CONDUCTING THE
ORCHESTRA F 46
ollowing 45-years of storied service and dedication to the hospitality industry – first on the equipment manufacturing side and, latterly, more than 30 years as a foodservice consultant – it’s a little surprising to learn
that Ian Hopper FCSI (PP) once held aspirations to be a vet. But pipedreams of growing up to care for the pets and livestock of Adelaide, Australia, were never to be realized. Instead, family life as a young man “was tough” for Hopper, whose father, psychologically wounded in the Second World War, recuperated at home. “My mother held the family together,” he recalls. Leaving school, Hopper worked in a number of clerical and sales positions. When he was 21 years old, by chance he saw an ad for a sales position, selling a new unit of equipment – the Automatic Boiling Water Unit – at Noyes Bros. “In my interview I was asked how I would sell
An Australian now based in Dubai, UAE, Ian Hopper FCSI (PP) is director of KHI Technical Services LLC and a consultant of immense regard. “The role of the consultant is like a conductor. You have to be in the center of the orchestra and bring the team together,” he tells Michael Jones
a pedestal unit, which was in the room. My sales response was enough to be offered the position." To gain an insight of hospitality, Hopper studied at Regency Park TAFE in Adelaide, where he gained a Diploma in Commercial Design.
Formative years, influential figures Starting hospitality life on the sales side gave Hopper a unique insight. Ron Ratcliff, his manager at Noyes Bros. saw “every person as a potential customer even if they weren’t,” laughs Hopper. “There was no other agenda other than getting the sale.” Another colleague, national sales manager Bob Lingwood, also saw Hopper’s potential. “He believed in me and said that I would go far in the foodservice industry. His words of encouragement started back in 1977 and I still hear them now in 2022.” Eleven years later, having gained great experience on the equipment side of the industry, Hopper joined Harley
Little Foodservice Consultants as a design project manager in 1988. “In October 1987 I had invited John Frost FCSI and Ken Sangster FCSI to lunch at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney to discuss projects that Noyes Bros. could submit tenders for. Ken asked me if I had ever considered sitting on the other side of the table and becoming a foodservice consultant.” As luck would have it, Noyes Bros. had decided to close its kitchen contracting division in November 1987, so the timing could not have been better for Hopper. The ensuing years saw Hopper learn much from his colleagues. “John Frost had vast experience in all areas of the foodservice industry. He had an entrepreneurial spirit and flair in dealing with situations and with people.” Although for only a short period of time, Hopper also had the pleasure of working alongside consultant Don McCartney, founder of MTD, who, through his years of experience and knowledge, was known as “the patriarch” of the foodservice consultant industry in Australia. Hopper credits colleague MTD
Group’s Stan Taylor, who possessed “a precise, calming way where I was ready to steam ahead,” he says. “Stan would pull back my reins, so to speak, and show me when putting in more effort, time and detail – be it small or large – was required. In doing so, he assisted me in producing good quality design and documentation.” In addition, Hopper cites Sangster
and Wasko Dimitroff FCSI as “playing a big part” in helping his career over the years. “I also can’t leave out Greg O’Connell [of Moffat Group]. He has always encouraged me, even if he had to speak directly. Greg never pulls any punches, even now,” he laughs. One year after he joined Harley
Little, with the firm encountering some financial troubles, Hopper joined MTD Group as the principal of MTD Qld Pty Ltd. “The MTD Group had 18 employees on the staff between three offices and became the largest kitchen consultancy
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