Illuminate Your Merchandising Displays with Food Safe Lighting

For more information on Promolux food safe lighting or to request a quote, click on the links to the right.

Grocery store owners: stop and ask yourself one simple question. Are you using the best food display lighting in the industry? If not, then you may be wasting money and your time sensitive products are most likely not lasting as long as they could be! Using the correct food display lighting can help you illuminate your products and ensure that they stay fresh as long as possible.

Visual presentation

Many of the inferior display case lighting products on the market today enhance some colors at the expense of others. However, Promolux lighting brings out the full, natural range of color in merchandise, allowing a balance between color and clarity without distortion or artificial coloring. Selecting lamps that offer the highest quality color rendering is a wise choice for any grocery store. This will ensure that your products look and stay fresh, which will ultimately increase profits and customer satisfaction simultaneously.

Optimal lighting

The visual impact lighting makes on your store goes further than you think. Most lamps change product color due to the fact that they are skewed toward the yellow and green end of the color spectrum. Although these lights offer strong illumination, the trade off is a lack of vibrant color and extended shelf life in your refrigerated display case. Utilizing an optimal lighting source like Promolux lamps will allow you to showcase food’s natural colors. Selecting the correct lighting can also protect fresh produce and meat products from the harmful radiation emitted by inferior lighting. This means that perishable items can last up to 50% longer and reduce waste in meat, seafood, deli, bakery, produce, and floral departments.

Longer lasting products

Incorrect display lighting can drastically shorten the shelf life of time sensitive produce. Understanding how lighting can damage fresh merchandise is the first step in correcting this problem. Choose bulbs that will not hasten discoloring, drying, and loss of freshness in produce to combat this problem. It is well known that most fluorescent lighting produces radiation that may damage your products and promote bacterial growth. New lighting choices can have up to 86% lower radiation than regular lamps, translating into extended shelf life for time sensitive foods.

Bottom line

All grocers hope to maximize profit and minimize waste, that’s an indisputable fact. Using Promolux food safe lighting to achieve that goal is a simple way to invest in more than just the products that are on display. Using the right lighting to showcase these products can result in improved sales and increased food safety. The presentation of your meats and produce will stand out with the correct lighting. Using bulbs that do not promote shrinkage and bacteria growth will result in extended shelf life and greater sales opportunities. The correct lighting can assist in reducing losses as a result of sensitive product waste.

Creating an inviting environment is not the only thing grocery store lighting can be used for. Achieving greater sales and lengthening the shelf life of time sensitive products are two ways the right lighting can help your business. Design a visual impact with optimal lighting that will improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Using the Right Display Lighting in Your Grocery Store

For more information on Promolux LED lighting or to request a quote, click on the links to the right.

Selecting the best retail display lighting for each food category is essential to getting the perfect color, warmth and appeal for each food type, whether it is packaged or fresh. Choosing lights that are custom designed to create dramatic visual impact in each department can improve the flow and overall feel of your store.

Meat section

The meat department is the cornerstone of every grocery store. Thus, the fresh meat display case should include an appealing, colorful presentation using high color definition lighting. This will ensure that the meat looks naturally fresh and high quality. Consider Promolux LED lighting for fresh meat, as this style of lighting emits less heat than its fluorescent counterpart. In addition to helping meat stay fresh, LED lighting brings out the most vivid colors in meats, appealing to visual customers.

Dairy section

This department seeks a balance between vibrant color and a sense of natural elements. From yogurts to deserts, the dairy department is a diverse collection of shapes, colors, and textures. For cases with a variety of tiers, shelf and rail lighting can create a dazzling display. Specialty produce requires warm-white canopy lighting that will play up the vibrant colors of such products. Select a lighting design that spreads high-quality light all the way across the case. This will ensure that your dairy display case lighting provides a stunning visual impact. For lighting that appears invisible, choose vertical door lighting that still promises to deliver uniform brightness to the display. Be careful to choose lighting that safely illuminates dairy products without impacting their nutritional integrity. Such products are very sensitive to heat and light, and the wrong lighting choice may negatively affect the flavor of your produce.

