supplier under the spotlight

So, Phil, what brought you into the catering equipment supply industry?

Funnily enough, I've been in the food service industry from the start of my career. My first Saturday job was working in the shoppers' restaurant at BHS in Wembley. After working in kitchens for various hotels and restaurants, I saw an advertisement in Caterer & Hotelkeeper for salespeople for WM Still & Sons, which was eventually bought by Hobart. I applied and got the job.

Thank the Good Lord for Caterer! And how long have you been with Aga Foodservice Equipment?

I've just reached my two-year anniversary here. My role was initially group sales and marketing director, but I'm now also managing director of our equipment supplier AFE Online.

AFE Online - sounds very hi-tech…

AFE Online was born out of the dotcom revolution. We decided that online ordering would soon become a major buying medium, so we moved quickly to develop www.afeonline.net to capitalise on the growth in consumer confidence in online purchasing. Through AFE Online we offer every possible food service product, from a single teaspoon to a complete kitchen. It has been a slow process, and we have changed our system a few times as technology has improved.

What advantages can online ordering offer Caterer readers?

The main change now is online procurement management. More and more of our national account customers are seeing the benefit of bespoke websites designed for their individual needs and providing a template for their specific products so that they can control brand standards. These sites often include products such as crockery, with the codes, prices and a picture of the menu item on the product. We can also put purchasing ceilings in place to ensure spend is controlled. We can then supply our customers a run-down of spend by value and product as well as other management information. That sounds a long way from country cottage ranges…

Aga Foodservice Equipment now comprises 12 companies in the UK and abroad. There's Falcon for prime cooking; Williams and Victory for refrigeration; Mono, Bongard, Adamatic, Belshaw and Esmach for bakery; and Serviceline and Troldhal for catering equipment and air-conditioning service. AFE Online offers all catering equipment, and Millers offers total facilities management solutions.

That's a lot of companies. What are the biggest problems facing their customers?

European directives, the ongoing introduction of stringent legislation, and health and safety issues are all key areas of change for our customers. They need to source energy-efficient, innovatively designed, quality manufactured and competitively priced food service products that minimise downtime.

What are the questions your customers ask most regularly?

I'm asked about available discounts more than anything else. After that, the most commonly asked questions are on reliability, availability and service support.

So what will the kitchen of the future look like?

The kitchen of the future will be ergonomically designed with compact, efficient work stations, using less space, fewer staff and energy-efficient equipment. Kitchen designers are looking for value for money, reliability and low maintenance and service costs.

And what's on the horizon for your market?

The food service equipment market is evolving and will require a fusion of one-stop shopping and manufacturing quality and flexibility. In a highly competitive marketplace, customers require manufacturers and suppliers to react quickly to - or even predict - their changing needs. They want to work proactively, and in partnership with us, on menu development, energy efficiency, product reliability, reactive support service and, increasingly, whole-life costs.