New Jersey-based Saker Shoprite opened its first CO₂ (R744) supermarket in 2024, and, according to Michael J. Marotta, VP of Technical Services, the biggest takeaway from the project wasn’t that the technology worked but “how our people adapted faster than expected.”

Marotta shared Saker Shoprite’s experience with natural refrigerants during the end user panel at the ATMOsphere (ATMO) America Summit 2026, held June 2–3 in Tarrytown, New York. ATMOsphere is the publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com.

The company’s first CO₂ store was built in South Plainfield, New Jersey, and measured 93,000ft2 (8,639m2). The store served as a trial run for CO₂, with Marotta stating that the company wanted to “answer a few honest questions” before committing long-term to the refrigerant.

“Could we operate it in a real, working supermarket, maintain it day to day and train our people to support it long term?” Marotta asked. “The answer was yes to everything, and that’s what gave us the confidence to keep going. The biggest lesson wasn’t about technology. The technology worked. Rather, it was how our people adapted faster than we expected.”

Saker Shoprite expects to build four or five new stores over the next five years, all of which will use CO₂ refrigeration systems while existing stores will be converted to R448 “where it makes sense,” Marotta noted. In addition to CO₂, self-contained propane (R290) cases are also used throughout its stores.

Lessons learned

While the people aspect was important, Marotta said that first CO₂ store also taught the company an important lesson about layout and design. The first store had its machine room on one side of the building, leading to long piping runs. Its second store measured 130,000ft2 (12,000m2) and had machine rooms on both sides of the structure.

“We split the systems in two zones, each one sitting next to what it cools,” Marotta said. “This gave us shorter pipe runs, lower installation costs and a system that’s easier to service. It’s the same technology but a smarter build.”

Saker Shoprite also learned about the benefits of CO₂ racks with heat reclaim. Both of its CO₂ stores reclaim heat for domestic hot water production and underfloor radiant heating. Marotta noted that at one of its CO₂ stores Saker Shoprite was able to remove a hot water heater because of the rack’s heat reclaim capabilities. “Heat reclaim is pretty much standard for our CO₂ stores,” he added.

Carbon credits and teamwork

A desire to stay ahead of refrigerant regulations is what drove Saker Shoprite to adopt natural refrigerants in its new stores. Staying ahead of regulations has proved to be lucrative, with the company working with the SST Group and Therm to receive refrigerant carbon credits for its CO₂ stores.

“We made a nice chunk of change on that first store,” Marotta quipped.

Each of Saker Shoprite’s CO₂ stores was designed by its in-house technical services team, and the company also employs its own refrigeration technicians. However, Marotta was quick to say that its success with natural refrigerants has been a team effort featuring contributions from several external partners, including Hillphoenix, Güntner, Copeland and AAA Refrigeration.

“The whole industry is moving this way together,” Marotta said. “CO₂ stores are a core part of our long-term capital strategy, not a one-off.”