appliances, we started selling the entire kitchen – so, we started talking about kitchen projects,” says Björklund. “With the development of kitchen planning and other services, Metos was required to play the role of expert instead of just supplier of equipment. Particular attention was paid to the competence of staff , and this was refl ected in both recruitment and training.” By the time Metos began
to off er full kitchen-planning services, it had begun developing a sales department much like the one that exists today, opening sales offi ces throughout Finland. In the 1970s, Metos began to expand abroad, establishing a subsidiary in Sweden and acquiring a refrigeration factory there, as well as buying a stake in a Norwegian company. “By 1982, Metos’ exports were higher than domestic sales,” says Björklund. A key growth area at this time
was the shipping industry, and a separate marine department was established to cater to the growing number of luxury cruise ships equipped with Metos kitchens. T e Finnish dining sector also took off , and Metos created a division to serve the new customer base of privately owned restaurants and cafes. “T e timing was right,” says
Björklund. “Towards the end of the 1980s the Finnish restaurant market began to develop rapidly.” T e company started building kitchens for the retail sector, chiefl y grocery stores. T is period of expansion came to a halt in the early 1990s when the Finnish economy suff ered an unprecedented recession due to changes in the fi nancial markets and a stagnation of trade in the Soviet Union – a key market for Metos, which saw the market for commercial kitchen appliances fall as public and private sectors reined in investment.
BRAND WATCH
Above: the Cold Drawer Metos Classic. Below: Jarkko Ahlsten, CEO of Metos Group
A market leader in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Benelux One of the main brands in the hospitality sector in Europe, Metos has more than 100 years of experience and vast technological competence to supply professional kitchens capable of delivering the best results, improving its clients' workfl ow and profi tability.
metos.com
Investing in the future A solution was found in 1994 when Metos merged with a competitor to form Hackman Metos. “T is created a company large enough to have the resources to go international and export Finnish professional kitchen know-how to the world,” says Björklund. It also gave Metos the opportunity to be actively involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). T e company quickly grew into one of the largest in the industry in Europe, thanks to a series of acquisitions starting in the 1990s. In the new millennium, now
part of Ali Group, Metos invested heavily, not just in acquisitions but by building the Metos Center in Kerava – Europe’s largest sales exhibition and training center for the commercial kitchen industry. Metos employs 750 people
and is the market leader in the Nordic, Baltic and Benelux countries. Its business rests on three pillars – equipment and project sales, services, and manufacturing – which combine to off er a complete solution for commercial kitchens. “We can
THE REGULAR MAINTENANCE SERVICES WE PROVIDE MAINTAIN THE RELIABILITY OF THE KITCHEN AND THUS HELP TO SAVE ON OPERATING COSTS Jarkko Ahlsten
serve our customers throughout the lifecycle of the kitchen,” says Björklund. “T e regular maintenance services we provide maintain the reliability of the kitchen and thus help to save on operating costs. Our intelligent information systems, which act as cloud services, also help our customers run daily routines – for example, digital HACCP and food waste monitoring, real- time service history, operating instructions and user instruction videos in the online services,” says Jarkko Ahlsten, CEO of Metos. Much of Metos’ innovation
extends beyond individual product launches to processes covering the entire kitchen. “It’s not enough these days just to have the best kettle. Alongside the products, we have developed our services in kitchen planning, training, project deliveries and maintenance, so we off er customers a comprehensive, cost- eff ective package supporting the sustainable development of the kitchen. With these investments, we are increasing our market share in our second century, which has just begun,” says Björklund.
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