Bakery section

Warmth and happiness, childhood memories, creamy delicacies come to mind when entering the bakery. This is another section that requires a balanced spectrum light to give breads and cakes that irresistible “just-baked” look. The use of a diffuser over the light can help minimize reflections and glare when choosing proper bakery display case lighting.

Floral section

Selecting an item from the floral department requires care and consideration, as customers are choosing something that they hope to make a statement with. Such products require warm light and high color accentuation to show off the vibrant colors of nature’s beauty: flowers. Floral display case lighting should be selected based on its ability to deliver a phenomenal visual impact. Keep in mind that impulsive purchases account for a large portion of grocery store sales, and the floral department can help contribute to this. Be careful to select lighting that isn’t too bright, as this will cause fresh flowers to wilt more quickly than they naturally would. Using a perfectly even warm white light will help bring the floral department to life and catch customer’s eye from across the store.

Achieving the best color, warmth, and appeal for each display can be accomplished through specialty lighting for grocery store displays such as that developed by Promolux. Work towards creating the desired lighting impact in each department to reach your goals. Paying attention to quality retail display lighting in the meat, dairy, bakery, and floral sections is essential.

Ways to Reduce Shrinkage in Grocery Stores

For more information on Promolux LED lighting or to request a quote, click on the links to the right.

Superior grocery store lighting is highly effective in preventing shrinkage in grocery stores. Shrinkage mostly occurs when the perishable products decay, becoming inedible. This leads to a huge loss incurred by the store owner as well as a negative impact on the environment. Before venturing into a grocery store business, it is advisable to have a practical plan of preventing shrinkage. Also, have a policy that gives your employees power to take action once the products start showing signs of decay. This helps in averting the wastage though losses may still be incurred. Shrinkage in grocery stores can be prevented through the following practical measures.

Place frequent low quantities

Food waste in grocery stores may be caused by product overstocking. In this case, the quantity of perishable foods in stock is higher than the consumption rate by the target consumers. This simply means that some of the products will reach their sell by date while still on the shelves and start decaying. Placing frequent orders for products in low quantities can help prevent waste as a result of overstocking. For this to be effective without inconveniencing your customers, it is important to identify a reliable supplier who can deliver items within the shortest time possible.

Invest in quality refrigerators

Refrigerators are effective in keeping perishable food substances fresh for an extended period of time. Refrigerators in grocery stores are best for meat, dairy, seafood and other highly perishable products. Investing in quality refrigerators with a huge carrying capacity is important in keeping fresh adequate amount of products enough to be sold out within a considerable period of time. To reinforce the function of the refrigerators, consider installing an LED lighting system as they emit less heat, hence reduced temperatures. This keeps products fresh for a prolonged period of time.

Constant stock monitoring

Stock monitoring should be a daily routine in a grocery store. Constant stock monitoring helps in identifying early signs of product decay and taking necessary steps to avert the loss. The displayed perishable products should be monitored at least twice in a day, that is morning and evening. Any product such as a fruit or vegetables with signs of decay should be separated from others. Also, products with reduced freshness identified during monitoring should be put on offer for quick low or no profit sales to prevent waste. Installation of LED display lighting in the store provides a clear view of each product, and allows for a successful and easy monitoring process.

Energy efficient lighting system

Installation of an energy efficient lighting system in the grocery store plays a huge role in preventing shrinkage. Promolux energy efficient LED lighting provides great performance in making displayed products eye-catching for increased sales that help in clearing the stock. In addition, the lights emit less heat that reduces the cooling load while keeping the temperatures low. This inhibits the growth of bacteria and fungi responsible for the decay process in food. Shrinkage in a grocery store can be prevented by promoting product shelf life extension using Promolux LED lights.

The Connection Between Light and Food Toxicity

For more information on Promolux food safe lighting or to request a quote, click on the links to the right.

If you are planning on establishing your own grocery store, then you must at first obtain concrete understanding of the connection between light and food toxicity. Almost every kind of food in the world is directly exposed to light in one way or the other. Some foods are left under the open sun, while other  absorb light from artificial man made sources during processing, packaging, storage, shipping and marketing.

The effects of direct exposure to light

Many retailers are not fully aware of the threat that direct exposure to lighting poses. In fact, when foods are exposed to excessive light, the quality of the food deteriorates. This results in the food becoming discolored, developing off flavors or losing its nutrients. Any one of these unpleasant and unwanted effects of light exposure can jeopardize the business of a food retailer. In other words, food retailers who are not doing enough to prevent photodegradation of food are losing out financially.

