Winston Industries
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| Private | |
| Industry | Commercial food service equipment |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Founder | Winston L. Shelton |
| Headquarters | Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Shaun Tanner (President and CEO) |
| Products | Commercial foodservice equipment, pressure fryers, CVap cooking and holding equipment, warming drawers, open fryers, shortening filtration systems |
| Services | Product manufacturing, contract manufacturing, engineering, sales and marketing, electronics manufacturing |
| Divisions |
|
| Website | [// ] |
Winston Industries is a commercial foodservice equipment manufacturer founded in 1969 by Winston L. Shelton. Winston developed of the Collectramatic pressure fryer. Shelton later invented Controlled Vapor Technology (CVap), which is a cooking and holding system that was patented in 1996.
Winston Industries consists of 3 divisions. Winston Foodservice (engineering, sales, and marketing), Winston Manufacturing (product manufacturing and contract services), and Win2uit Electronics (printed circuit boards). Winston Industries employs approximately 200 people at its Louisville headquarters. It has customers in more than 120 countries. The company's founder held 76 U.S. patents during his lifetime.
History
Early years
Winston Shelton and his brother Naaman formed Engineering Prototype Services in 1965 while Winston was still employed at General Electric. He had worked at GE since 1948 and held 35 patents there, primarily for washing machine components.
Winston met Colonel Harland Sanders in 1967. Sanders asked him to develop equipment to improve fried chicken production at Kentucky Fried Chicken locations. Shelton resigned from GE in 1968 to focus on this project full-time.
Shelton founded Commercial Appliances in 1969, initially operating from a residential garage in Louisville. The company's first product was the Collectramatic pressure fryer, which many KFC franchises adopted. The business relocated to its current location on Carton Drive in Louisville in 1976.
Development of CVap technology
In 1980, Shelton developed Controlled Vapor Technology (CVap), designed to hold cooked food at serving temperature. The company adapted the CVap technology for cooking applications in 1990. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted patent 5,494,690 for CVap technology in 1996.
The company changed its name from Commercial Appliances to Winston Industries in 1984.
Leadership changes
David Shelton, Winston's son, became president and CEO of the company in 1998. Valerie Shelton, Winston's daughter, succeeded her brother in 2010. In July 2020, Shaun Tanner was named President and CEO, the first person outside the Shelton family to lead the company.
Winston L. Shelton died on April 15, 2019, at age 96.
Recent developments
Winston Industries established Win2uit Electronics in 2013. Win2uit builds all the electronic components used in Winston's CVap and Collectramatic products, and also provides contract manufacturing for external customers. The division holds ISO 9001:2015 certification.
In August 2023, the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development announced that Winston Industries would invest $1.2 million to expand its Jeffersontown facility, retaining 215 jobs and adding five positions.
Products
Collectramatic pressure fryers
The Collectramatic was developed in 1969 for Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC continues to use this fryer in their operations to this day.
CVap equipment
CVap (Controlled Vapor Technology) controls air temperature and food temperature separately. The company manufactures CVap holding cabinets, cook and hold ovens, and retherm ovens.
Other products
Winston Foodservice also manufactures warming drawers, open fryers, and shortening filtration systems.
Winston Industries received the 2024 MAFSI Progressive Partner Award and the 2008 YUM! Brands YRI Equipment Supplier of the Year.
Industry involvement
Winston Industries holds memberships in the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM), Manufacturers' Agents for the Foodservice Industry (MAFSI), and the Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI).
The company maintains a business relationship with Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.
References
External links
This article "Winston Industries" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.