| Victory Meat and Produce Market, Fredericton, NB |
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| Energy Efficiency Programs: Business Rebate Program, Industrial Energy Efficiency Program |
| Total Company Investment in Project: $220,000 |
| Total Rebates Received: : $55,000 |
| Efficiency Upgrades Completed: Upgraded lighting, HVAC systems (Business Rebate Program) and air curtain (Industrial Energy Efficiency Program) |
Victory Meat and Produce Market (Victory Meats) has been a Fredericton staple since 1942. When Alex Scholten and his business partners purchased the grocery store in 2020, they knew they were inheriting an older building that would need upgrades, especially when it came to its energy efficiency.
“We knew it needed some ‘TLC’ and identified a number of things we wanted to upgrade. We would have liked to do everything at once, but there are cost constraints to owning a new business like this. So, we’re taking baby steps each year.”, said Alex Scholten, owner of Victory Meats.
While Victory Meats is best known for the retail side of their business, the second floor above the grocery store houses a series of rental office spaces. There was a big opportunity to upgrade these spaces, as well as Victory Meats’ own office, to increase comfort and energy efficiency.
The old windows meant these offices were either too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter, which exacerbated their energy efficiency problem and increased their energy costs. Alex saw an opportunity to address these problems using the SaveEnergyNB programs.
After investing a total of $220,000 to make their energy upgrades, Victory Meats received a total of $55,000 in rebates through two different SaveEnergyNB efficiency programs for businesses.
As part of these programs, Victory Meats received a free energy walk-through of their facility with an NB Power Technical Energy Advisor. The Advisor helped Alex and his team better understand their energy use and identified the projects that would qualify for rebates.
Victory Meats used the Industrial Energy Efficiency Program to install a new air curtain at the grocery store entrance. The curtain serves as an environmental barrier when opening the door, which helps manage the conditioned (heated or cooled) air inside, creating a comfortable shopping experience for customers and helps Victory Meats by reducing the stores’ heating and cooling costs.
Through the Business Rebate Program, Victory Meats was able to eliminate their old boiler system, install new mini splits in the smaller units and put a new energy-efficient HVAC unit on the roof. Taking these efficiency upgrades means Victory Meats’ employees and their commercial tenants can now work in a more comfortable environment that’s not too cold or too hot, without wasting energy (and money) through an outdated and inefficient temperature control system. One of the tenants above Victory Meats was so pleased with their improved workspace that they just signed on for a 10-year lease.
“They felt confident that we could now provide them with a comfortable office space in the long term. They see this as a place where they can grow and prosper, and that feels great. It’s made a big difference for our bottom line as a business.”, said Alex.
The initial energy walk-through of the facility pinpointed an additional project they could qualify for under the Business Rebate Program: installing new LED lighting throughout their building.
“The NB Power folks were great. They were able to guide us through the process of the application, pointing to areas we might not have considered, like our lighting. Lights were not initially an area we would have thought about.”
With this recommendation, Victory Meats installed new LED lights in all of the offices upstairs and added 32 new LED lighting units in the store downstairs. The benefits were tremendous
“The new lighting made a huge difference. It brought life back to our store more than I had anticipated and is more reflective of what I want our final product to look like. There’s no end to the compliments we’ve received from customers about how great the store and our produce looks.”, said Alex.
Alex was also impressed with the simplicity of the SaveEnergyNB programs and the easy application process:
“Once we got into the right stream with the help of the NB Power team, the completion of the application was simple and straightforward. I was extremely surprised at how quickly the deposit was made after the project was completed.”
These upgrades don’t just impact their bottom line - they align very closely with their team’s community values. Victory Meats actively works towards ending food insecurity and homelessness in Fredericton by participating in school breakfast and lunch programs, a local food bank, a community kitchen, and a turkey drive each year.
So, it’s no surprise that Alex and his team at Victory Meats see sustainability and helping their community as a major positive outcome of their new energy-efficiency upgrades:
“It was important for us to make our business more resilient and more efficient. We’re all in this together and need to do our part to be more climate resilient.”
This is not the end of Victory Meat’s energy-saving journey. Alex is eager to use more SaveEnergyNB efficiency rebate programs for upcoming projects, like a new refrigerated display case. He would encourage other business owners to do the same:
“My recommendation to any business owner if they are contemplating how to make their business more efficient…use these programs. It’ll impact your bottom line, and it’ll impact your contribution to fighting climate change. By all means, go for it!”
