Amerikooler‘s mission is to produce the most reliable and well-constructed walk-in coolers and freezers for the restaurant and foodservice professional. That mantra has enabled them to grow to become the fastest growing walk-in manufacturer in the U.S.
For more than 30 years, Amerikooler has built its reputation on quality construction, the most efficient insulation and the highest quality energy efficient refrigeration system. The Alonso family history reads like a Hollywood script. No one has a greater appreciation for the story than the firm’s current President and CEO Gian Carlo Alonso who has taken the Florida based firm to new heights.
“My father started the company 30 years ago after fleeing Cuba from the Castro Brothers, who had taken away his grandfather’s manufacturing and engineering business,” Alonso said. “After moving to Puerto Rico, my Dad came to the United States with his engineering degree and used it to start a refrigeration business after seeing a refrigerated warehouse. It was big, heavily engineered and was manufactured. All things he was great at. He immediately knew that’s the business he wanted to get in to. ”
“When we started, our focus was in the refrigerated warehouse segment, which was nice, but when you’re a smaller company starting out, you might not have a project for a while,” Alonso admits. “So my Dad started learning about the restaurant industry and these smaller types of boxes that they needed and that’s how we got into the food industry.”
From there Amerikooler started to work with a lot of smaller businesses until they grew their name thanks to the quality of their walk-ins and their fast delivery times, which allowed them to start getting high-caliber restaurants and stores as customers. “Now we’re doing business with practically every A-level equipment and supply dealer in the country,” Alonso noted proudly.
“We have worked hard to understand the needs of that dealer community and what their end-user customers expect in terms of quality and service.
According to Alonso, a dealer looks to Amerikooler for some fundamental things – their quality product and their response time. “This is huge for them and we’re great at it. We turnaround orders very quickly and when we get a ship date, we ship it out on that date.”
Currently, their most popular feature is their new 24-hour Quick Ship program that’s been a big hit with customers. They saw a need in the market for standard boxes that shipped very quickly and made it happen. “A lot of mom-and pop-shops don’t expect their walk-ins to take so long and need something quick. That’s where our 24-hour ship program comes into play. It provides many of the features of a custom box at an affordable price and quick turnaround.”
Much of Gian Carlo Alonso’s imprint on Amerikooler has been creating a high-performance culture within the company that maximizes the South Florida firm’s productivity. “We think outside of the box by recruiting people from different industry backgrounds and building a team that brings many different skills to the mission. We have a tremendous team here, which allows us to literally build these boxes on the fly. We always look for those who will fit our core values, which are very instrumental to our business and processes.”
With Gian Carlo’s vision, Amerikooler continues to debut innovative features. “We have an amazing variety of reinforced floors by application types and our insulation has 50 year Thermal Warranty,” he explains. “As far as energy efficiency features, their walk-ins are paired with high-energy efficiency motors that use less refrigerant, reduce operational cost and improve system performance. They also utilize smart controllers that can be placed in their boxes to measure things like how long the door is left open over time and things that only better their products.”
“There’s a reason our brand is trusted among many in the industry,” Alonso said. “We have 30 years of experience behind us, offer an excellent product that we stand behind and offer exceptional customer service.”
Having established themselves as the industry’s fastest growing walk-in firm, the Alonso led Amerikooler team has its sites set on continued expansion. “We will accomplish that by staying focused on our goal of the highest quality product and great people to support that mission,” Alonso concluded.
To learn more about Amerikooler, visit their website.
