40 years AHT
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Future
Over the past 40 years, AHT has developed through constant growth, innovation and perseverance into a full service supplier of commercial refrigeration systems using natural refrigerants (R290 and R744).
AHT goes Hollywood
In 2014, our "Salzburg" unit appeared in the action movie "Big Game" starring Samuel L. Jackson. The film prop can be seen at the Bavaria Filmstadt in Munich.
That is impressive!
Around 25% of AHT's employees are former apprentices. In the last 40 years, AHT has trained 420 young professionals, 130 of whom were commercial apprentices and 290 industrial apprentices.
AHT Rottenmann company fire brigade from 1954 to 2023
Since its foundation in 1954, the company fire brigade, which has undergone several name changes over the years, has completed a total of 1917 operations to protect the company. These include fire operations, technical operations and fire safety watches.
How many parts does the KALEA consist of?
The KALEA chiller cabinet consists of around 716 different individual parts and requires a total production time of around 12 hours.
How long has the long-serving employee been working for AHT?
The long-serving employee has been with AHT since 23rd September 1980 and has thus been with the company for more than 40 years without interruption.
Happy Birthday
AHT is celebrating its birthday and the staff are literally celebrating with us.
Like AHT, our colleague Martin also has his birthday on 16 April. Martin started at AHT on 1st September 1987 and has therefore been celebrating his birthday together with AHT for 36 years.
How much gas have we used in our chests over the last 40 years?
Since the mid-90s, AHT has been using the natural refrigerant propane (R290). This is not harmful to the ozone layer and has the lowest GWP (Global Warming Potential) on the market. Since 2003, 756 tonnes of R290 have been filled into our units.
AHT can look back on a long and exciting history at its site in Rottenmann. Both the location and the business premisses have a historical background.
Rottenmann was already known as a mining town more than 1000 years ago. Its exposed location between the forest and iron ore-rich mountains and the wild waters of the Palten made it the ideal place for iron processing.
Over the centuries, the site has been steadily expanded and has developed into an important industrial location over the last 100 years.
Our history
For 40 years now, AHT, with its headquarters in Rottenmann in Upper Styria, has stood for quality at the highest level. With its green refrigerant R290 (propane gas), AHT became the pioneer of an entire industry. Innovative equipment and high flexibility ensure that the company is and remains a reliable partner for the entire food retail industry. This is why AHT has rightly become the world market leader in plug-in refrigeration and freezer units for the food retail industry.
16 April 1983 is considered the birthday of Austria Haustechnik, as AHT was still called at that time. On this day, the company was registered at the Commercial Court in Leoben as the successor to the Bauknecht company (producer of electrical household appliances). With focus on the production of commercial refrigerators and freezers, the new company is developing and growing.
In the very first year of its existence, AHT was able to set a major milestone for its customers. It came to develop glass lidded chests for frozen foods and ice cream. In 1986, this unique product was finally launched on the market and was immediately well received by customers.
On the pulse of time
From then on, one innovation followed the next. At the beginning of the 1990s, the minced meat chest was developed. After a long period of development work, AHT succeeded in implementing the maximum values specified by the meat hygiene regulations (upper temperature limit of +2 °C) in a single device. This was one of the most important steps for the development of future AHT products.
In the following years, AHT worked intensively and successfully on the development of new units. In addition, the first CFC-free units with the environmentally friendly refrigerant R290 (propane gas) were introduced to the market and used at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000.
Internationally active
AHT subsequently expanded massively on the world market. In 2008, AHT opened its first international production facility in China in addition to its main plant in Austria. This was followed in 2014 by the plant in Brazil and finally in 2017 by the start-up of production in its own plant in the USA. In addition, nine sales companies worldwide take care of the well-being of customers on site.
In 2019, AHT became part of the Daikin family and can thus benefit from a large network and develop into a One Stop Solutions provider. In keeping with the spirit of the times, AHT has recently started offering CO2 units in its product portfolio.
World market leader out of passion
In the meantime, AHT has a market share of 64 % in Europe and 33 % worldwide in the ready-to-plug-in sector. Around 1500 employees all over the world ensure smooth production with top-quality appliances, fast and efficient service and thus the highest level of customer satisfaction. Around 5000 customers from large chains to small retailers speak for themselves. At a total of four locations, the company produces appliances that are always adapted to the respective market. AHT is now active in 115 countries. These are serviced by the company’s own subsidiaries and partners.
The company is using this anniversary as an opportunity to collect and publish the funniest, most exciting, and most informative stories from 40 years of AHT.
If you want to find out even more about AHT, you can find all the relevant information in the new AHT corporate movie.