Mercavalencia is the largest fresh produce distribution platform in the Valencian Community. Spanning more than 300,000 square metres and home to hundreds of businesses operating daily, industrial refrigeration installations are the backbone that ensures food safety for millions of consumers.
At Acoval, located in Aldaia less than 15 minutes from Mercavalencia, we have been working with food sector businesses operating in this market for years. We understand their regulatory requirements, their working rhythms and the technical solutions best suited to an environment where the cold chain cannot be interrupted.
The cold chain in a wholesale market
Mercavalencia brings together operators handling fruit and vegetables, fish and seafood, meat and frozen products. Each sector has different temperature requirements, but they all share one common demand: cold chain continuity.
The most common temperature ranges are:
- Fruit and vegetables: between 2 C and 8 C, depending on the product. Some tropical fruits require higher temperatures to avoid chilling injury.
- Fish and seafood: between 0 C and 2 C, often packed with ice. Cold rooms must maintain these temperatures consistently.
- Fresh meat: between 0 C and 4 C, with strict humidity control to prevent surface dehydration.
- Frozen products: between -18 C and -22 C, with low-temperature systems that must operate with total reliability.
Even a brief cold chain interruption can result in the loss of goods worth thousands of euros and, more seriously, a risk to public health.
HACCP compliance
Every food business operating at Mercavalencia must have a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system in place. Within this system, temperature control is one of the fundamental critical control points.
Industrial refrigeration installations must ensure:
- Continuous temperature logging in all cold rooms and loading docks, with traceable records for health inspections.
- Automatic alarms that flag any deviation before it compromises product safety.
- Contingency plans for breakdowns, with clear protocols for relocating goods if a cold room fails.
- Maintenance documentation demonstrating that equipment is inspected at the proper frequency.
At Acoval, we help our clients set up monitoring systems that meet HACCP requirements and simplify health audits, with digital records accessible remotely.
F-Gas regulations and refrigerants
The European F-Gas Regulation directly affects industrial refrigeration installations at Mercavalencia. The progressive reduction of fluorinated gas quotas requires businesses to plan the transition towards refrigerants with low Global Warming Potential (GWP).
The most relevant options for this environment are:
- CO2 (R-744): ideal for low-temperature applications (freezing), with a GWP of 1. Transcritical or cascade CO2 systems are already a reality in new food sector installations.
- Ammonia (R-717): efficient with a GWP of 0, but requires specific safety measures that limit its use in certain locations.
- HFOs and low-GWP blends: alternatives for medium-temperature equipment replacing traditional HFCs such as R-404A.
Planning the transition now prevents regulatory surprises and may open access to energy efficiency improvement grants.
Technical solutions for Mercavalencia
Refrigeration installations in a wholesale market must combine power, reliability and fast temperature recovery. The most common solutions include:
- Modular cold rooms with high-density insulated panels and automatic rapid-opening doors.
- Centralised refrigeration racks with parallel compressors that guarantee redundancy in case of breakdown.
- High-performance evaporators sized for the actual heat load, including the frequent door openings typical of a market environment.
- Optimised defrost systems that minimise temperature fluctuations during the cycle.
Preventive maintenance: the key to continuity
In an environment like Mercavalencia, where refrigeration cannot fail, preventive maintenance is not optional. A well-structured maintenance plan includes periodic inspection of compressors, condensers, evaporators, expansion valves, electronic controls and alarm systems.
From Aldaia, our team can be at Mercavalencia in less than 15 minutes to handle any emergency. We also offer maintenance contracts with scheduled visits adapted to the market’s working rhythm.
If you operate at Mercavalencia and need to install, extend or upgrade your industrial refrigeration, contact us via our contact page. We carry out a technical assessment and propose the most suitable solution for your business.
