Eurochef head Bradley Caine found Hong Kong designers understand what European and US markets require

Bradley Caine, founder and managing director of Eurochef Asia Ltd, confesses that he rarely cooks himself. However, for more than 12 years his company has been the leading supplier of more 6,000 items of kitchen and food and beverage equipment to five-star hotels and top restaurants throughout Asia and beyond. Eurochef also manufactures specialist kitchen trolleys and the world's largest selection of pastry tools.

British-born Mr Caine, a long-time Hong Kong resident, formed Eurochef after identifying a niche market while working for an enterprise specialising in the design of kitchens for the hospitality industry. "Twelve years ago most kitchen design companies viewed supplying utensils as an annoying add-on service," he said.

"The kitchen equipment business may not invoke the glamorous David Beckham image of the hospitality industry, but utensils and small kitchen items account for around 10 per cent of the set up cost of any hotel or restaurant kitchen. There is also re-supplying," Mr Caine added that Hong Kong is a kitchen equipment resource hub, which supports the regional hospitality industry.

 "Hong Kong is our centre of operations for many reasons. We have 13 industry-wise staff in our office and everything is in place to make business easier, simpler, swifter and more cost-effective. Add to that the high comfort level created by the quality of life and you have a clear focus for running a business."

From the outset, Eurochef was keen to offer clients a wide product choice so formed a strategic alliance with the French Mather-Bourgeat Group, which manufactures and markets over 20,000 items of kitchen and bakery equipment.

Success linked to loyal staff

As Eurochef has grown offices have been opened in Malaysia, Australia and Beijing in the Chinese mainland, staffed by multi-lingual employees. Mr Caine stresses that Eurochef's success is directly linked to Eurochef's staff - the majority of which have been with the company for more than 10 years.

Mr Caine notes that in recent years, health and hygiene issues have prompted a change in the catering industry. For example, many kitchen utensils are now colour coded to prevent cross contamination between raw and cooked products. Hong Kong designers are aware of the trends and increasingly produce their own designs to meet these new demands. 

"Hong Kong designers understand what the European and US markets require, and just as importantly, the products are designed and made with a stamp of quality," he says. Eurochef is progressively exporting more Hong Kong-designed products. "These days, people buying numerous off-the-shelf kitchenware products in Europe and the US are actually buying Hong Kong designs and not Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) products."

Mr Caine says business is picking up again, particularly in Thailand. Also, the expansion of Macau's casino and hospitality industry by US developers looks set to provide a boost to the supply industry. "The World Tourism Organisation predicts that by 2020 Hong Kong will be receiving around 56.5 million visitors annually and the East Asia-Pacific region is expected to exceed 397 million visitors a year. This is indeed very good news for the catering and kitchen supply industry."  

Related link:
Eurochef  www.eurochefasia.com