Selected Archives
Selected stories 2011-2021
Bauscher USA is now the hospitality industry source for Luigi Bormioli glassware in the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean foodservice markets.
To see the entire collection of Hepp tabletop products for the hospitality industry, go here: http://hepp.de/
In America and several other markets around the world, Hepp products are available through Bauscher (USA): http://bauscherinc.com/
See the entire collection of cool tabletop products from Tafelstern by going here:
http://www.tafelstern.de/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=136&Itemid=169&lang=english German Quality Coming Together - Bauscher USA President Jeffrey Heaney Answers The Questions7/30/2012
Back in late April, the announcement came: "BAUSCHER, HEPP, TAFELSTERN and WMF: A collaboration that brings together four illustrious names in the field of quality tabletop. Bauscher USA, Inc. and WMF Americas, Inc. have agreed to a sales and marketing cooperation for the USA, starting May 1, 2012. The alliance will focus on hotel, casino, restaurant, private club, and healthcare clients. During the remainder of 2012, all aspects of sales, marketing, and customer service will be harmonized to ensure a high level customer experience. Programs with key accounts and dealers will be streamlined." Well, we’re now 3 months down the road since the original announcement and TabletopJournal caught up with Bauscher USA President Jeffrey Heaney recently to ask him how things have gone.
TJ: Shortly after the initial announcement, you had the NRA Show in Chicago. Was customer reaction at the show and since? How has the combining of the two existing organizations gone and is it completed yet? JH: Overall, the market has responded favorably. In fact, the overall reaction has been that this is an obvious marriage between four great German brands known as the specialist in their respective categories. Partnerships between these brands are common globally, so this is not that unusual. What is unusual is that all four brands are coming together rather than just one porcelain brand and one cutlery brand. The integration is progressing well and should be completed by years end. TJ: What are the benefits that customers are seeing now that the Bauscher, Tafelstern, WMF, and Hepp brands are being marketed under a single umbrella? JH: At Bauscher USA, our top priority is to make doing business with us easier for our clients. As we go through the transition, we are taking the same approach as we develop the new programs and product selection. One example of that is applying our “freight included program” for our select authorized dealers. All orders – no minimums.
TJ: Do you view the consolidation of these four brands as a logical step in the continuing evolution of the tabletop category? How do you view the tabletop category and where do you see it going from the supplier side? JH: Consolidation will likely continue out of necessity. The complexities and cost of serving markets such as the USA require significant sales volume and the right people to manage the business. My perception is that there is a polarization in the tabletop marketplace. The large companies that can serve all segments are getting larger and stronger. While there may be just as many brands as before, many brands are in name only lacking real sales power into the market. It will be very difficult to remain a small or medium sized tabletop company in this market. The challenge for us is to remain a specialist rather than being a generalist. We accept that challenge! TJ: Another subject that you have pioneered - Deep Plate….an innovative program encouraging chefs to use their creative skills while using Bauscher and Tafelstern products. Tell us about the success of this interesting program and where we might see it going from here. JH: Deep Plate was a personal project of mine that I actively managed for the first two years. We are now in our fourth year. We are very proud of Deep Plate and view it as a way to give back to our industry. Many of our participants are students or chefs rising in the culinary ranks. I personally have enjoyed following the Deep Plate participants whose plate presentations have visibly improved month after month. It is also exciting to see that the blog has followers from around the world. We have followers from 176 countries. Ten years ago, this type of communication and reach was not possible. Deep Plate’s success has been difficult to quantify. Has it increased our brand awareness at a relatively low cost? Most definitely. It has resulted in sales. However, we took a position from day one that we would not solicit business from Deep Plate as we felt it might alienate participants. If they contact us to buy, we are happy to serve them. TJ: And, finally, since we know you’re not “all work and no play” …. what music is on your iPod right now and what have you been listening to lately?
JH: I love older country music - 70’s, 80’s, & early 90’s. Classic rock is often in the mix as well. I get enough of the Katy Perry and Rihanna when I am around my children, so when I can select the music, I prefer Merle Haggard, Willie, Waylon or the like. For some reason, I have also really been enjoying 80’s pop music – something that I didn’t particularly listen to in the 80’s. TabletopJournal really likes Bauscher USA's innovative Deep Plate program for tapping into chefs' creativity. Bauscher allows chefs to use some of their favorite Bauscher and Tafelstern pieces to create some incredibly interesting dishes. The chefs then photograph them and Bauscher posts them on their blog - Deep Plate.
