Interspar Austria has announced the launch of the SL ice block beer cooler, which lowers the temperature of beer by up to ten degrees within 30 minutes.
The new cooling system, exclusive to Interspar, can accommodate 20 bottles at the same time and was developed by Stefan Limmer, as part of the 'Young & Urban by SPAR' start-up initiative.
The ice block is placed on bottles of beer while still inside the box, and it simultaneously cools all bottles within a half-hour.
Ice-Cold Refreshment
“Funnily, I had the idea for the product in winter, when I suddenly had the picture in my mind, as the ice rests directly on the bottleneck,” Limmer said.
“When I had built the first prototype, I waited with the thermometer in front of the beer crate and was totally surprised when the beer was already cool after 30 minutes,” the inventor added.
Water is poured into the compact ice block mould and placed in the freezer. The ice block shape is compact and designed to fit into any normal freezer.
Once the water is completely frozen, the ice blocks are then removed from the mould carefully and immediately placed on the box of beer.
During the melting process, the block of ice on top of the bottles slowly sinks down due to its shape, without breaking. The cold liquid hitting the bottleneck causes the beer in the bottle to circulate and become evenly cold.
Interspar Austria recently announced the introduction of reusable plastic bags for loose fruit and vegetables in its stores, in order to reduce plastic waste in the country.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
