2018 European Commercial Refrigeration Company of the Year Award

1. 2018 European Commercial Refrigeration
Company of the Year Award
2018

2. BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH
© Frost & Sullivan 2018 2 “We Accelerate Growth”
Contents
Background and Company Performance ........................................................................3
Industry Challenges..............................................................................................3
Visionary Innovation & Performance and Customer Impact........................................3
Conclusion...........................................................................................................6
Significance of Company of the Year.............................................................................7
Understanding Company of the Year.............................................................................7
Key Benchmarking Criteria ....................................................................................8
Best Practices Award Analysis for Kgroup ......................................................................8
Decision Support Scorecard ...................................................................................8
Visionary Innovation & Performance .......................................................................9
Customer Impact .................................................................................................9
Decision Support Matrix ......................................................................................10
Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best
Practices .................................................................................................................11
The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards.....................12
Research Methodology ........................................................................................12
About Frost & Sullivan ..............................................................................................12

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Background and Company Performance
Industry Challenges
The demand for frozen foods is increasing globally and this will proportionately increase
the demand for refrigerated display cases (RDCs) and cold room refrigeration equipment
over the next 5 years. The commercial refrigeration system is the biggest energy user in
retail grocery stores and supermarkets, accounting for about 50% of the total electricity
consumption. RDCs and compressors together account for 85% of a system’s energy
consumption. Therefore, a prominent challenge for retailers is energy efficiency; they are
inclined to install energy-efficient refrigerated display cases and refrigeration equipment
to reduce electricity bills. Supermarket energy consumption and performance of
refrigerated display cases with new and innovative technologies are highly critical for
retailers to make purchasing decisions; some of the European retailers have voluntary
corporate goals on reducing energy intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The
other challenge is from a design perspective, where retailers are increasingly looking for
products and solutions that would enhance in-store user experience and convenience for
their customers.
Visionary Innovation & Performance and Customer Impact
Excellence in Addressing Unmet Needs
Kgroup’s vision to create multiple refrigeration solutions to cater to the diverse end user
requirements and its meticulous efforts to incorporate value added features and
functionalities in each of those products is highly commendable. Its extensive product
portfolio comprises remote and plug-in segments, offering solutions for multi-decks,
counters and frozen units in both segments. In addition, it offers a wide range of
evaporator, condenser and dry cooler solutions. Its deep understanding of end user needs
and specific requirements is the foundation of its product development process. The
company’s excellence in commercial refrigeration can primarily be attributed to its ability
to develop products that perfectly align with customer expectations as its product designs
are directly inspired and influenced by evolving customer needs.
While its older generation products effectively addressed the then prevailing customer
needs a few years ago (mainly pertaining to cooling control), its newer generation
products are designed to perfectly address the evolving needs such as common design
platforms, energy efficiency, sustainability and above all, to provide an excellent user
experience. It is intriguing to see all models in the new generation carrying a common
theme – attractive aesthetics with clean lines, light and transparency; all of which drive
high levels user experience optimization.
The new generation of Koxka product line is one of a kind in commercial refrigeration. By
leveraging innovative and ergonomic design aspects, the company is able to seamlessly
deploy and fit these new models in all store environments ranging from convenience

