Beverage-Air Celebrates 70 Years

Beverage-Air, founded in 1944 by John Buffington in Punxsutawney, Pa., is celebrating its 70^th anniversary this year. The refrigeration maker then was known as The Punxsutawney Co. It carried the trade name “Beverage-Air” and introduced the industry’s first horizontal, forced-air cooler. In 1950, the firm expanded its product line beyond deep-well models to include shallow wells, club bars, dairy models, cube makers and direct-draw systems.

As the demand for commercial refrigeration products increased, Herman Buffington joined his brother to help expand the business. In 1958, the company built a new manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, S.C. The facility became the corporate headquarters, and the company was renamed Beverage-Air. Booming business prompted construction in 1969 of a second facility in Brookville, Pa. The original Punxsutawney Co. closed its doors, and all operations were moved to Brookville and Spartanburg. Beverage-Air constructed a third facility in Honea Path, S.C., in 1995.

Beverage-Air changed ownership over the years; its owners included Specialty Equipment, from 1986-2000, when it was sold to Carrier Corp. In 2008, the Ali Group acquired Beverage-Air, and, two years later, the corporate headquarters was relocated to a newly constructed, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified facility in Winston-Salem, N.C., where it remains today as part of the Ali Group North America campus.

In commemoration of its anniversary, Beverage-Air has published a limited-edition 2014 calendar that illustrates old/new model innovations with product benefits and features throughout the years. Copies are available by contacting Beverage-Air at sales@bevair.com.