AMF and Tromp Group Integrate to Unify Global Strategy
Convergence strengthens and expands offering to bakery customers worldwide
Richmond, Virginia – February 4, 2019 – AMF Bakery Systems announced today a plan to integrate Tromp Group, parent brand for Tromp Sheeting and Depositing Systems and Den Boer Baking Systems, under AMF to better serve commercial and retail bakers around the world. Effective immediately, the businesses will begin operating as AMF Tromp and AMF Den Boer with all operations continued in The Netherlands.
“This is the progression of the strategic alliance that began six years ago under the Markel Food Group. As we fold Europe’s best sheeting, depositing, baking, and handling technology into the world’s strongest bakery equipment supplier, we aim to put AMF Tromp and AMF Den Boer in the best position for the future: technologically, culturally – as well as structurally,” said Ken Newsome, CEO of Markel Food Group.
Following the integration, AMF will operate worldwide with unified project management systems and cohesive global sales and service teams to tackle the rapid pace of change in the baking industry. This is in direct response to the corresponding strategic challenges that bakers face in growing their product portfolios to meet evolving consumer demands.
“The addition of the AMF Tromp and AMF Den Boer teams and technologies to AMF’s existing capabilities will protect the synergies that we’ve already established as partners under the Markel Food Group while leveraging the global support and service the AMF brand was built on,” mentioned Jason Ward, President of AMF Bakery Systems. “With this improved alignment, our sales and engineering teams are better equipped to present the most optimal processing solutions while more effectively supporting our bakery customers’ ever-expanding product needs from soft bread, buns, and rolls to artisan breads and a variety of specialty baked products including pizza and flatbreads, pastry and croissants, and cakes and pies.”
“AMF, AMF Tromp, and AMF Den Boer strengthen each other in a perfect way,” said Hans Herman Doude, Vice President of Sales for AMF Europe. “We see that industrial bun and bread bakers do need to diversify their product range, for which AMF Tromp and AMF Den Boer have proven and innovative solutions. This next step in convergence will enable us to provide localized support, globally, for our best-in-class equipment solutions, whilst ensuring better support for our long-time customers.”
About AMF Bakery Systems
AMF Bakery Systems is the world leader in bakery automation solutions supplying state-of-the-art commercial equipment for an ever-changing market. AMF’s systems set the standard in the baking industry providing complete solutions for soft bread, buns and rolls, tortillas and English muffins, artisan breads, pizzas and flatbreads, cakes and pies, and pastries and croissants. Along with the latest bakery innovation, AMF provides expert design and applications engineering, production expertise, full-system integration, project management, installation, training and lifetime parts and service support.
About Tromp Group
AMF Tromp and AMF Den Boer – formerly Tromp Group – provide technically leading unit equipment as well as fully-integrated bakery solutions for the worldwide baking industry. Together, AMF, AMF Tromp, and AMF Den Boer help bakers grow their product portfolio with confidence to produce soft bread and buns, sheeted artisan breads, pizzas and flatbreads, cakes and pies, and pastries and croissants.
About Markel Food Group
The Markel Food Group family of companies (www.markelfoodgroup.com) includes AMF Bakery Systems (www.amfbakery.com), Reading Bakery Systems (www.readingbakery.com), Tromp Group (www.trompgroup.nl), and Solbern (www.solbern.com). The companies serve as market leaders in the manufacturing and design of automated food processing equipment for the production of bread, bun, baked snacks, cakes, pizza, pastries, and other specialty baking products.
The Markel Food Group companies are subsidiaries under Markel Ventures, Inc., (www.markelventures.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Markel Corporation (NYSE:MKL).