For the AFE companies-Eloma, Infinity Fryers, Stellar Steam and Victory Refrigeration-2007 was a year of changes, challenges, and successes.

    According to Mark Whalen, president of AFE and of Victory Refrigeration, the most significant event to impact these companies in 2007 was the Ali Group's purchase of foodservice and bakery equipment companies from Aga Foodservice, which was completed in December.

    Aga announced its intentions to sell these companies in July. After a bidding period, in October, the Ali Group emerged as the winning bidder-a fortunate turn of events for the companies, said Whalen.

    "We were either going to end up with a private equity owner or a trade owner," he stated. "We're now part of the Ali Group, which is one of the top two or three foodservice equipment companies in the world. We have ownership that understands our markets, understands our challenges. I think that's a good thing."

    While the AFE companies dealt with some uncertainty regarding ownership for a good part of the year, they had to address other business challenges, as well. The biggest of these, Whalen said, was rising raw materials costs. The companies were unable to increase their prices quickly enough to offset these higher expenses, which had an adverse impact on operating income, he stated.

    Despite the challenges, AFE achieved some notable successes in 2007. AFE Eloma achieved impressive sales levels in light of being new to the United States, while AFE Victory expanded its manufacturing capacity and gained market share.

    Another big positive for AFE, said Whalen, was the response to the group's booth at The NAFEM Show. "With the bakery display under the Belshaw banner, Amana's launch of the new AXP Oven, Eloma's live cooking demo and Victory's new products, we generated a lot of excitement, which has resulted in additional sales," he said.

    What's more, in March, the firm received its second-consecutive Energy Star Partner of the Year Award from the Department of Energy-run program. The award, Whalen said, underscored the AFE companies' three-pronged "V2E" marketing strategy: value achieved through differentiating features and price competitiveness; a standard two-year parts and labor warranty on all products; and energy-efficient/utility-efficient operations. The companies will retain this strategy under the Ali Group, Whalen said.

    "Whatever product you're marketing, you're always building and defining the brand," stated Whalen. "Fortunately, we have attributes around our three-pronged value proposition that are common across all our companies. We will continue to reinforce that at every level."