Association Française du Froid (AFF)

What Association Française du Froid (AFF) does

Association Française du Froid (AFF) is a French non-profit professional association (Association Loi 1901) founded in 1908, months after the 1st International Congress of Refrigeration in Paris, and recognized as being of public utility by decree in 1920. It serves as the official representative body of the French refrigeration and air conditioning industry, federating manufacturers, installers, end-users, research organizations, and specialized educational institutions across the food cold chain, healthcare/pharmaceutical cold chain, industrial refrigeration, and adjacent sectors. Its operational scope covers France primarily, with international reach via membership in the Institut International du Froid (IIF).

AFF's core deliverables are services rather than products: industry advocacy before the French ministries (Ecological Transition, Health, Agriculture), knowledge dissemination, technical training governance, and professional networking. Its tangible outputs include the scientific and technical journal Revue Générale du Froid et du Conditionnement d'Air (RGF), the Kryos member newsletter, the annual Charles Tellier Medal (awarded since 1986), nine regional committees organizing local events and technical visits, and multiple thematic commissions (food refrigeration, healthcare cold chain, refrigerants, energy efficiency) that host annual technical days. AFF also houses the headquarters of Cnefic-Thermique (national expert witness company in refrigeration engineering) and chairs the orientation committee of the Institut de formation en froid industriel (IFFI), which delivers diploma programs through the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam).

The business model is a recurring subscription model built on annual membership dues paid by industry participants, supplemented by ancillary revenues from publications and events. The organization operates with a small staff of approximately 10 employees and is governed by a board of directors and bureau elected by the general assembly under statutes approved by decree in 1975. There is no disclosed pricing or revenue figure; the underlying technology footprint is limited to a corporate website, a hosted newsletter system, and event-management activity, with no proprietary software, AI/ML capability, or API offerings.

Name

Association Française du Froid (AFF)

Legal name

Association Française du Froid (AFF)

Website

https://aff-froid.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1908

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Association Française du Froid (AFF) is a French non-profit trade association founded in 1908 that represents the refrigeration and air conditioning industry, serving manufacturers, installers, end-users, research bodies, and educators through advocacy, training governance, technical journals, and regional committees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership dues: AFF generates revenue through annual membership fees from professionals across the refrigeration and air conditioning industry including manufacturers, installers, users, research organizations, and educational institutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Association Française du Froid (AFF) is a French nonprofit professional association that represents the French refrigeration and air conditioning industry. Its core offerings include industry representation and advocacy before government ministries, the scientific-technical publication RGF (Revue Générale du Froid et du Conditionnement d'Air), nine regional committees that organize local networking and technical events for professionals, and four thematic commissions addressing food cold chain, healthcare cold chain, refrigerants, and energy efficiency. AFF also coordinates industry input into professional training through the IFFI institute and CNAM, and recognizes meritorious personalities annually via the Charles Tellier Medal.

Product overview

Association Française du Froid (AFF) is a professional association organized under the 1901 law, founded in 1908 and recognized as a public utility. It serves as an industry organization for the refrigeration and air conditioning sector rather than a product company. Its offerings include the scientific-technical journal RGF (Revue Générale du Froid et du Conditionnement d'Air), the Charles Tellier Medal awarded annually since 1986, nine regional committees organizing professional networks and events, and thematic commissions on topics such as food cold chain, health product cold chain, refrigerants, and energy efficiency. AFF also provides training coordination through IFFI and expert witness services through Cnefic-Thermique.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kryos: Newsletter published by the association for its members and subscribers.

