And that’s our wheelhouse. Working with design consultants is what this company is built around.”
Montague has a worldwide reputation for producing a broad range of high-quality kitchen equipment
the business was spun off, with Whalen retaining the range manufacturing portion of the company. He moved to San Francisco’s Mission Street and began operating under the current name of Te Montague Company. Trough the ensuing years, Montague
grew its product line as the company developed a worldwide reputation for producing a broad range of high-quality kitchen equipment. In 2022, the Whalen family — descendants of Joseph Whalen — sold the company, and Montague became one of the newest members of the Ali Group family of companies.
Focusing on quality Joe Deckelman, president of Te Montague Company, says “we’ve never aspired to be the biggest and widest- ranging company per se. We’ve tried to focus on our core expertise, which is providing high-value cooking products.” Producing a piece of equipment that chefs will want to buy takes in-depth knowledge of their world, he says. “Our products are built with the operator in mind: how they’re going to use it or abuse it, how they’re going to clean it or not clean it. All of those things are central to the design component of everything we’ve done here.” True to its roots, cooking equipment
is still the heart of the Montague product line. Reflecting the variety of prep methods found in the modern restaurant kitchen, Montague offers standard, convection and pizza ovens; broilers and fryers; and a variety of ranges and range tops. Montague island cooking suites are an essential component of many foodservice kitchens. It also offers specialty cooking
equipment such as pasta cookers and wok ranges. And more recently, Montague added to its product lineup a selection of refrigeration equipment, like prep tables and chill stations. To respond to industry changes,
Montague keeps a close eye on the way restaurants operate today. For example, Montague island cooking suites are known for their durability; Deckelman says the suites can easily have a 20- year operational life. However, with restaurants changing their concepts or menus more frequently than ever, the equipment they need today might not be the same equipment they will require five or 10 years down the road. To facilitate these changes, Montague developed its UDC plug-and-play modular suite. “Te framework of the system stays the same,” Deckelman says, “but you can just disconnect the equipment from the utilities, roll it out of there and plug whatever it is that you want in there for your new design. We completely evolved our island suite concept to cater to what people are doing these days and the fast turnover of staff and menu changes.” Montague’s close connection to
the consultant community is another important factor in its success. “It’s our lifeblood,” Deckelman says. “It’s a daily activity for us to interact with them.” A consultant can come to Montague with a design — anything from a finished design down to the proverbial sketch on the back of a cocktail napkin — and they will develop an integrated cooking solution. “Cooking equipment is the centerpiece of a commercial foodservice operation,” he says. “It’s very complicated, intricate and specific.
A new beginning Deckelman previously worked at Champion, another Ali Group company, so he is familiar with the Ali Group and its decentralized structure. Each Ali Group company is encouraged to operate as an individual business unit, and that will work well for Montague, says Deckelman. “It allows us the freedom to breathe and to do the things that we need to do to succeed, but it’s always in the context of what they’re trying to do as a group.” He has also seen the management styles of the founder of the Ali Group, the late Luciano Berti and current Chairman and CEO, Filippo Berti. “Filippo Berti is just as impressive as his father for maintaining consistency across all the brands. Tey demand a lot from their people, but they’re firm, fair and have integrity. From operating an individual brand, that’s all you can ask from a parent company — to know what they’re trying to get you to accomplish and how you fit into their larger goals.” What’s in the future for Montague?
“Tat’s an easy one,” says Deckelman. “Te world is going electric. We are 95+% gas-powered cooking equipment right now. In five years, it’ll be 50-50. In 10 years, it’ll be 95% electric and 5% gas. We are at the forefront of a major fuel type paradigm shift in our industry. We will be the leader of that.”
BRAND WATCH
1857 20+
24/7
Montague’s roots trace back more than 150 years to its formation in 1857
Montague island cooking suites can easily have a 20-year operational life
The heavy-duty 24/7 Range from Montague is built to support non-stop cooking
montaguecompany.com Aliworld 13
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