Pasticceria Veneta, located in Venice province, stands out for its focus on quality and tradition, along with its dedication to innovation and sustainability. With the expansion of its product range, including gluten-free and vegan options, and the need to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact, the company sought an advanced refrigeration management solution based on natural refrigerants and high efficiency refrigeration technologies.

The choice was part of a green transition of its systems, with the aim of creating a “future-proof” facility. Rather than seeking immediate economic return, the decision was driven by the desire to comply with European environmental regulations and invest in sustainable, long-term solutions. The adoption of natural refrigerants, in particular carbon dioxide (R-744, CO₂) and DC inverter technologies, represents a strategic investment to ensure energy efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and build a modern, flexible system that meets future standards in the food and industrial refrigeration sectors.

Better steady than cold

One of the critical stages in industrial pastry production is preserving the quality of frozen products to avoid changes in consistency, flavour, and aroma. For this stage, two cold rooms are used, each with a volume of 500 m³, allowing products to be stored at a temperature of -20 °C.

Frozen pastry quality depends less on the exact conservation temperature/humidity values and more on how steady these values remain.

When temperature drifts up and down, tiny ice crystals melt and refreeze into larger ones; this is called “recrystallisation”. These larger crystals act like little chisels: they rough up the laminated layers, weaken the gluten, and make creams feel grainy. Studies show that cycling around -15°C by about ±5°C can do more harm than holding a slightly colder or even warmer constant temperature (e.g. above -10°C), because every upward swing triggers micro-defrosts that rearrange the water and fat content. Keeping products at or below -18 °C with minimal swings, and avoiding “softening” transition zones where mobility increases, is the best choice. For those who are curious and want a deeper overview of these mechanisms, see this study.

Humidity plays its own game in the background as well. In a low relative humidity environment, with medium/fast airflows, the surface ice on the products sublimates (goes straight from ice to vapour). The result is so called “freezer burn”: pale, dry patches and measurable weight loss. On the other hand, high humidity leads to moisture condensation on packages and products. This moisture later refreezes as frost, causing clumping and dull surfaces. Multi-component products (e.g., chocolate-coated pastries) suffer from moisture migration: water moves from wetter fillings into drier coatings, reducing snap and fostering sugar/fat bloom. Industry guidance for frozen cold rooms typically sets relative humidity targets of around 60–70% to both limit dehydration and frost build-up, together with sensible (not excessive) air velocities and limited door openings.

For specific bakery products, cold-chain manuals identify frozen dough and cream-filled pastries as being especially sensitive to temperature fluctuations, particularly above -18°C. Controlled “freeze-defrost” tests show hardness increases and springiness drops when products experience this kind of cycling.

In short: steady temperature + steady humidity ensure smaller crystals, intact structures, and flavours that are as true and exquisite as expected.

The natural solution

Temperature control in the cold rooms is ensured by two evaporators, each equipped with an electronic expansion valve managed by two advanced electronic controllers. These feature fine-tuning algorithms for all process variables, a user interface connected to mobile devices such as smartphones, and connectivity to the remote management and data monitoring system. Using the two controllers in combination made it possible to sequence the activation of the two evaporators based on temperature differentials and each unit’s runtime, increasing uniformity and reducing temperature fluctuations inside the rooms.

At the heart of the refrigeration system are high-efficiency units that use CO₂ as the refrigerant. This choice provides both long-term reliability and efficiency. In fact, CO₂ offers excellent energy transfer capacity and very low pressure (and efficiency) losses along the piping to the rooms, delivering high efficiency especially at low-temperature operating conditions, as in this case. Furthermore, being a natural fluid, CO₂ is not affected by any restrictions in terms of use, phase outs or bans, as is currently happening with most synthetic refrigerants worldwide. This makes the choice sustainable for both business continuity and the environment.

Extending system control and efficiency even further is the use of DC inverter compression technology, which couples a sophisticated electronic controller - the so called “drive” or inverter - with a permanent-magnet compressor. This enables precise modulation of the system’s cooling capacity, from maximum demand during rapid cooling cycles down to the minimum during storage - without any wasted energy -while maintaining tight control of storage temperature and humidity.

As can be easily imagined, the modulation capability of the compressor, expansion valves and evaporators plays a fundamental role in keeping both temperature and humidity stable in each cold room. On one hand, activation of the two evaporators can quickly change cooling capacity when needed. Expansion valve modulation is how the capacity of each evaporator is adapted to match the temperature set point and reduce local fluctuations. Furthermore, the expansion valves can modulate their opening to reduce cold room humidity (for example, after opening the door) by smoothly decreasing the evaporation temperature and increasing the dehumidification process. Finally, the compressors modulate their cooling capacity to adapt to the different working conditions and increase efficiency.

Completing the solution is connectivity to remote data-collection, monitoring, and management systems, which provides fully automated, comprehensive control of system performance and enables prompt, targeted service - even via remote - thanks to the detailed information produced by the monitoring system.

A work of art

Pasticceria Veneta has achieved:

• Improved product quality through precise control of cold room temperature and humidity, ensuring optimal product preservation.
• Green transition and system sustainability by adopting CO₂ (R-744) as the refrigerant.
• Energy savings due to a 30% reduction in electricity consumption.
• Operational efficiency thanks to remote management and continuous monitoring, which improved the responsiveness of service and system maintenance.

The contents of this blog post can be examined more in depth by reading the success story "Pasticceria Veneta - A system that revolutionises the preservation of pastries with efficiency, control, and environmental responsibility"

Read the success story

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