In response to so many asking what Mistral intends to do about Morrisons' recent announcement that it is trialing an increase in its freezer room design operating temperatures. From -18°C to -15°C. Then the short answer is, "We are working on it."

Morrisons say they are trialing the experiment in just ten stores initially and that they believe customer safety will not be compromised in any way.

Given Morrisons' laudable very rapid product turnover we would concur. Also, as Morrisons say, it will certainly save energy. Although claims of a global energy saving of 8.6%, if adopted right across the world, we would dispute. Most likely though such conjecture emanating from an over enthusiastic journalist with limited understanding of the technology or logistics. Some savings though certainly. Importantly also savings with the cost of capital equipment too of course.

Mistral Expert System RAC software already presents an astonishing more than four million 'Quick Selection', pre-engineered, coldroom and freezer room selections, to established RAC industry specifications. By the time all variants, user options and languages are taken into account. Even more astonishing is that a complete room design can be 'drilled down' through a short menu cascade in under 10 seconds, when under the control of a seasoned Mistral user. No longer than around 30 seconds even for a complete novice user. Adding a new section to cater for Morrisons' new specification initiative should not take Mistral more than around four weeks to compile, prove, Beta test and roll out.

It will be interesting to see how many of Morrisons' contemporaries follow suit with their initiative.