Better lighting for the food industry

With food handling, there’s no room for poor lighting. The amount and quality of light significantly affect the working conditions and occupational safety as well as the observation of quality deviations in fresh groceries.

In 2018, Northern Finland’s largest private fresh wholesale and vegetable breeder Kasvishovi renewed the lighting of their premises. The company had recently moved into new premises, where the lighting was not up to standards.

Above all, the goal of the lighting renewal was to get better lighting. On top of that, Kasvishovi wanted to achieve considerable energy savings with modern LED technology as well as added value with smart lighting control.

Read how Greenled delivered the lighting solution of Kasvishovi’s production, storage, outdoor and office spaces as an all-inclusive turnkey service.

Lighting challenges and requirements

Kasvishovi is a family-business from Northern Finland with a strong focus on fresh and healthy ingredients. The Kasvishovi products, including vegetables, lunch salads, dressings and mayonnaise delicacies are manufactured in hygienic, temperature-regulated production facilities using only fresh and high-quality ingredients. In such facilities, lighting plays a major role in performing the work tasks and observing the quality of the products.

The premises in Oritkari are a combination of production, storage and office spaces all inside one building. The work tasks include office work, vegetable handling and breeding in the production as well as storage work related to wholesale. Especially in production, the work tasks include precise handicraft where high-quality lighting is important.

The previous lighting solution of the building had reached the end of its life cycle and overall, the light levels and light quality were not up to standards. Moreover, the lighting was causing challenges, especially in cold storage rooms. The old multi-metal luminaires were not functioning well in freezing temperatures and they were releasing a lot of waste heat.

 “We had a lot of luminaires so we needed to put effort on energy efficiency.
Smart lighting control was also one of our main goals in renewing the lighting.
But more than anything, we needed better light.”

Henri Isohätälä, CEO, Kasvishovi

As part of the renovation of their new facilities, Kasvishovi decided to renew the lighting of the entire facility including the outdoor area, warehousing, production and office spaces. In the next chapter, we will explain how Greenled delivered the lighting solution as an all-inclusive turnkey service.

High-quality lighting from a local supplier

As a company, Kasvishovi supports locally grown ingredients and the company has a valued network of local producers as its partners. Along with their company strategy, Kasvishovi decided to purchase its new lighting solution from a local provider. According to the CEO, Greenled was not the cheapest of all options, but the all-inclusive turnkey service was the kind of package that convinced them.

Greenled renewed the lighting of the premises by using smart lighting control and designing the lighting of each space with the right kind of luminaires. All in all, eight different luminaire product families were utilised in different areas of the premises. In some areas, Greenled was able to optimize and reduce the number of lighting points whereas, in some areas, luminaires were added to illuminate dim spaces. The new lighting is compatible, the light levels are higher than before, the light is even and the light quality is significantly better.

Throughout the facilities, smart lighting control now plays a major role in energy-efficiency and comfort. In each space, occupancy control and daylight harvesting automatically adapt the lighting and save a significant amount of energy. On top of the facilities inside, the loading dock lighting and the outdoor luminaires automatically switch on and off to improve occupational safety and save energy. In the office spaces, the users can adjust the lighting themselves based on their needs and wants.

“Smart lighting control brings added energy savings because the lighting is only on when needed. It’s very convenient to have the lights turn on when entering a space instead of searching for switches – and remembering to turn them off.”

Henri Isohätälä, CEO, Kasvishovi

Image: In the office spaces and negotiation rooms, the users can adjust the lighting based on their needs and wants.

Key results of the lighting renewal

• Complete lighting renewal of outdoor areas and the production, storage and office spaces as a turnkey service
• Carefree lighting with a contract including full guarantee and maintenance for five years
• Improved working conditions, occupational safety and comfort
• 73 % of energy savings compared to the previous lighting
• 84 tons less CO² emissions per year
• Smart lighting control that brings additional energy savings, flexibility and convenience