Meet The Sponsors: Alto-Shaam UK

Six Decades of Innovation, Now on Your Doorstep

A Legacy Built on Solving Real Kitchen Problems

Alto-Shaam was founded in Wisconsin, USA, in 1955 by Jerry Maahs, a restaurant operator searching for a way to keep fried chicken hot during home deliveries through brutal Midwest winters. Inspiration struck while watching the 1967 ‘Ice Bowl’ Green Bay Packers game, where thermal cables kept the pitch from freezing, Jerry adapted the idea into a wrapped thermal cable, and Halo Heat® technology was born. That single insight launched the original Hot Holding category and, more than 70 years on, still underpins Alto-Shaam’s equipment portfolio, now specified in more than 90 countries worldwide.

Hot Holding and Cook & Hold: The Category Alto-Shaam Created

Halo Heat remains at the heart of Alto-Shaam’s hot holding and Cook & Hold ranges. Because the gentle, radiant heat wraps evenly around the cabinet without fans or added humidity, food holds at precise temperature for extended periods with minimal moisture loss and none of the shrinkage or drying associated with conventional holding. For consultants specifying servery lines, banqueting operations, or QSR back-of-house, this translates into lower yield loss, more forgiving service windows, and consistent plate quality, all from equipment with a proven multi-decade track record.

Smoker Ovens: Authentic Flavour, Commercial Reliability

Alto-Shaam’s Smoker Ovens apply the same Halo Heat platform to low-and-slow smoking, giving operators authentic wood-smoked flavour without the ventilation, space, or fire-risk burden of a traditional smoker. It’s a specification worth flagging wherever a client wants a smokehouse menu proposition inside a standard commercial kitchen footprint.

Converge and Vector: Multi-Cook Ovens Without Compromise

Alto-Shaam also created the multi-cook oven category with its Vector® Series, and has since extended it with the award-winning Converge™ ovens. Both use patented Structured Air Technology to run independent cooking zones within a single cabinet, so completely different foods, say, fish, garlic bread and pastries, can cook simultaneously at their own ideal temperature, time and humidity levels, with no flavour transfer between them. For space-constrained kitchens or multi-site menus needing consistency, this is one of the strongest footprint-reduction arguments a consultant can put in front of a client. And all this without the need for costly extraction.

See It in Action: The Milton Keynes Demo Kitchen

In 2025, Alto-Shaam opened its first UK training kitchen and demonstration facility, based in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, alongside a new account management and service base for UK customers. The space is built for hands-on equipment demonstrations and chef-led training, and hosts regular ‘A Taste of Alto-Shaam’ events, giving consultants and their clients the chance to put Hot Holding, Cook & Hold, Smoker, Converge, and Vector equipment through its paces before specifying. Alto-Shaam’s UK team is happy to arrange a visit or bring a live demonstration to your next client meeting.