The jewel in the crown


Georg Weber, CEO of MKN, tells Michael Jones that its people are the reason behind its glittering success


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iamonds are traditionally associated with the celebration of a 75- year anniversary. And certainly MKN – or MKN Maschinenfabrik Kurt Neubauer GmbH & Co. KG to give it its full name – has been producing plenty of gems since it was founded by the engineer Kurt Neubauer in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, in 1946. That analogy could represent the high-carat brilliance of its professional cooking technology equipment, namely cutting-edge multifunctional appliances, such as FlexiChef, or its award-winning combi-steamers, modular kitchens or premium customized cooking suites. Fittingly, for Foodservice Consultant


magazine’s ‘People’ edition, it could also represent the jewel MKN itself


prizes the most: its own workforce. MKN prides itself on attracting great people and keeping them within the business. Among those is its CEO Georg Weber who joined the company 21 years ago. After having fi rst been president, Weber became CEO in 2011 and is one of only three people to lead the business since Kurt Neubauer passed away in 1962 (MKN is still owned today by the second and third generations of the founder’s family). For Weber, MKN’s people are its heartbeat and USP. “I believe in our people. As well as the usual strengths of a company you would hope for – good production capabilities, an innovative mindset and a great culture – it is the combination of a strong and reliable company with excellent products, plus highly motivated people, that is the cocktail for success,” he says.


When attracting talent to the


business, it’s not simply a case of recruiting expert professionals in their fi eld either, says Weber. “That’s not enough if, from a human standpoint, they’re not good people. We want to have both,” he explains


While MKN can boast 80,000 sq m


of state-of-the-art production facilities in Wolfenbüttel, and a portfolio of innovative, new product lines, it is frequently the human capital behind its success that Weber likes to keep coming back to – from those on the factory fl oor, to its salespeople based in more than 100 countries across the globe. “We have ambassadors around the world. These guys are so strongly committed to MKN. That means we can grow long-term with them, and our customers. They identify with our


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