Blue Star, ISA JV for supermarket refrigeration

Mumbai, Jul 18: Air-conditioning and refrigeration company Blue Star has forged a tie-up with ISA, Italy for providing a wide range of supermarket and food refrigeration solutions.

Blue Star Executive Director T G S Babu told mediapersons here today that initially ISA products will be imported and sold under the Blue Star-ISA co-brand.

At a subsequent stage, Blue Star will explore manufacturing of a limited range of ISA products in the country in partnership with the Italian company, he said. ''Organised retail, in the form of supermarkets and convenient stores will bring about a massive transformation in the way food products are procured, stored and sold in India,'' he added.

Huge investments have been announced by Indian corporates such as Reliance, Fortune, Bhartis and Tatas to tackle the retail end, as well as the back end of the supermarkets. In general, supermarkets use a lot of refrigeration equipment and Blue Star is gearing up aggressively to tackle the emerging supermarket opportunities, Mr Babu said.

ISA Managing Director Marco Giulietti said, ''India currently offers huge opportunities in the cold chain equipment segment. Blue Star's strong credentials in the commercial refrigeration segment, its expertise in the science of cooling coupled with its vast distribution network in the country made ISA's preferred choice to partner with in the country.''

UNI