Heat and Control founder Andy Caridis celebrates 100th birthday
The Heat and Control family celebrated a special milestone on June 1, 2021, with the 100th birthday of their founder, Andrew (Andy) Caridis. Known as a family-oriented business owner, creative problem solver, and trailblazer in the industrial food production community, the Hayward, CA team gathered for the first time in over 15 months to wish Andy a very happy birthday, enjoy the pre-summer weather, and begin a new chapter.
Andy began his career in engineering in the early 1950’s when industrial consumer goods manufacturers began investing in new ideas and technologies around the automation of food production to make better products, increase volume, improve efficiencies, create new product categories, and reach new markets. Credited with or supervising over 130 patents over the course of 70 years, Andy has been integral in advancing the food sector of the global manufacturing industry and helped companies large and small grow, adapt, and improve significantly. Advancements in the production of French fries, snack foods, and prepared foods can be directly connected to Andy’s creativity and passion to continually create something better and to always put product quality first. Andy continues to be passionate about solving problems and finding better ways of doing things, and to this day is involved in R&D projects and supports various engineering teams within the company.