (steam, compressed air, purified water), industrial refrigeration, and low-carbon heat. We design, install and maintain these systems across the entire facility, from a single piece of equipment to a complete site upgrade, through dedicated local teams with sector-specific expertise.
Through three interconnected levers: switching to natural refrigerants (NH₃, CO₂) to replace high-GWP HFCs, recovering waste heat from refrigeration loops to reduce gas consumption, and replacing gas-fired boilers with heat pumps and electric steam generation via our HEATEO offer. Each project starts with an energy audit to identify the most impactful actions and model the savings before any investment.
Because food and beverage decarbonisation rarely comes down to a single technology. Equans combines refrigeration, heat, electrical and digital expertise under one roof, and stays involved for the long term through maintenance and performance contracts. We also bring sector-specific knowledge: our teams specialise by food segment, from meat and dairy to frozen food and brewing, which means we understand your process constraints before we start.
Ready to explore what's possible on your site?
Whether you're looking to reduce energy costs, switch to natural refrigerants or decarbonise your heat, we can help you build the right approach for your operations.Ready to explore what's possible on your site?
Whether you're looking to reduce energy costs, switch to natural refrigerants or decarbonise your heat, we can help you build the right approach for your operations.