Katjes Food Factory Cooling System Upgrade
Katjes Fassin replaced two aging chillers with a single high-efficiency magnetic-bearing unit, delivered as a prefabricated container — supporting 24/7 climate-neutral confectionery production.
Katjes Fassin operates three confectionery sites across Germany, all certified climate-neutral, all running around the clock. Sugar, gelatine, and chocolate processes don't tolerate cooling outages — even a few hours of mid-batch failure can write off an entire production run. When two of the site's legacy water-cooled chillers approached end-of-life, the replacement window had to fit around production, not the other way around.
The case examines how a confectionery manufacturer running 24/7 climate-neutral lines retired two aging water-cooled chillers and replaced them with a single magnetic-bearing centrifugal unit — delivered as a pre-fabricated container module rather than a traditional mechanical-room rebuild. The approach compressed on-site work, lifted system efficiency, and preserved the climate-neutral certification across all three German sites — without a missed production batch.
The challenge
The reputation Katjes had built on climate-neutral confectionery wasn't a marketing line — it was a chain of certifications across three German sites, each tied to specific energy and equipment commitments. Replacing two end-of-life chillers without breaking that chain was an engineering problem before it was a procurement problem.
Two water-cooled chillers approaching end-of-service-life simultaneously
24/7 confectionery lines — mid-batch cooling failure means written-off production
Climate-neutral certification across all three sites had to remain intact
Existing mechanical room footprint fixed — no expansion possible
New unit had to outperform the retired pair, not match it
Our solution
Rather than dismantle and rebuild the mechanical room over months, the replacement was engineered as a pre-fabricated container — a single York YZ magnetic-bearing centrifugal chiller, factory-assembled, tested, then trucked to site. On-site work was reduced to hookup. Two units retired. One advanced unit took their place, at higher capacity and higher COP than the pair it replaced.
Single York YZ magnetic-bearing centrifugal chiller — oil-free, low-friction
Factory pre-assembly inside a compact container module
Site work reduced to mechanical and electrical tie-in
Higher COP than the legacy pair — lower kWh per ton of cooling
Phased cutover engineered around production schedule, not around contractor convenience
Key results & impact
The implementation of UrbanNest Home’s green logistics strategy delivered measurable and lasting results. Most notably, the company achieved a 40% reduction in carbon emissions from last-mile deliveries.
6 → 9
Cooling Efficiency Rating
$0
Production Loss
24/7
Year-Round Stable Operation
↓
Chillers consolidated into one magnetic-bearing unit
