Managing energy consumption should sit right at the top of the sustainability hierarchy for forecourt operators, because it is the one thing they can act on immediately with measurable results.
So says Glyn Dodd, director of channel development at internet of things (IoT) company IMS Evolve. “Solar panels, EV charging and lower-carbon fuels are all important, but they are capital-intensive and take time to deploy. Energy management is operational – businesses can start reducing consumption today with the infrastructure they already have,” he says.
“Refrigeration alone can account for a significant proportion of a service station’s electricity bill. If it is not actively managed, everything else is built on a leaky foundation. And the investment in telemetry that makes energy management possible does not just pay for itself in energy savings. That same data infrastructure gives operators visibility of refrigeration performance, food safety compliance and asset health across their estate. It is the foundation for better retailing, not just lower bills.”
And Dodd knows what he’s talking about, having collaborated with Shell in the UK at 100 of its company-owned sites to reduce energy usage. By using IMS Evolve’s dedicated platform, petrol station staff have been able to control heating, ventilation, cooling, refrigeration and lighting, achieving an average 8% annual energy saving per site.
“Eight per cent is a significant number when you multiply it across a national estate,” says Dodd. “For a single service station, an 8% reduction in energy consumption translates directly to lower operating costs and lower carbon emissions, and it is recurring, year on year, with no capital outlay. Across a hundred or more sites, that compounds into a material financial and environmental impact.
“And 8% is an average, some sites achieve considerably more. The important thing is that these are verified, sustained savings not a one-off project. The platform keeps optimising, so the savings do not erode over time.”
Dodd believes every petrol filling station should invest in telemetry. He says most operators know roughly what their total electricity bill is, but very few know how much energy each asset is consuming, whether it is performing efficiently, or whether a simple setpoint adjustment could save them thousands of pounds a year.
“The telemetry installed to manage energy gives operators something far broader: real-time visibility of refrigeration, HVAC, food safety temperatures and asset performance. Every PFS operator is looking to improve their retail offer and they cannot improve what they cannot measure. Energy management is the business case that justifies the telemetry, but the telemetry is the platform that transforms retailing.”
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CAPRI-SUN DIALS UP THE FUN FACTOR
Pocket-Money Price Point. Big Sales Potential
Pocket-money pricing meets maximum impulse appeal
Capri-Sun has injected fresh momentum into convenience and wholesale with the launch of Capri-Sun Orange 200ml PMP (59p), which landed nationwide late February 2026.
The launch has already got off to a flying start, with the product now successfully launched in over 3,000 stores nationwide. Key wholesalers who have launched include Booker, Bestway, Dhamecha, Co-op Wholesale, Filshill, Lioncroft, UWS and UWG.
Designed to turn heads in-store and fly off shelves, the price-marked 200ml pouch is perfectly sized for children and families on the go, making the purchase decision effortless for busy shoppers and selling simple for retailers. This latest addition to the brand’s refreshing juice portfolio, featuring Capri-Sun’s classic orange flavour, offers a distinct, high-impact impulse proposition.
Clearly positioned as incremental to our existing 330ml range – not an either/or – it boasts a bold 59p price mark, making it an ideal pocket-money treat and ensuring instant value recognition for parents and kids alike.
Each vibrant pouch includes a standout character-led front-of-pack, and fun games on the back to keep kids engaged and extend the ‘fun factor’ beyond the first glance.
“The launch of Capri-Sun Orange 200ml PMP was launched to disrupt the convenience and wholesale sectors by bringing fun to shelf as the first kids’ juice drink to feature games and characters on pack,” says Capri-Sun’s brand manager.
With kids’ PMP soft drinks still a relatively under-served space, Capri-Sun Orange 200ml PMP gives retailers a rare ready-made win: a visible, value-led, kid-approved option that’s perfectly placed for after-school, weekend treats and on-the-go family journeys.
