Behind the badge: Hobart
The Illinois Tool Works is not a name that trips from the lips of many chefs, but when it merged with Hobart in 1999 the marriage formed one of the biggest food service equipment manufacturers in the world.
Hobart has become a generic name for one of its products in the same way as a vacuum cleaner is often called a Hoover even when not made by Hoover. Generations of chefs have said "Put it in the Hobart" when what is really meant is "Put it in an orbital bowl mixer".
While orbital mixers were a mainstay of Hobart's professional kitchen equipment in the early and middle part of the 20th century, it was not where Hobart began. The business started not in the capital of Tasmania, as some think, but in the state of Ohio in the USA, when in 1897 a man called Hobart, who made electric motors, attached one to a coffee mill and produced the world's first electric coffee grinder. Within a few years the idea of motorising kitchen appliances spread to mixing bowls, dishwashers and beverage machines - all of which are still core to Hobart's portfolio today.
There have been significant acquisitions over the years, not least of them Foster Refrigerator, though Foster has always kept its name and independence. The last corporate structural change was in 1999 with the merger with Illinois Tool Works, which is a conglomerate of more than 600 companies, mostly in engineering-related fields. Other commercial catering equipment manufacturers within the group include Wolf, Vulcan, Still, Ecomax, Dexion Refrigeration, Eurotec, Elletro Bar Colged and MBM.
The UK hospitality industry was an early overseas market for Hobart. The company moved into offices in north London in the early part of the 20th century and has remained there to this day.
Hobart now has manufacturing plants around the world, some producing a range of products and some, like the French factory, doing specialist design and manufacturing, such as Hobart's combi-ovens. British manufacturing is in Barnstaple, Devon, where a broad range of equipment is produced. Foster refrigeration equipment is manufactured in a dedicated factory at King's Lynn in Norfolk. The main storage, distribution and service centre for the UK is in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
Some items that carry the Hobart badge are built by other manufacturers. Buying in small equipment such as food blenders and food processors helps Hobart to be a one-stop shop for all kitchen equipment. Yet outsourcing accounts for just 8% of the Hobart range, and even then it is built to a design specification that meets Hobart standards.
Research and development is hugely important to Hobart, which in the UK alone has 60 specialist development engineers working on new products and improvements to existing products. The research team also work with large hotel and pub chains to modify equipment to meet a specific client need.
Just as important are Hobart's chef training team, who work out of four centres in the UK. They are the test pilots for what the engineers come up with, as well as being customer trainers, going on site where Hobart equipment has been installed and showing chefs how to get the best from it.
Contacts
For more information on any of the divisions of Hobart and its products, e-mail: marketing.dept@hobartuk.com
website: www.hobartuk.com, Telephone: 07002 101101
