believed in an idea, we 100% went for it. That mindset has increased our level of professionalism. People don’t like to change their habits – nobody likes to change – but we have kept asking ourselves, ‘Is that the right way to do it? Can we try it another way to be more efficient?’ At MKN we like steady, organic growth. We don’t do it artificially, so there is not an unhealthy pressure on us. All our growth is sustainable. That is important for us.’ Weber is adamant MKN must always be “a very innovative company,” he
As a family-owned company MKN was able to spend three to four years developing the FlexiChef
says. “I want MKN to be a worldwide, innovative, high-class specialist for cooking in the B2B market. That means that it’s a strategic goal to be innovative. That was not always the case many years before my time. We were nice and solid, but much smaller, maybe one fifth of what we are now and very focused on the national market in Germany. Now, we’re in more than 100 countries and we have doubled our share in Germany as well.” Much of the reason for that success,
says Weber, has come from encouraging and empowering people in the business to present their ideas. Fostering innovation, wherever it might appear, is essential, he says. “Whoever has an idea – whether it is an engineer, a salesperson, a dealer, a consultant, an end-user, one of our own chefs or the marketing team – we are open to new things. We believe in our products and every day there is an opportunity to make a product even more special. We also like to have demanding customers because they help us to become better. That is important.” As an independent company, a big advantage for MKN is that it can make decisions quickly, be flexible and fast to market once those big ideas have been developed, says Weber. But sometimes, it also means they can take their own sweet time if they need to. “We receive no pressure,
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because we are not public. We have a very solid financial background. For some companies, three months is long- term thinking. When we invented the FlexiChef, a very innovative, horizontal,
“We believe in our products and every day there is an opportunity to make a product even more special. We also like to have demanding customers because they help us to become better. That is important”
multi-functioning machine, it took us three to four years to develop,” he says. “As a family-owned company we
have a set precondition of being a stable and reliable partner in a world where everything is changing. That is really special. It does mean we have some restrictions as well: we are selective; we are conservative; we only like to spend money that we have earned. And a big share of our profits is reinvested. That is a big advantage.”
Core values, serious goals Weber describes being CEO as both “an honor and a pleasure” because it allows him to express himself. “It’s also fun,” he says. “It’s wonderful to drive something forward and see a high-potential company grow. I’m very grateful that
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