JEDDAH, 14 September 2004 — Saudi Arabia’s market for refrigerators is ever expanding and its size is estimated to be around 350,000 units.
Refrigerator manufacturers from the world over are now concentrating on adding special features to the requirements of users in the Kingdom and elsewhere in the Middle East.
“A study shows that consumers, especially belonging to the upscale market, have been looking forward to features other than those available in conventional refrigerators,” Kevin Cha, director of the Digital Appliances Company Overseas Marketing Strategy Team at the Seoul-based LG Electronics Inc., said here on Sunday. Pil-Don Joo, chief research engineer at LG’s Korean head office, conducted the study.
“Living in a climate where cooling is an essential part of everyday life, we now provide consumers in the Kingdom and the rest of the region with an intelligent alternative to ordinary refrigerators,” Cha said while unveiling a technological refrigeration breakthrough at a press conference.
Announcing the launch of LG’s Primian refrigerator, he said there had been a demand for this kind of special refrigerator in the Middle East as conventional refrigerator models did not have special features for the preservation of dates. “We’re the first consumer electronics company to offer a convenient home appliance to store dates for up to six months at minus 25 degrees C.”
The refrigerator also uses state-of-the-art soft freezing technology that can store food at minus seven degrees C, preserving meat and fish for up to 20 days.
The three-compartment refrigerator, which comes in 320-liter and 210-liter sizes, is equipped with a dial and wide light emitting diode control, allowing users to set different temperatures for each compartment. Each compartment of the fridge operates independently and its “lock & lock” system prevents smell dispersion and leakage. Food can be stored at temperatures ranging from minus 25 degrees C to 3.5 degrees C, and the soft freezing technology keeps meat and fish fresh at minus seven degrees C. According to a research conducted by Sydney Postharvest Laboratory in Australia, the optimal temperature to preserve fruits is 3.9 degrees C, while vegetables stay fresh at 3.1 degrees C.
“Innovation based on customer feedback is the key to growth and that is something both LG and its Kingdomwide distributor United Yousef M. Naghi Company focus on,” H.K. Seo, managing director, United Yousef M. Naghi Company, said.
LG has a 25 percent share of the Kingdom’s market for refrigerators, C.K. Cho, Jeddah-based general manager of LG, said.
Kim Joon Oh, general manager refrigerator sales for the Middle East & Africa, said the new refrigerator had features that were first of their kind worldwide.
S. M. Arshad, deputy general manager of LG in Jeddah, gave an overview of the new refrigeration system and said the unveiling of the new product was timely with Ramadan approaching and the need for fresh preservation of dates all important for the fasting month.