Gen Z Grocery Trends Shaping Refrigeration and Cold Chain

Grocery stores are fruitful design opportunities, and many national retailers are looking to scale and evolve around consumer behavior, not just geography. Today, consumers are gravitating toward value, especially Gen Z. 

Gen Z shoppers keep value, health, sustainability, and convenience in mind. They over-index on fresh and produce-led baskets. Younger consumers aren’t just shopping for food; they’re shopping for solutions and experiences, all while keeping economic pressures in mind. Entering 2026, overall grocery spend declined approximately 3% year-over-year, according to Consumer Edge’s U.S. Grocery Outlook 2026. Where and how Americans shop for groceries is changing as food costs rise.  

Henderson Engineers is always looking at how we reinvent the grocery store to keep up with evolving consumer trends and how we shape a sustainable refrigeration future. 

Keep it Fresh

Refrigeration designs throughout the cold chain, whether in cold storage fulfillment centers or grocery stores, need to be reliable and efficient to ensure customers are receiving the freshest products. Refrigeration systems are about 60% of a grocery store’s energy usage. Many grocery store refrigeration systems hold a refrigerant charge of about 4,000 pounds. With an average annual leak rate of 25%, leaks dump large quantities of expensive refrigerants.  

Leaks erode the bottom line through reduced system efficiency and increased energy consumption and costs. They also negatively impact the environment. Henderson helps clients develop leak protection and reporting protocols to create refrigeration transition plans, conduct lifecycle assessments, and design leak prevention strategies that future-proof and de-risk assets.  

The world is continuing to shift toward lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants, intersecting refrigerant strategy, compliance obligations, and business planning for the commercial refrigeration industry. Understanding the EPA’s hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) regulatory actions is essential for refrigeration system decisions and operational impacts. 

Building Systems to Support Customer Journeys

We’re one of the Engineers of Record for Sprouts Farmers Market across all 50 states, one of the fastest growing grocery retailers in the country who are capitalizing on what matters to Gen Z consumers. Gen Z has a weaker attachment to national brands and a thirst for new product discovery, which is fueling private label growth. The Sprouts Forager Team provide health-forward, unique offerings. They intersect Gen Z’s desire for health, value, and discovery. Our building systems promote the natural flow of the consumer journey throughout the store and keep Sprouts offerings fresh. We provide mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEPF) for Sprouts. 

Our work with them started with a value engineering review to evaluate the prototype standards. Our recommendations resulted in significant reduction in construction cost for the items that were accepted by the owner. Value engineering reviews are an opportunity to optimize project value through finding alternative equipment, materials, innovative construction methods, etc. to achieve the same performance, aesthetics, and cost-effective longevity. 

Prototype standards set the standard, for how stores will look, operate, and cost across the fleet. When working on prototype standards, we use input from various team members, including tapping the knowledge of contractor partners to better construction documents. 

Sometimes building systems need to go beyond the prototype, like our work on a different national chain grocery store that spans five floors in a historic 50-story Art Deco high-rise in New York City’s Financial District. In this 1930’s high-rise, we needed to utilize steam and condenser water for HVAC and refrigeration, which was a unique challenge. We designed the building systems to conform to the historic features and architecture of the building while supporting modern amenities such as a food hall with hot and cold food bars and a full-service coffee bar. Gen Z values convenience and prepared food offerings, like food bars, are gaining traction. 

Designs that Bear Fruit

Where one might see a rectangular store, we see an opportunity to reinvent the grocery store of the future where compliance, sustainability, and customer experience converge. The industry is changing, not just from a consumer perspective, but from a technology and regulatory perspective as well. It’s a lot to juggle to support long-term success. Henderson works across the cold chain. We utilize our years of experience in grocery, refrigerated warehouse, and cold storage design to integrate reliable and efficient refrigeration into all facility types and sizes.