Carrier’s Korea JV aims to raise sales with cold chain biz

Carrier Global Corp.’s joint venture in South Korea aims to ramp up sales with the cold chain business, the series of actions and equipment applied to maintain a product within a specified low-temperature range from harvest and production to consumption.

CRK Corp., a JV between Carrier and South Korea’s Autech Corp., set up a business plan to increase sales to 1 trillion won ($809.1 million) by 2027, according to industry sources on Friday. CRK targets revenue of 450 billion won this year, up 40.6% from 2022.

The company, in which the US air conditioner maker has a 19.9% stake, aims to advance the cold chain business for the goal. The business has been rapidly growing as fresh foods, medicines and vaccines emerged as key trade items in recent years.

CRK is set to focus on high-efficiency and eco-friendly cold chain products to deal with soaring refrigerant prices and tougher regulations on carbon. It is scheduled to launch refrigerators with natural refrigerants and inverter freezers with low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants.

“Demand for high-efficiency products that consume less power is growing due to the global energy crisis and higher electricity bills,” said a company official.

NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

CRK is also seeking new business opportunities in the cold chain sector. The company plans to unveil a refrigerator for blood later this year, for example, to sell them to hospitals and other medical organizations. It aims to make inroads into the business of ultra-cold products such as ultra-low temperature freezers. It also plans to start the unstaffed store business by applying artificial intelligence technology and automatic payment functions to products.

The company is poised to take measures to expand sales of its key home appliances such as refrigerators and wine cellars. It plans to launch larger models of those products.

In addition, it will introduce a new home appliance brand in April to make a foray into the local washing machine market in order to diversify its household electronics businesses.

Write to Sungsu Bae at baebae@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.