The Cambro Story

When brothers Argyle and William Campbell founded Cambro Manufacturing in 1951 in Los Angeles, California, they created a single product to solve a problem in the foodservice industry. Dubbed the Camtray®, it demonstrated their commitment to excellence, quality, and innovation. 73 years and more than 17,000 products later, Cambro is still a family-owned company focused on creating foodservice solutions in the US and around the world. Now led by William’s son, Argyle, Cambro is still dedicated to creating products to help you serve, satisfy, and delight your guests.

“We understand that when a foodservice operator uses our products, they trust them to perform. That trust is based on consistent performance for seven decades,” said Argyle Campbell, President of Cambro Manufacturing. 

American Manufacturing

Cambro is a proud American born and bred manufacturing company. Thanks to facilities in California and North Carolina, 99 percent of Cambro products sold to customers in North America are made in the US. Each day a foodservice operator has to wait to receive their products makes a difference. At any given time, Cambro has between 654 and 832 of their most popular products ready to be shipped anywhere in North America within two to three business days.

Cambro is proud to employ more than 850 people in our USA manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and corporate offices. Cambro is able to consistently offer more jobs to Americans thanks to the millions of Cambro customers across North America. Buying US-made products allows more jobs for Americans to be created and sustained so they can provide for their families.

International Expansion

What started as a single factory in California, has grown into an international presence with production facilities and sales offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.These factories provide the same quality products to their geographic region. Despite Cambro’s growth, the original guiding vision of the Campbell brothers remains unchanged: to offer the best possible value on products that are durable, save labor and increase food safety, so you can offer your guests a superior experience while enhancing profitability. Cambro is especially stringent when it comes to product consistency. Cambro products are all manufactured in the exact same way, with the exact same materials, in every facility. 

Commitment to Food Safety & Sustainability

Our “why”: Providing efficient, food safe products for the foodservice industry. Since Day One, our goal has been to design products for foodservice professionals that make their jobs safer and easier. Whether you operate a massive Hilton property or a humble bed and breakfast, Cambro products are made with your needs in mind. Every Cambro product is designed to provide efficiency, value, and food safety.

Like all things related to foodservice, the end result is only as good as the ingredients and processes that go into its production. Cambro only sources the highest quality FDA-approved materials for all of its factories across the world and in the US. Cambro goes above and beyond to achieve special certifications to further proof the quality of its products. Cambro has an ISO certification from the International Organization for Standardization, a nonprofit organization that works with more than 160 nations to regulate industry standards. This certification signifies Cambro has an enviable level of quality management that aims to achieve customer satisfaction. One reason Cambro customers are so satisfied is because the vast majority of Cambro's food contact items are NSF-listed. An NSF listing on a foodservice product ensures that it won’t leak harmful chemicals into food, is cleanable and isn’t likely to harbor bacteria. In addition to being food safe, Cambro has created many electric products that have earned certifications based on their energy efficiency:

• ETL: If a product has an ETL mark, it means that it passed the safety certification program at ETL Intertek and complies with North American safety standards.
• Energy Star: A product with an Energy Star certification is guaranteed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by the inefficient use of energy.

Innovation

At the heart of our business philosophy is our willingness to listen, so in a very real way we owe all our success to you, our customer. From hotels to healthcare to caterers, from restaurant chains to educational facilities, we understand the food service business and we design and create our products with the end user foremost in mind. We continually work on developing new ideas for specific industry segments and invest in new tooling and leading-edge machinery to bring these products to market.

Cambro is dedicated to focusing on the foodservice industry in order to inspire food safety and enable foodservice operators to be more efficient and profitable. Foodservice professionals have relied on Cambro for 72 years, and Cambro is committed to supporting them for generations to come.

Cambro has made several acquisitions in the past and has kept many of the acquired employees, and as much as possible, the company culture. Two notable acquisitions that represent these actions are Presswerk Kongen in Unterensingen, Germany (1993?), and Cambro Özay Plastik, Sokak Gebze TURKEY (200?). Both companies have many of the original employees and oringinal business strategies. Cambro understands that the people make a business successful.