Our History
In 1946, Henry C. Duke and his son, Gene, seized a great opportunity.
The owners of a commercial laundry equipment repair company were asked to build an ice cream freezer for an up-and-coming franchise called Dairy Queen. The pleasant result: the world’s first pressurized soft-serve ice cream freezer. Dairy Queen franchises soon began sprouting across the country, boosted by strong sales and outstanding profits from an exciting new dessert made possible by the Dukes’ machine.
Soon, the father-and-son team of H.C. Duke phased out their commercial laundry business. In 1969, the company purchased Electro Freeze, expanding its reach outside of the Dairy Queen network. Over the next 30-plus years, the company continued to build on its legacy of frozen treat innovations, unveiling many industry firsts including:
- A slush freezer with a neutral base
- An ice cream mix transfer system
- Night switches
- A combined pressurized freezer and refrigerated CAB
- A twist freezer
- Mix-in flavor blender
- Pumps that serve the most consistent product
In 2003, H.C. Duke was purchased by the Ali Group, a company with 100 years of engineering heritage and tradition. Today, the Ali Group is more committed than ever to expanding the Electro Freeze tradition of innovation, dependability and maximizing profits for all our customers.