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segment to forecourt segments to large hypermarkets. These units also offer the flexibility
to be adapted over and over again to the changing surroundings (store design), likes and
requirements of the customer. For instance, it offers customers the ability to personalize
the units using RGB-type edging LEDs, thereby enabling users to choose from over 200
colors to match the store décor, promotions etc. without having to modify the unit in any
way. Furthermore, it allows such adjustments to be made during the entire life cycle of
the product.
Visionary Scenarios through Use of Mega Trends
Kgroup’s futuristic approach towards product development has placed it in the forefront of
this highly competitive industry. It constantly strives to be a step ahead of its competitors
with respect to technology and innovation and has been successful thus far. This is
primarily driven by its high focus on tracking and analyzing mega trends. By anticipating a
growing requirement for added flexibility and customization, Kgroup has incorporated
further design nuances in its refrigeration solutions. The company recently launched its
new “full vision doors” that not only enhance user experience, but also offers a
significantly higher durability of over 20 years (compared to a market average of around 6
years). Furthermore, these new doors guarantee over 70% energy savings compared to
the open multi-deck models. The other noteworthy aspect in this regard is its innovative
retrofit solutions (such as doors, lighting, front display etc.) which are designed in a
unique way that allows them to be retrofitted in non-Kgroup display cases as well. This
provides the company with a strategic advantage in tapping uncovered market segments.
Kgroup’s quest for excellence in commercial refrigeration is strongly backed by its regional
and group strategies, underlined by its core values that focus on innovation, quality,
performance, and above all, a customer centric approach. It has been highly diligent in
identifying and analyzing global and regional mega trends and capitalizing on these trends
by employing coherent commercialization strategies. Based on its mega trends analysis,
Kgroup has identified India and South East Asia as key markets and has substantially
increased it focus in these high growth markets.
Excellence in Implementation of Best Practices
Kgroup’s best-in-class strategy implementation is characterized by processes, tools, and
activities that generate a consistent and repeatable level of success. As a part of its
strategy implementation, the company is about to form several strategic alliances in Asia
and Latin America. Given the economic growth, high increase in product uptake, projected
investment in the cold chain sector in both Continents, the timing couldn’t be better for
Kgroup to increase its stronghold in both regions. The integration is primarily focused on
three areas – commercialization & marketing, turnkey solutions, and manufacturing. The
company’s innovation excellence has catapulted it significantly in the technology curve,
placing it way ahead of its competitors in terms of optimizing utilization concepts. A fitting
example to demonstrate this is it recent implementation of an innovative modular design

5. BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH
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in its Koxka product range aimed at dramatically reducing the transit costs and other
associated benefits. While standard practice (leveraging standard product design) allows
an average of seven factory fitted units (display cases) to be loaded in a container for
transit, the modular design allows loading of up to 18 units; optimizing container
utilization. Some of the significant benefits of this new design are; manufacturing
simplicity enabled by modular design, significantly reduced transit costs, reduced import
duties as cases are assembled at destination using local labor and reduced assembly costs
by leveraging the lower cost local work force.
Excellent Price/Performance Value
Kgroup’s products and solutions offer the best value for the price, compared to similar
offerings in the market. Since its inception, the company’s display case offering and
associated commercial refrigeration solutions have been topping the price vs value
equation around the world. Its expertise in providing a new experience of interactive
shopping experience that is comfortable, functional and aesthetically stimulating make it
best-in-class with respect to price/performance value. One of the core strengths of Kgroup
is its impeccable R&D capabilities; in 2017 and 2018 the Company is investing 8% of its
annual revenues in R&D and by 2020 it´s projected a new technological center of 1,400
sqm to continuously research, investigate, develop and industrialize new products and
technologies. It is highly impressive to see the constant innovation that goes into
developing new product generations aimed at further enhancing product performance
value; the most important value proposition being energy efficiency. It is intriguing to see
the company constantly challenging its own energy efficiency levels from previous
generation products and setting new standards with the next generation products. Its
latest generation of products is designed to provide up to 28% energy reduction compared
to its previous generations. It is Frost & Sullivan’s finding that Kgroup is a game changer
in customer value enhancement.
Outstanding Customer Ownership Experience
Kgroup has developed its koxka product line with a specific focus on enhancing user
experience. This targeted approach complemented by its technology excellence has
empowered the company to design products that would not only address the markets un-
met needs, but also significantly enhance the overall customer ownership experience
throughout the lifetime of the product. The company constantly adds value added features
and functionalities in its evolving product generations; one of the latest additions is the
products geolocation and systems monitoring. The company has also developed a “blast
freezer” product for fast cooling and frozen applications. It leverages a fast and
homogeneous process that causes the formation of small ice crystals and ultimately
improves food preservation by a high magnitude.
On the other hand, Kgroup’s constant and meticulous effort to enhance customer purchase
experience and service experience is highly commendable. Some of the key initiatives in

