____________________________________________ Traulsen
, a division of ITW Food Equipment Group
Renowned across the US for its commercial refrigeration equipment, Traulsen was founded by entrepreneur Harry Traulsen almost 90 years ago, remaining independent for most of its history. In the early 2000s, it became part of Illinois Tool Works’ Food Equipment Group( IWT FEG), a large US-based multinational company operating across a wide range of segments. Jason Janning, Vice President and General Manager of ITW FEG’ s North American Refrigeration division, talks us through Traulsen’ s capabilities.
“ Our core specialty is point-of-use refrigeration distributed throughout food service operations. Unlike walk-in coolers, where restaurants store large quantities of food in one place, our equipment is dispersed throughout the kitchen, whether that is reach-in upright units, under-counter units or refrigerated prep tables. Roughly a third of our business serves institutional customers such as schools, universities, hospitals and corporate dining operations. Another third is chain restaurants, and the final third is a mix of independent
restaurants, specialty applications and retail channels like grocers and mass-market stores,” he begins.
Earlier this year, Traulsen expanded its market reach by rebranding its Centerline™ value line into the Traulsen C-Series, consolidating its mid-tier offering under a single, well-recognized name.“ After opening a new facility in Fort Worth, we launched Centerline right into the teeth of the pandemic in 2020, an ill-timed move that nobody could have predicted. We spent the next five and a half years working hard to grow that business before arriving, about a year ago, at a difficult realization: we had a great product, a competitive price and the right value proposition for our dealers, but we simply were not breaking through. What we came to understand was that we were failing to leverage the strength of the Traulsen brand. Customer research
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