Based on the product interest expressed by attendees at the recent Western Restaurant Show in Los Angeles, CA, and their increasing expectations for kitchen equipment's energy efficiency and reliability, the value proposition presented by the companies of the Aga Foodservice Equipment division seems particularly well-suited to the needs of the market.

    "The show helped to confirm that energy issues, advanced designs that help equipment use less to do more and extended warranties that support dependable daily operations are all now top of mind issues for operators and specifiers in this area of the country," commented Mark Whalen, President of Victory Refrigeration and the AFE division. "This tells us that we've positioned the current product line-ups from Victory, Infinity, Stellar and Eloma appropriately to address current market conditions, but that we've got to continue our efforts to communicate this message to operators and specifiers." He added that the Western Show offered a useful means to allow significant numbers of industry members to receive a consistent message about AFE products' design and performance from representatives of each company.

    While Whalen said he is pleased with the progress Aga Foodservice Equipment is making toward offering a unified product line-up and message, he also sees strong prospects for further expansion, both through internal product development and further acquisitions by the division. "If we look at Victory, for example, it would now be good for us to build our sales up from our base of reach-ins and pizza tables. If we can find the appropriate partner, I can see us extending Victory's model range to include refrigerated merchandisers, beverage boxes and other types of commodity refrigeration equipment," he explained. "Given operators' and specifiers' growing need for equipment mobility and space savings, we also believe offering more undercounter refrigerators on wheels would be a worthwhile line extension for Victory."     Among the key goals Whalen felt Victory, Infinity, Stellar and Eloma accomplished during the recent show was building awareness of AFE's newly launched hot side brands and the division as a whole. "I think we were also able to communicate the fact category-leading energy efficiency is built in across our product lines, and that the ENERGY STAR® Partnership award we earned this year is just the beginning for us," he stressed. "As ENERGY STAR® continues to add more certification categories, we will present a growing number of products for their review and look for other ways to expand our overall support of the ENERGY STAR® program."