Miami company has been refining refrigeration for 40 years
Commercial refrigeration company Amerikooler’s ongoing innovations aim to improve efficiency, embrace technology and even eventually help with disaster relief.
The Miami-based company recently launched the FlexiCool ProBox, a portable cooling unit designed to enhance temporary and permanent refrigeration setups for food service businesses. It includes a pre-built design with a reinforced, durable structure and a threshold design for easy entry and exit.
The unit can be set up in one day, making it well-suited for catering operations and events with quick turnaround times — and possibly for use after natural disasters.
“It’s hurricane-approved free-standing, which means it doesn’t have to be bolted onto a building,” Francisco Jacobo, Amerikooler marketing specialist, told Produce Processing. “For example, we could basically set it up in the middle of the parking lot.”
Custom-sized, fully assembled and needing only generator power, the FlexiCool ProBox’s portable design can save customers time and money, Jacobo said.
“If they manage to save the stock that’s in their refrigeration units, they don’t want to let that go to waste, because that could be thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of product,” he said. “They just need power (to) transfer their stock while they’re waiting for repairs.”
The FlexiCool ProBox includes modernized trims and National Sanitation Foundation-certified coving. Its threshold minimizes gaps, reducing air exchange and decreasing the workload on the refrigeration system while protecting against moisture, according to the company.
“This box represents a lot of the forward-thinking innovations that we want to bring to production of other models,” Jacobo said.
While it didn’t experience a natural disaster, one national restaurant chain did set up the ProBox in a parking lot to house surplus stock during the peak holiday season, he said.
“More square footage is available in their business, so they don’t have to worry about exterior piping, drainage lines, extra space or extra holes to run for ventilation for maybe an exterior evaporator unit or condenser unit,” Jacobo said. “It uses less power. It’s more efficient over the long term, so it reduces cost over time.
“As a business owner, if you use these newer units, you’re saving a lot of money. You’re saving time and setup and installation. It’s a win-win.”
Practicality is a key feature of the ProBox, which includes integrated and removable forklift holes, a self-contained refrigeration system and reversible exterior trims which can be flipped to serve as anchors.
“It’s easier to move in different scenarios,” said Oscar Infanzon, Amerikooler engineering manager. “It’s easier to remove from the flatbed (trailer) and put in place.”
FROZEN FUTURE
With four decades of experience providing and installing cold storage solutions, Amerikooler offers coolers, freezers and refrigeration systems to businesses in all 50 states and more than 30 countries.
Renato Alonso, a Cuban immigrant who immersed himself in the steel trade and fabrication industry after graduating from college, founded Metal Equipment of Florida in 1981. The company, which focused on stainless- steel equipment manufactured for the food industry, became Amerikooler in 1985. It opened an 80,000-square-foot Miami manufacturing facility in 1997.
The company’s 24-hour quote turnaround can deliver estimates in a few hours, according to a news release. Standard computer-assisted design drawings are available within 24 hours, and Revit files can be added to standard job specifications to keep architectural and engineering schedules on track.
“Oscar and his team are constantly trying to see what other innovations we can do,” Jacobo said. “A lot of it comes from customer feedback. If we spot an issue in production and we realize something can be improved, we go ahead and do that. Over the course of the last two years, we’ve made a lot of minor adjustments and improvements to our production and design, and we’re constantly looking to innovate for the future.”
That future includes artificial intelligence-powered technology that will allow commercial refrigeration units to self-monitor and correct in real time in addition to in-home units that can communicate with customers about restocking needs.
Amerikooler products already include remote monitoring and alarm control functions that send alerts about potential issues before a problem occurs, Jacobo said.
“We do research. We see what other products can be integrated, what manufacturing techniques we can use in the factory to build better walk-ins,” he said. “With the onset of AI now that is basically in everything, we’re trying to look into the feasibility of integrating that into a smart cooler system.”
