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Australia - Profile
Celebrating 100th Anniversary, Contractor AJ Baker & Sons Looks Ahead to a NatRef Future With a book, website and other activities, the Australian company – a major supplier of CO 2 and hydrocarbon refrigeration – marks its centenary. ― By Nicholas Cooper
AJ
Baker & Sons turned 100 in May. For the Perth, Australia-based contractor specializing in refrigeration design, installation, servicing, and maintenance, it was a moment to reflect on its history, and look to future trends as a key supplier of natural refrigerant systems. AJ Baker began celebrating its centenary on May 1, under the heading “100 Years Fresh.” The company is marking the occasion with a dedicated section of its website (see https:// bit.ly/3gqPRc1), as well as a book. “We planned a large celebration in June 2020 and secured [Western Australia] Senator Michaelia Cash to open the celebration,” said Mike Baker, Managing Director at AJ Baker. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “this has been put on hold for now.” So, to reflect the company’s achievements, AJ Baker has assembled resources such as photographs, pamphlets, and texts outlining its history. These are updated regularly on the company website. The website builds on the work of Shannon Lovelady, a local historian, archivist and curator at the Museum of Perth. Lovelady “arranged to digitize a gold mine of photos, letters and documented history discovered in the company archives,” said Mike Baker. “Shannon was so excited she proposed a book be written to ensure this history is not lost.” The book will be released later in 2020, he added.
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From printing-house agent to NatRef supplier AJ Baker was founded in 1920 by mercantile agent Albert John Baker. The business began as an agent for Frearsons, an Adelaide-based printing house, expanding later that decade to other products, including Avery Scales. In 1931, AJ Baker became the sole Western Australian distributor for Amat-Ice Refrigerators, and sold its first refrigerator. The company subsequently branched out into refrigeration installation, installing its first supermarket system in Perth, in 1955. Over the past 15 years, AJ Baker has experienced a period of significant expansion, from a one-state (Perth) business to one that is in all five mainland Australian states. The company now employs more than 240 people in six branches (two in Perth), making it one of the largest privately owned refrigeration contractor businesses in Australia. In recent years, AJ Baker has been regularly supplying and installing natural refrigerant-based refrigeration systems. “We started with hydrocarbon freezers for the supply to a major international supermarket chain here in Australia,” said Mike Baker. Its original hydrocarbon refrigeration supplier, AHT Cooling Systems, based in Rottenmann, Austria, has since been joined by other manufacturers like Epta and Criocabin. “The majority of European manufacturers are now moving to offering hydrocarbons as their base or standard refrigerant,” said Mike Baker. AJ Baker also works with transcritical CO 2 systems, installing its first system in April 2014. As of May 2020 the company had installed 27 transcritical systems for supermarkets. According to Mike Baker, AJ Baker has installed seven transcritical CO 2 systems for a major supermarket chain, as well as 20 systems in independently owned stores under the Independent Grocers of Australia (IGA). AJ Baker prioritizes training for system efficiency and user safety, said Mike Baker.