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STORE EQUIPMENT EQUIPPED FOR SUCCESS WITH INNOVATION To be competitive in today’s cutthroat business environment, it’s imperative that all businesses look to the future and provide their customers with the latest in store innovation and equipment. This applies to all businesses, not just those in the food and beverage industry. By Zummo Juicers Managing Director Chris Horn. To survive is not enough and for those hardy souls who put their neck on the line for the sake of ‘being in business’ the mantra should be to ‘thrive, not just survive’. Otherwise you’d be better off selling the business and getting a job where the hours would be less and the worry and frustration of being an employer would be gone. So, what to do in the food service industry? The answer isn’t simple and will involve the committed businessperson in considerable expense and time in making their business as user friendly as possible while providing the service and quality of product that their customer base demands. Know your customer and what they want! This knowledge is essential for every businessperson, and if this edict isn’t followed, failure will surely be the result. For guidance in business, all businesspeople should read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, a book that provides extreme lessons in building a successful business and besting your rivals. It can also be interpreted as a way in which the smart operator can anticipate your customers’ needs. If you have a business in a lower socio- economic area, then offering the best quality caviar for sale is of little value. It wasn’t so long ago that the internet didn’t exist, yet smart operators still took phone orders from their customers and some even the shopping list, whose items they then gathered before arranging delivery to the customer’s home. Nothing is new under the sun, but old ways can be turned into new ways by innovation and smart thinking. Shopping for essential items isn’t the fun and exciting expenditure of time and effort. Buying a new dress or shirt is, but buying a cauliflower definitely isn’t. So, how to get ahead? For those of us in the food service industry, the answers are reasonably straightforward. It requires a willingness to constantly invest in the business through the provision of new, attractive and modern equipment, thereby generating convenience for the customer. Have you ever heard the expression, ‘the greatest thing since sliced bread’? Of course you have, but where did it come from? Sliced bread was first introduced in 1928 by Otto Frederick Rohwedder from Davenport, Iowa, in the US, who invented the first loaf-at- a-time bread slicing machine. He sold the machine to the Chillicothe Baking Company, whose bread product sales exploded. Another interesting fact about sliced bread is that it also led to the increased sales of toasters. All because of innovation. Yet it was resisted by the traditional bakers who couldn’t foresee the way in which innovation and new technology would help to improve their business. ‘It’s too expensive’, ‘I don’t have the room’, ‘I don’t think it will work’ ... the list of excuses is endless and some people in business will use every method known to prevent and hinder their own success, all because they’re afraid of the consequences of innovation. Now every successful grocery business will have a bakery in their premises and, of course, a bread slicing machine. They’ll also have an oven to provide the convenience of freshly cooked and delicious chickens, and most likely they’ll have scanners and barcodes to expedite transactions efficiently. Consider the introduction of a Zummo freshly squeezed orange juice machine into the innovative food business. These machines, widely known and used across Europe and the US, have radically changed the way in which consumers buy their daily or weekly orange juice. Knowing that the product is always as fresh as can be and completely free from contaminants and preservatives appeals to the modern shopper and consumer. By placing an empty bottle into the machine and pressing a tap, the customer can witness the fresh oranges being squeezed in front of them and the juice pouring into their bottle. What could be fresher? The machines are now available in Australia through Zummo Juicers, with innovative and easy acquisition plans along with successful business knowledge to assist the new owner in gaining the best advantage from this piece of equipment. Call Zummo on 1300 986 666 to inquire. "Some people in business will use every method known to prevent and hinder their own success, all because they’re afraid of the consequences of innovation." About Chris Horn Chris Horn ran his own company for 15 years then operated four McDonald’s franchises over 15 years. He and wife Marcelle opened a café in Brisbane, then another, installing Zummo orange juice machines, which they had seen operating in Spain. He gained exclusive distributorship for Zummo in Australia, which now has offices and sales staff in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. 58 CONVENIENCE WORLD JUL/AUG, 2020