Factors affecting the light sensitivity of foods

The light sensitivity of food refers to how likely it is to be adversely affected by light when directly exposed to a natural or artificial light source. There are many factors which influence the light sensitivity of food. Here are some of the main factors that you should be aware of:

  • The duration of exposure to light
  • The distance between the light source and the food
  • The strength of the light and the type of light that is being emitted
  • The oxygen concentration of the food
  • The temperature
Light induced changes

There are two ways in which light induced changes take place in food. The first process involves the absorption of light by a component of the food that directly undergoes a chemical reaction, which leads to the photodegradation of food. In the second process, the presence of light causes one component of the food to trigger a chemical reaction in another component of the food. Much like the first process, the second process can also result in the deterioration of food.

Not all types of light affect food

Now that you have learned about the harmful effects that inferior food display lighting can have on your perishable goods, you might be planning to get rid of food display cases altogether. That is no solution to solving the problem of photo degradation of food.

You need to realize that not all types of light are harmful for your food. For example, Promolux food safe lighting is a unique variant of a specialized merchandising lamp that can be used for meat display lighting, deli display case lighting, bakery display case lighting and any other form of retail food lighting.

Food safe lighting will not deteriorate the quality of your food. It will not result in photodegradation and will not cause a reduction in the shelf life of food. In fact, you can achieve shelf life extension using Promolux food safe lighting.

How to Achieve Proper Grocery Store Lighting

For more information on Promolux LED lighting or to request a quote, click on the links to the right.

Have you ever stopped to notice the rich colors and near perfect appearance of produce, meats, and display cases in grocery stores? Next time you are shopping, stop and take a look at these displays and notice what many already have. This appearance is thanks, in large part, to one small change that grocers have implemented: a proper design for their grocery store lighting.

Lighting education

Did you know that light is color? The visible part of the color spectrum covers a wavelength range from about 380nm to 780nm. Due to the fact that the human eye regards the blue/red portion of the spectrum as “darker,” general-purpose lamps are often designed to focus in the green/yellow portion to give the appearance of brightness in lighting. Utilizing the full range of the spectrum may improve grocery store lighting. Although including the darker colors in lighting may give off the perception of less brightness, the colors appear more vivid.

Lighting goals

A successful lighting design hinges on the quantity and quality of illumination. It is important to consider what you hope to accomplish when lighting displays. Keep the following goals in mind when creating your ideal grocery lighting:

  • Creating a bright and open store appearance
  • Providing a visually comfortable environment
  • Using accent lighting appropriately
  • Lowering maintenance and energy costs
  • Improving product appearance and shelf life
LED versus fluorescent lighting

Most grocers use two main types of lighting in their stores: LED or fluorescent bulbs. When illuminating display cases such as those for meat, deli, bakery, floral, seafood, etc., carefully consider which type of lighting best suits your needs. While fluorescent lighting is cheaper, LED lighting saves energy and replicates true colors with greater accuracy. It is important to remember that while LED bulbs do last longer, they are also more expensive. Although the initial cost is greater, many grocers are switching to LED bulbs such as those sold by Promolux LED. This is in spite of the added initial expense, but why? The reason: such lighting can reduce servicing and maintenance costs associated with traditional lighting systems. In addition, fresh products last longer, appear fresher, and cause less shrinkage.

Sensitive food products

It is important to maintain the quality of sensitive products. This helps eliminate the potential of waste and reduce lost profit.  Using the correct lighting is especially imperative within grocery store meat display cases and other display cases that house perishable items. Thanks to a proprietary, Balanced Spectrum coating process, the shelf life of fresh produce can be extended. This type of lighting product also allows for less merchandise shrinkage. As a result, these items are more palatable and attractive to customers. This may lead to produce selling in a timelier manner, potentially reducing waste and increasing profits.

When considering grocery store lighting keep your goals, lighting types, and sensitive products in mind. Take advantage of knowledge about light and color to improve a store’s look with minimal effort. Ensuring the proper design of your store’s lighting will yield the best possible results for your business.