Progams like Deep Plate that engage, inspire, and excite are the types of relatively simple and low-cost...but well-thought out programs - that help to differentiate Bauscher from many others who might be perceived as similar. And, after all, isn't differentiation what it's all about? We can't wait to see the future of Deep Plate with the addition of the WMF/Hepp brands. Well Done. Still. You can see the entire collection from Bauscher USA by going here: http://www.bauscherinc.com/ WMF Americas Group Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of the leading German cookware manufacturer WMF Group, defied long-running unease in the larger economic climate and posted record business growth in 2011 thanks to operational enhancements and strong demand from its customers. Founded in 1853 and dedicated to unmatched quality and sophistication in its extensive line of kitchen and dining products, the German-based company saw sales last year top 2010’s figure by 32 percent, with the cookware category posting an increase of 145 percent. Cookware is now the number one product category for WMF Americas Group. “WMF has not truly experienced negative ramifications from global economic downturns,” said Markus Glueck, CEO and president for WMF Americas Group Inc. “We have continued to post double-digit growth.”WMF strengthened its return on investment in turbulent times thanks to “spending the past two years thinking that ‘less is more,’ and that has meant streamlined business operations. We have 25 percent fewer distribution accounts, and our product assortment has been optimized to suit the U.S. market.” WMF’s 2011 cookware sales were nothing short of remarkable. In one year, the pressure cooker and stovetop steamer sales have more than tripled, contributing to the 145 percent overall cookware growth.
Deborah Corrado, senior vice president of sales and marketing, said there is no reason to think this year will be any different, pointing to WMF’s ability to create products geared toward consumers’ desire for healthy food preparation practices. “All of the WMF cookware has the common goal to contribute to energy efficient cooking that retains optimum flavor and nutrition,” Corrado said. Furthermore, “as strong as 2011 proved to be, our expectations for growth in 2012 are even higher.” About WMF Group: Founded in 1853 and based in Geislingen, Germany, WMF is a retail and institutional culinary product designer and supplier, with roughly 6,000 employees in 12 countries on three continents. WMF, with about $1.2 billion USD global business annually, has built its reputation on quality and sophistication in products that are relied on in the kitchens and dining rooms of consumers, hotel operators and caterers. Its brands include WMF, Alfi, Auerhahn, Boehringer Gastro Profi, Hepp, Kaiser, Petra Electric, Princess, Schaerer and Silit. Just because something is new, or the latest fad, doesn't automatically make it cool. Sometimes, classic items with grace and a style that endures are also VERY cool, too. Such is the case with Hepp's silveplated cloches. Can there be anything much more elegant - and a bit intriguing - than having your meal "unveiled" by the lifting of one of these gorgeous pieces? With the casualization of dining, there are less and less restaurants using these beautiful pieces.....bit, oh..the ones that do! Dining becomes an event to be savored when Hepp silver is used! Up until 1863 tableware in hotels and restaurants was made solely of genuine silver. Its disadvantage was that it quickly showed sign of wear as it was too soft. Added to that it was expensive and very heavy. That gave Carl Hepp the idea of creating products that looked like silver but provided the advantages of a harder, longer-lasting and more economic material. He developed a method of coating nickel silver with fine silver. This was the birth of hotel silverware See the entire range of elegance that Hepp offers by going to: http://www.hepp.de/
If you haven't seen the new 2011/2012 catalog from WMF Americas/Hepp you definitely need to find your way to one. Known for high quality and great design since 1863, Hepp continues that tradition. Extending that quality and design to glassware, their new brochure showcasing their new glassware ranges is equally remarkable. I'm looking forward to learning more and sharing it here on these pages.
Meanwhile, you can check out all the beautiful silverplate and 18-10 stainless Hepp products by going to: http://www.hepp.de/index.php?lang=en The full range of WMF Americas products are detailed at: http://www.wmfamericas.com/ |
We support the
Shouldn't you?
Ment'or Inspiring Culinary Excellence Archives
November 2021
Categories
All
|