Products and services

• Revue Générale du Froid et du Conditionnement d'Air (RGF) Scientific and technical journal of the Association Française du Froid, covering refrigeration and air conditioning topics for industry professionals, manufacturers, installers, researchers, and educators.
• Comités Régionaux (Regional Committees) Federated network of 9 regional committees that organize local professional networking, technical visits, regional events, and on-the-ground outreach for AFF members across France.
• Commissions Thématiques (Thematic Commissions) Standing thematic commissions addressing food refrigeration, the cold chain for health products, refrigerants, and energy efficiency, producing annual technical days and shared regulatory and technical briefings for AFF members.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Institut International du Froid (IIF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF is a member of the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIF) and contributes actively to its work within the framework of coordinated actions. This membership provides AFF with international reach and allows participation in global refrigeration standards and research initiatives.
• Compagnie nationale d'experts de justice en génie frigorifique, isolation et climatique (Cnefic-Thermique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF houses the headquarters of Cnefic-Thermique, the national company of expert witnesses in refrigeration engineering, insulation, and climate control. This positions AFF as the center for technical expert certification in the French refrigeration industry.
• Institut de formation en froid industriel (IFFI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF chairs the orientation committee of IFFI, which provides high-level diploma programs delivered by the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNam). This partnership ensures industry input into refrigeration training curricula and professional development standards.
• Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCNAM delivers the high-level diploma programs in industrial refrigeration that are overseen by AFF's orientation committee at IFFI, ensuring academic rigor and industry relevance in refrigeration education.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• European Heat Pump Association (EHPA): EHPA is the pan-European trade body for heat pump technology, a fast-growing segment of the refrigeration industry. As heat pumps increasingly overlap with traditional refrigeration, EHPA is an emerging peer that may compete with AFF for members and policy influence on the energy-transition agenda.

Broad incumbents

• ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers): ASHRAE is the global incumbent professional society for HVACR, with publications, standards, certifications, and conferences that mirror AFF's RGF journal, Charles Tellier Medal, and technical days. It is much larger and globally focused, but serves the same engineering and building-systems community that AFF addresses in France.

Others

• UNEP OzonAction: UNEP OzonAction is the UN Environment Programme unit supporting developing countries on the Montreal Protocol and Kigali Amendment. It is an ecosystem counterpart rather than a competitor — the regulatory framework AFF helps its members comply with is shaped in large part by OzonAction's policy work.
• Eurovent Certification: Eurovent Certification is the pan-European certification body for HVACR and refrigeration equipment performance. It is an ecosystem counterpart to AFF's standards and training activities and a key certification actor for AFF's manufacturer members selling into the EU single market.

Regional players

• Deutscher Kälte- und Klimatechnischer Verein (DKV): DKV is the German technical-scientific association for refrigeration and air conditioning, with a comparable century-long heritage and similar mandate covering research, training, and standards. It is the largest national refrigeration society in continental Europe and a structural counterpart to AFF.
• British Refrigeration Association (BRA): The BRA is the UK national trade association for the refrigeration industry, with a remit very similar to AFF's: representation, training, technical guidance, and events for installers, manufacturers, and end users. It is the most natural national-association peer in another mature European market.
• European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE): EPEE represents the European HVACR industry on EU policy, particularly F-Gas, energy efficiency, and heat pumps — the same regulatory dossiers AFF addresses at the French national level. It is the principal Brussels-based counterpart to AFF's Paris-based advocacy function.

Direct peers

• Association des Ingénieurs en Climatique, Ventilation et Froid (AICVF): AICVF is a French professional society for HVAC and refrigeration engineers, directly overlapping with AFF's French engineering membership base. Both organizations publish technical content, run conferences, and engage French authorities on HVAC policy, making them the closest French-headquartered peers.
• International Institute of Refrigeration (IIF / IIR): AFF is a national member of IIF, and IIF is the most directly comparable international counterpart: a science- and standards-driven organization covering the same refrigeration, air conditioning, and cold-chain domains. The two share mission, technical commission structure, and member constituencies, making IIF the closest direct peer.
• Association des Entreprises de Froid, Climatisation et Pompes à Chaleur (AREA): AREA is the French trade association of refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat-pump contractors and installers. It overlaps directly with AFF's installer and contractor members and competes for the same French industry-association mandate at the contractor level.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/association-fran-aise-du-froid-aff

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Association Française du Froid (AFF)