Prominent among all the products exhibited by the companies of the Aga Foodservice Equipment division during the recent Western Restaurant Show were the offerings from Victory Refrigeration, AFE's flagship. These included V-Series reach-in refrigerator models, two blast chillers (an undercounter and an upright model), a dual-temperature spec cabinet, a "Big Top" refrigerated table and a pizza-prep table. According to Mark Whalen, President of Victory and the AFE division, these products were presented in Booth #1359 along with Victory's new price list, sales brochures and POS signage that all expressed the company (and the division's) key selling themes.

    "We looked to promote the overall energy efficiency of our product lines, the fact that Victory has certified more refrigerators and freezers with ENERGY STAR® than any other manufacturer in our category, and the recognition we received from the Department of Energy and EPA when they named us a 2006 ENERGY STAR® Manufacturer Partner of the Year," he advised. "We continue to espouse the V2E pledge we issued last year and it remains a viable sales approach because it encapsulates the benefits of value, energy efficiency and reliability Victory products offer end-users and specifiers. We also appreciated the marketing support we received by the display of some of our most energy-efficient products in the booth presented by ENERGY STAR® and several local gas and electricity companies.

    Whalen further noted that Victory's broad product line-up at the Western Show helped to attract roughly equivalent numbers of commercial and noncommercial operators to the company's areas of the AFE booth. School foodservice operators were particularly notable in Victory's exhibit area, reflective of the interest some the largest local districts have expressed recently in a variety of AFE product lines. Whalen added that Victory's newest rep group, Southern California-based Integra Marketing, was also hosted during the recent show, with Integra's entire staff receiving hands-on product training and sales information.

    "I think we're becoming increasingly able to communicate the value of our V2E message and ENERGY STAR® partnership to end-users and specifiers, given that concern over spiraling fuel costs and environmental pollution is increasing throughout our industry," Whalen recounted.

For more information on ENERGY STAR-qualified Victory models, visit Victory's web site at www.victory-refrig.com