With sales of CHF 32.0 billion (2023), the Migros Group is the largest retail company in Switzerland and employs more than 97,700 people, making it the largest private employer in Switzerland.

Migros, founded in1 925, is owned by more than 2.32 million cooperative members who are organised into ten regional cooperatives. These cooperatives run the core business of the  Migros Group – the retail business – with 639 branch stores.

Ambitious sustainability targets are the backbone of Migros Group

Ambitious climate targets, products with transparent sustainability ratings and an increased commitment to combating food waste: Migros has achieved a great deal in all strategic areas in 2023.

The company works daily to reduce its environmental impact by plant optimization, by installing photovoltaic panels on their buildings, by transporting merchandise on rail and by purchasing electric vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions.

Continuous desire to test new technologies while seeking the most effective tools to achieve its sustainability goals, as of 2016, Migros Ticino has been producing both industrial cold and heat for heating with the same plants. The innovative integrated solution to manage both Heating and Cooling has been developed by the company E. Biaggini SA, in collaboration with Eliwell by Schneider Electric.

An advanced CO2 integrated system combined Eliwell control technology and Biaggini expertise into a single central unit.

By using Eliwell’s control technology, compatible with CO₂ systems, it is possible to integrate refrigeration and heating management into a single central unit, maximizing both operational and energy efficiency for more sustainable and effective refrigeration.

This solution has been implemented in Migros Bellinzona, in  Switzerland, opening June 2024, which benefit from integrated CO₂ systems that are efficient on multiple levels: startup costs, maintenance, and energy consumption.

Demonstrated benefits after few months include:

  • 25% reduction in system costs, thanks to integrated heat generation within the central unit, eliminating the need for a dedicated boiler;
  • 3,300 m³ of natural gas saved annually, reducing the carbon footprint of heat generation;
  • 20% reduction in energy consumption for refrigeration compared to the average of supermarkets with standard systems.