From March 12 to 15, 2026, the Appliance & Electronics World Expo (AWE2026) was held simultaneously at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre and the Shanghai Eastern Hub International Business Cooperation Zone. Under the theme “Smart AI, Smarter Future,” AWE2026 attracted more than 1,200 leading domestic and international companies, with a total exhibition area of 170,000 square meters.
At this year’s exhibition, refrigerators — one of the core appliances in modern households — showcased unprecedented technological innovation and intelligent upgrades. AI-powered food management systems reached a new level, AI reshaped internal storage structures, and preservation technologies advanced even further.
AI Food Management
At AWE2026, AI-powered food management became one of the key technologies highlighted by major brands. The traditional era is being completely transformed by AI.
Haier’s AI Multi-Compartment Seeker Series, the industry’s first product to achieve L4 intelligent capability, delivers full-chain AI services covering purchasing, storage, management, retrieval, and cooking. Its AI Ingredient Sentinel system automatically identifies ingredients when they are placed inside the refrigerator and guides users to the optimal freshness-preservation compartment. When retrieving ingredients, users can simply ask, “Where is the steak?” and both the display screen and the corresponding compartment lights will provide precise guidance, eliminating the need to search through the fridge manually. More importantly, when users shop at supermarkets, the Haier Smart Home app can check ingredient inventory in real time, making shortages immediately visible. During storage, the refrigerator automatically recognizes ingredients across all compartments, provides professional storage recommendations, and sends timely reminders before expiration.
BSH Home Appliances showcased the Siemens AI-powered Four-Door Refrigerator and the Bosch VitaFresh Pro Series, offering a distinctly German-engineered solution for AI food management. Equipped with a new-generation intelligent freshness-preservation technology and highly sensitive odor sensors, the refrigerator can continuously monitor the internal environment, identify odor characteristics of multiple ingredients, and issue spoilage warnings before deterioration occurs.
AI is also transforming refrigerators from simple food storage appliances into proactive health management centers. By integrating sensor technologies, data analysis algorithms, and intelligent interaction systems, brands are enabling refrigerators to monitor users’ dietary conditions and provide personalized health services.
Casarte’s Conductor Series has built a complete ecosystem spanning storage to cooking. The refrigerator can accurately recognize more than 300 ingredients, recommend optimal storage positions, monitor food conditions, and proactively remind users before expiration. Before cooking, its AI cell-level thawing technology rapidly defrosts ingredients while preserving original nutrition and texture. During cooking, the refrigerator can recommend healthy recipes and coordinate with smart kitchen appliances for intelligent cooking. This full-process health management model positions the refrigerator as an intelligent household nutrition manager.
AI Smart Zoning
Intelligent zoning of refrigerator interiors is becoming a major industry trend. By combining AI algorithms with smart sensors, modern refrigerators can proactively adjust internal layouts and temperature settings based on ingredient characteristics, user habits, and environmental conditions.
Haier’s AI Multi-Compartment Seeker Series introduced a revolutionary spatial design with seven doors, nine compartments, and twelve functional zones, along with four adjustable temperature modes to support diverse freshness-preservation needs. This highly refined zoning system not only solves the problem of mixed ingredient storage at the hardware level but also provides dedicated preservation environments for different foods.
Casarte demonstrated an even more advanced level of intelligent compartment control. Its innovative multi-zone layout divides the refrigerator into independent fruit and vegetable compartments, meat compartments, seafood compartments, dry goods compartments, maternal-and-infant compartments, and premium ingredient compartments. Each zone supports independent temperature and humidity control to prevent odor mixing. According to 2025 test data, the fruit and vegetable compartment uses HSC moisture-retention technology to maintain humidity at around 90%, keeping leafy vegetables fresh for up to seven days. The meat compartment adopts -3°C micro-freezing technology, allowing meat to be sliced without thawing while preserving nutrition and texture. The maternal-and-infant compartment provides a dedicated constant-temperature environment suitable for breast milk and baby food storage.
Ronshen’s “Big Ice Elephant” refrigerator achieved a breakthrough in freezer space design. The product features a massive 267-liter freezer compartment, which is 30% larger than competing products within the same 605-liter overall capacity category. More importantly, this increase was not achieved by sacrificing refrigeration space but through an overall expansion of internal capacity. The design reflects a deep understanding of the practical needs of Chinese households.
AI + Freshness Preservation Technology
After years of competition in preservation technology, the integration of AI algorithms has pushed the rivalry to an entirely new level.
Ronshen has pioneered a unique approach with its WILL Natural Freshness Preservation Technology. By integrating the three core elements of light, water, and ions, the company has transformed traditional “passive preservation” into “active nourishment preservation.” Its intelligent dynamic mist-humidification system uses high-frequency vibration to atomize water into micron-sized clusters that replenish moisture within fruit and vegetable cells. At the same time, humidity sensors work together with the misting system to regulate humidification components, maintaining the refrigerator compartment at an optimal 70% humidity environment while creating a near-100% relative humidity film on the surface of fruits and vegetables to prevent moisture loss.
One of the most revolutionary innovations at the exhibition was Casarte’s AI Cell-Level Thawing Refrigerator from the Conductor Series. This globally pioneering technology uses an AI remote-sensing thawing system that intelligently adjusts thawing parameters based on different ingredient characteristics. Whether for meat, fruit, or seafood, the refrigerator automatically matches specialized thawing algorithms. Inside the thawing compartment, dedicated energy waves penetrate food cells evenly, fully thawing ingredients in just five to ten minutes. After thawing, premium protein retention exceeds 99%, while juice loss remains below 0.1%, achieving rapid thawing while preserving nutrition almost perfectly.
Hisense also achieved major breakthroughs in freshness-preservation technology with its vacuum preservation innovations. The Hisense Tresor 650U8 refrigerator features AI Adaptive Vacuum Magnetic Field Preservation Technology, which combines “external vacuum anti-oxidation” with “internal magnetic-field enzyme suppression” to extend the premium raw consumption period of Wagyu beef by four times. Hisense’s innovations also include its industry-first generative freshness-preservation technology. Powered by a large language model as its cognitive core, combined with refrigerator cameras and dynamic video-stream recognition, the refrigerator can sense user storage and retrieval behavior in real time. It then precisely adjusts temperature, humidity, and vacuum pressure for premium ingredients such as beef and matsutake mushrooms, improving the preservation of key nutrients by 20%.
Beyond AI, the refrigerator industry is also seeing broader upgrades. More aesthetic elements integrated with home design are emerging, while counter-depth designs are further minimizing gaps and maximizing spatial harmony. Improvements in insulation layers and refrigeration systems are expanding internal capacity, while increasingly personalized and niche-oriented products — including retro refrigerators, new-energy vehicle refrigerators, and ultra-low-temperature refrigerators — are appearing on the market. Behind these innovations lies manufacturers’ deep understanding of real household living scenarios and the continuous advancement of refrigerator technology research and development. The value refrigerators provide has long surpassed their traditional role as simple “cold storage containers.” Built upon L4 intelligent capability, they are evolving into intelligent household nutrition managers.
At AWE2026, what we witnessed was the emergence of a new AI-powered refrigerator species.