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this regard include, inviting customers to the factories for product experience, showcasing
R&D capabilities especially in energy reduction and food preservation, conducting regular
voice of the customer audits to get feedback. Kgroup’s customer service is accessible,
fast, stress-free, and of high quality. It has gone the extra mile by creating a dedicated
customer relations team specifically to provide best in class service experience for its
customers.
Brand Equity
Proven technology and adaptability to future demands is a hallmark of Kgroup’s products
in the market, a key trait that propels the company towards achieving tremendous
success from a commercialization perspective and gaining a reputation of an iconic brand
in the industry. Its brand name is synonymous with technology excellence, innovation,
and, most importantly, customer focus. For instance, in LATAM, especially Mexico, the
“Koxka” brand has acquired substantial dominance and mind share that it has become the
genericized trade mark for all display cases; what Xerox is for photo copying, Koxka is for
display cases. Its product positioning has played a crucial role in its brand equity; it has
created a sense of excitement amongst its customers who are in pursuit of engaging with
future technologies to enhance their competitive edge.
Conclusion
Kgroup’s uncompromised focus and dedication in continuous product development has
resulted in a revolutionary commercial refrigeration product line. Its strong R&D culture
combined with extensive intellectual property has enabled Kgroup to demonstrate product
differentiation, ultimately providing it with a unique edge in a highly competitive market.
Its ability to combine technology and design to achieve high machine efficiency paired
with cutting-edge features that provide a unique shopping experience for users is highly
commendable.
With its strong overall performance, Kgroup has earned Frost & Sullivan’s 2018 Company
of the Year Award.

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Significance of Company of the Year
To receive the Company of the Year Award (i.e., to be recognized as a leader not only in
your industry, but among your non-industry peers as well) requires a company to
demonstrate excellence in growth, innovation, and leadership. This kind of excellence
typically translates into superior performance in three key areas: demand generation,
brand development, and competitive positioning. These areas serve as the foundation of a
company’s future success and prepare it to deliver on the two criteria that define the
Company of the Year Award (Visionary Innovation & Performance and Customer Impact).
Understanding Company of the Year
As discussed above, driving demand, brand strength, and competitive differentiation all
play a critical role in delivering unique value to customers. This three-fold focus, however,
must ideally be complemented by an equally rigorous focus on Visionary Innovation &
Performance to enhance Customer Impact.

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Key Benchmarking Criteria
For the Company of the Year Award, Frost & Sullivan analysts independently evaluated
two key factors—Visionary Innovation & Performance and Customer Impact—according to
the criteria identified below.
Visionary Innovation & Performance
Criterion 1: Addressing Unmet Needs
Criterion 2: Visionary Scenarios through Mega Trends
Criterion 3: Implementation Best Practices
Criterion 4: Blue Ocean Strategy
Criterion 5: Financial Performance
Customer Impact
Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value
Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience
Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience
Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience
Criterion 5: Brand Equity
Best Practices Award Analysis for Kgroup
Decision Support Scorecard
To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance
categories, Frost & Sullivan employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard. This tool
allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to
the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section, and to assign ratings on that
basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale that allows for nuances in performance evaluation.
Ratings guidelines are illustrated below.
RATINGS GUIDELINES
The Decision Support Scorecard is organized by Visionary Innovation & Performance and
Customer Impact (i.e., these are the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking
criteria; the definitions for each criterion are provided beneath the scorecard.). The
research team confirms the veracity of this weighted scorecard through sensitivity
analysis, which confirms that small changes to the ratings for a specific criterion do not
lead to a significant change in the overall relative rankings of the companies.

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The results of this analysis are shown below. To remain unbiased and to protect the
interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key
participants as Competitor 2 and Competitor 3.
Measurement of 1–10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent)
Company of the Year
Visionary
Innovation &
Performance
Customer
Impact Average Rating
Kgroup 9 9 9.0
Competitor 2 7 6 6.5
Competitor 3 6 5 5.5
Visionary Innovation & Performance
Criterion 1: Addressing Unmet Needs
Requirement: Implementing a robust process to continuously unearth customers’ unmet
or under-served needs, and creating the products or solutions to address them effectively
Criterion 2: Visionary Scenarios through Mega Trends
Requirement: Incorporating long-range, macro-level scenarios into the innovation
strategy, thereby enabling “first-to-market” growth opportunity solutions
Criterion 3: Implementation of Best Practices
Requirement: Best-in-class strategy implementation characterized by processes, tools, or
activities that generate a consistent and repeatable level of success.
Criterion 4: Blue Ocean Strategy
Requirement: Strategic focus on creating a leadership position in a potentially
“uncontested” market space, manifested by stiff barriers to entry for competitors
Criterion 5: Financial Performance
Requirement: Strong overall business performance in terms of revenues, revenue growth,
operating margin, and other key financial metrics
Customer Impact
Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value
Requirement: Products or services offer the best value for the price, compared to similar
offerings in the market.
Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience
Requirement: Customers feel they are buying the most optimal solution that addresses
both their unique needs and their unique constraints.
Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience
Requirement: Customers are proud to own the company’s product or service and have a
positive experience throughout the life of the product or service.

