for investment and financial success.” When key team members at
Hockenbergs talk about their business, from the president to his
sister and Small wares Buyer, Mary Parr, it is all about process.
“As members of buying groups we are able to buy at much
lower prices and pass that savings on to our customers,” says Mary.
Prices are a very important part of the food biz, because the whole
profitability model depends on how well things are run in the back
of the house. Especially when you consider that Hockenbergs serves
not only large corporate dining facilities, but also hotel chains,
schools, fast food franchises, and small restaurants.
“Staying competitive with pricing is really key because we are in the
same business as much larger food supply companies,” says VP,
Tim Schrack. Um, trends, experience, and value? Plus those
humongous stainless stock pots that get a food writer all
worked up? So shiny....
But hey, because it is a family business, Hockenbergs also has a
practice of retaining employees for most of their working life.
When the company was named “2007 Dealer of the Year”
by Foodservice Equipment and Supply, it was clear that longtime
relationships and training processes with their employees was a
major reason they were able to build such a solid foundation.
Having focused on the process with their employees and giving
them a “sense of ownership and ... a sense of pride in the collective
success of our company” has, according to Tom Jr., helped
them achieve much higher sales per employee than the industry
standard. Want to work with really nice people who value you as
an employee? Well, gosh, you could bring your shiny new face over
there, and then you and the stock pots can have a contest.
To stay current with what’s happening in the food preparation
scene, Hockenbergs relies on trade journals, large industry shows,
and the current needs of their customers. As you can imagine, many
things in the food industry stay the same (get food, cook it, serve
it beautifully, do the dishes) but new technologies are constantly
assisting chefs and their teams.
“Mostly, the technological innovations are in efficiency,”
says Tim. And those techie-changes are revising the amount of
energy (both human and mechanical) needed to operate large-scale
kitchens and food service. It can be hard to keep up with the pace
of changes in all kinds of equipment. But Hockenbergs has
the experience. It’s a case of been there, found a better way to do that.
But not everybody can just pick the right range or refrigeration
system out of a catalogue. No, not even an online one.
“New equipment is a huge investment, even for big chains,”
says, Paul Parr, the VP of Contract Sales. He points out that “not
everyone realizes that here in Omaha we have a fully operational
test kitchen available. Often our customers who are looking at using
a particular product will come in, develop and test recipes
right here.” He gestures over his shoulder at a beautiful gleaming
facility at the back of their main office on F Street, just waiting
to be put through its paces. Paul’s time at Hockenbergs is spent
bidding for, planning and implementing full kitchen and dining
designs and redesigns.
“We use some excellent new technology called Autodesk REVIT,”
which is a CAD Business Information Modeling software used
by architects, engineers, and contractors to design buildings and
their components in 3D, draft them in 2D and track all stages of
the process. “It’s quite an investment in money and time, but we
HAND STRETCHED
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“A rich history of experience means
that Hockenbergs will help their
customers adapt to the next big
thing, whatever that may be.”
wanted to provide our customers with those new options.”
You may feast your eyes on layouts of countertops and prep space
on the website (at Hockenbergs.com) along with full mouthwatering photo-spreads of completed projects.
But no matter what, with Hockenbergs you get something
special. Flexibility and options for customers keep cropping up.
Not only do they provide years of experience with projects and
customers, they can offer expertise on a huge range of concerns.
Paul says, “If a facility wants to go green, we have the knowhow and the vendor contacts to be able to implement that, from
recycled-material cups to how waste is disposed of.” They also offer
food safety consulting, (and no one wants to be on reality TV,
do they?) as well as receiving and inventory control systems
(now where was that last shipment of curly kale, anyway?) if you
want to keep track of things start to finish.
Because of their decades of experience, Hockenbergs is also able
to offer a wide range of previously owned equipment which they
refurbish in-house. “It helps for those that need to get functional
pieces while keeping costs down,” says Tom Jr., “and we provide
a full warranty. Customers will trade in big appliances, looking to
upgrade and we clean them up and get them ready for re-use.”
Listen, I will probably never have an immersion circulator, but
if I did, I would call these folks. I didn’t get a chance, but I should
have asked, “Good grief, is there anything you guys don’t do?”
But I really think the team (and it’s weird, isn’t it, that they
actually work as a team?) would have said that providing so many
options for customers allows Hockenbergs to keep up with such a
sous vide today, farm-to-table tomorrow kind of industry. Such a
rich history of experience means that they will help their customers
adapt to the next big thing, whatever that may be.
What is it anyway? No seriously, what is it, because I’m pretty sure
my husband is going to want one.
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