From his first day at Bardeau limited in 1955, Joe Stritzl started his career in the Foodservice Industry. Working his way up to becoming General Manager at Bardeau, Joe parted from the company in 1980 seeking to grow his own ideas around steam and to start a company focused solely on the production of steam cooking equipment. Bardeau later would be sold and become Cleveland Kettles.

Over the years, Crown has produced OEM product for numerous major companies in Foodservice. To name several; Middleby (Southbend, Blodgett, and Market Forge), ITW (Vulcan, Hobart Canada), Entree (Solaris), Steam Can, Accutemp, and prior Garland/ Welbilt, Legion, as well as accessories to Groen. Needless to say, Joe Strizzl and Crown Foodservice Equipment has been the back bone of steam cooking system in the Foodservice Industry for years.

With the addition of Crown Foodservice Equipment into the Middleby Corporation, Middleby now not only continues its long history of providing high quality steam products to the industry, but now also offers the strength and dependability of backing up the brands with the factory itself. This addition allows certain dependability Middleby has become known for. It shows, as do all Middleby brands, that we remain focused on our customers first, and drive our businesses as such.

2019 NAFEM marked for us the gathering of our industry every other year, but this year we celebrate the launching of Crown Steam Group and the Crown brand name to be sold to the Foodservice community for the first time. Not only will Crown represent the great products it has historically been known for producing, but will also manufacture the unique and high-quality Market Forge Brand. Together, with Crown, Market Forge and Firex, no other Steam company offers such a broad line of steam equipment packed with depth and technology, as exists with the Crown Steam Group.