Although IMS Evolve only works with large multi-site estates – where the complexity and savings opportunity justify a dedicated platform, Dodd says the principles are universal. “Even a single-site operator should understand their energy baseline, know what their refrigeration is costing them and make sure equipment is not running harder than it needs to.“The difference is that at scale, you can benchmark sites against each other, spot anomalies automatically and drive estate-wide improvements that a single-site operator would have to manage manually.”
When the company is working with larger estates, it connects to the site’s existing building systems – refrigeration, HVAC, lighting controls – through IoT gateways that collect real-time data. That gives its staff visibility of what every asset is doing 24/7.
From there, they establish an energy baseline, identify where consumption is higher than it should be and start applying automated controls – setpoint optimisation, scheduling, night setback – that reduce energy use without affecting the customer experience or food safety.
The whole process is remote. “We do not need to rip out equipment or disrupt the site. We work with what is already there and make it perform better,” says Dodd.
He believes that forecourt operators should be communicating their sustainability wins to their customers but only if it’s done authentically. “Customers are increasingly aware of sustainability, and they notice when a business is making genuine efforts. A service station that can say “we have reduced our energy consumption by X% across our estate” is telling a credible, measurable story.
“The key is that it must be backed by real data, not vague claims. The operators who will win on sustainability are the ones who can prove what they have achieved, not just say they care about it.”
Big shift
As for what’s next, Dodd says the big shift that’s coming is from reactive energy monitoring to predictive, AI-driven asset management. “This means using operational data not just to manage energy consumption in real time, but to predict when equipment is starting to degrade, identify which assets should be retained and which need replacing, and link energy performance directly to capital investment decisions.
“That is the next frontier for service station sustainability: making smarter decisions about the assets that consume energy, as well as just using less.
“What is interesting is that the telemetry deployed for energy management becomes the backbone for everything else an operator wants to do: food safety monitoring, facilities management integration, or retail performance benchmarking. The operators who recognise that the energy case is the gateway to a fully connected site will have a significant advantage over those still treating sustainability as a standalone initiative.”
Cutting back waste
The things that AI can do are generally impressive and one of those things is waste management.
BP, M&S and various Co-ops are just some of the retailers that use Retail Insight’s AI Waste Insight. One example of how it works comes from client East of England Co-op which has several forecourts in its estate.
Waste Insight was integrated directly with Pricer’s electronic shelf edge labels (ESLs) to highlight expiry dates.
This means that when the AI identifies an item nearing its expiry date, staff no longer have to search the shelf. Using the integration, they press a button in the app that triggers a flash on the Pricer ESL to signal the product’s precise position.
The AI then calculates an “optimal markdown price” designed to ensure the item sells quickly while providing value to the customer.
Once the staff member confirms a markdown on their handheld device, the message is sent directly to the shelf edge and the price updates automatically. Retail Insight says this instant update ensures that complete pricing accuracy is maintained.
In the first year of this partnership 1.8 million meals were saved, some 2,000 tonnes of waste was prevented and there was a £1m saving in efficiency by removing the need for manual ticket distribution. Plus the East of England Co-op reports that its new stores are now operating with zero in-store label printing, creating a paper-free retail environment.
Feeling the heat
Forecourt Trader of the Year 2025 winner, David Charman at Parkfoot Garage in West Malling, also won Forecourt Trader’s Best Sustainability Strategy award last year.
Of course, Charman is renowned for innovation across his business and his sustainability strategies thus far have included having the site’s very own borehole to supply its water, encouraging shoppers to take away used coffee grounds and put them on their gardens, and investing in solar panels.
Valeting is a big part of his business so Charman’s very latest initiative is using the heat from his many fridges to warm the water for his jet washes.
“I don’t know why I haven’t done it before,” he says. “We’re taking the heat from our refrigeration that would have been thrown away and using it to warm the water for our jet washes. Up until now we would have heated the water with an oil or gas boiler. The water comes from our own borehole and at this time of year it comes out at five to six degrees but needs to be warmer than that. It costs us a lot to heat so this way will definitely save us money.”