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Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience
Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality.
Criterion 5: Brand Equity
Requirement: Customers have a positive view of the brand and exhibit high brand loyalty.
Decision Support Matrix
Once all companies have been evaluated according to the Decision Support Scorecard,
analysts then position the candidates on the matrix shown below, enabling them to
visualize which companies are truly breakthrough and which ones are not yet operating at
best-in-class levels.
High
Low
Low High
CustomerImpact
Visionary Innovation & Performance
Kgroup
Competitor 2
Competitor 3

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Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching,
Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices
Frost & Sullivan analysts follow a 10-step process to evaluate Award candidates and
assess their fit with select best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity of the
Awards are based on close adherence to this process.
STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT
1
Monitor,
target, and
screen
Identify Award recipient
candidates from around the
globe
• Conduct in-depth industry
research
• Identify emerging sectors
• Scan multiple geographies
Pipeline of candidates who
potentially meet all best-
practice criteria
2
Perform
360-degree
research
Perform comprehensive,
360-degree research on all
candidates in the pipeline
• Interview thought leaders
and industry practitioners
• Assess candidates’ fit with
best-practice criteria
• Rank all candidates
Matrix positioning of all
candidates’ performance
relative to one another
3
Invite
thought
leadership in
best
practices
Perform in-depth
examination of all candidates
• Confirm best-practice criteria
• Examine eligibility of all
candidates
• Identify any information gaps
Detailed profiles of all
ranked candidates
4
Initiate
research
director
review
Conduct an unbiased
evaluation of all candidate
profiles
• Brainstorm ranking options
• Invite multiple perspectives
on candidates’ performance
• Update candidate profiles
Final prioritization of all
eligible candidates and
companion best-practice
positioning paper
5
Assemble
panel of
industry
experts
Present findings to an expert
panel of industry thought
leaders
• Share findings
• Strengthen cases for
candidate eligibility
• Prioritize candidates
Refined list of prioritized
Award candidates
6
Conduct
global
industry
review
Build consensus on Award
candidates’ eligibility
• Hold global team meeting to
review all candidates
• Pressure-test fit with criteria
• Confirm inclusion of all
eligible candidates
Final list of eligible Award
candidates, representing
success stories worldwide
7
Perform
quality check
Develop official Award
consideration materials
• Perform final performance
benchmarking activities
• Write nominations
• Perform quality review
High-quality, accurate, and
creative presentation of
nominees’ successes
8
Reconnect
with panel of
industry
experts
Finalize the selection of the
best-practice Award recipient
• Review analysis with panel
• Build consensus
• Select winner
Decision on which company
performs best against all
best-practice criteria
9
Communicate
recognition
Inform Award recipient of
Award recognition
• Present Award to the CEO
• Inspire the organization for
continued success
• Celebrate the recipient’s
performance
Announcement of Award
and plan for how recipient
can use the Award to
enhance the brand
10
Take
strategic
action
Upon licensing, company
able to share Award news
with stakeholders and
customers
• Coordinate media outreach
• Design a marketing plan
• Assess Award’s role in future
strategic planning
Widespread awareness of
recipient’s Award status
among investors, media
personnel, and employees

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The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best
Practices Awards
Research Methodology
Frost & Sullivan’s 360-degree research
methodology represents the analytical
rigor of our research process. It offers a
360-degree view of industry challenges,
trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of
Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies.
Too often companies make important
growth decisions based on a narrow
understanding of their environment,
leading to errors of both omission and
commission. Successful growth strategies
are founded on a thorough understanding
of market, technical, economic, financial,
customer, best practices, and demographic
analyses. The integration of these research
disciplines into the 360-degree research
methodology provides an evaluation
platform for benchmarking industry
participants and for identifying those performing at best-in-class levels.
About Frost & Sullivan
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