Profile: Karla Van Ryckeghem, Sales Director, Pentair Foodservice

Great customer relationships help sales, sustainability and growth flow for Pentair Foodservice.

Pentair is one of the biggest suppliers of water treatment equipment to catering and hospitality businesses across Europe. And when they were forced to shut shop, as many were during the COVID lockdowns, we felt their pain. 2021 has been a year of recovery, rebuilding and ultimately growth - but we are not out of the woods yet. Karla Van Ryckeghem, Sales Director for Pentair Foodservice in Europe, reflects on a year of helping an industry get back on its feet, while looking for business in new places.

A strong bounce back from the toughest of times

“For anyone in the café, bar, restaurant or hotel business it has been a challenging 18 months.” says Karla Van Ryckeghem. “The directives to ‘work from home’ were a hammer blow. Without travel, trading stopped and the whole industry ground to a halt. It was not until Spring 2021, with the slow lifting of restrictions across Europe, that we started to see a recovery across the sector. But what a recovery. Boosted by a new-found freedom, consumer demand soared and in turn, our customers got busy again.”

“At Pentair we did everything we could to support that recovery. Apart from just being there to provide innovative, quality products, we were ready with support and guidance. For example, our equipment sanitation guide: ‘What to do when starting up again’ was a big hit.”

“We are so fortunate to have such a strong customer base. They have been tough and resilient. We have kept close to them, and they have repaid us with trust and loyalty. Even during these difficult times, I am proud to say that we have grown our business. It is a reflection on the great working relationships my team have with their customers and has resulted in an outstanding trading year.”

“For water treatment, Pentair has the broadest product portfolio across the catering equipment market.”

Right product. Right place. Right time.

So how does Karla account for growth in an industry that has been hit so hard by the pandemic?

“From coffee to ice making, from dishwashing to wastewater, Pentair has the broadest product portfolio across the catering equipment market. We also have a good footprint across Europe. But we realised we could be smarter with our sales focus. In 2020 we embarked on a detailed gap analysis, looking at new opportunities in familiar markets where our range of offerings was under-represented. And that strategy has really paid off.”

“We soon started seeing new business emerging from unexpected places. We saw an increase in sales of water filtrations in the point-of-use (POU) water segment in Benelux, France and Eastern Europe. We saw more demand for water treatment from coffee chains in the UK and Mediterranean area. And we saw growth in our turnkey catering equipment services in the Netherlands.”

“It really has been a year of seeking out new opportunities with the right product for the right market,” continues Karla. “For example, a big focus has been reverse osmosis for the speciality coffee market – especially our Conserv and MRS systems. In 2021 we promoted these in areas where interest had historically been lower and it has really resonated, with one Spanish partner now specifying them for all their coffee shop customers in that region.”

“It has been a year of seeking out new opportunities with the right product for the right market.”

Pentair Filtration helps customers reduce plastic waste

Karla is keen to stress that Pentair is also adapting to reflect behavioural change, especially towards sustainability.

“On environmental grounds, the days of plastic bottled water seem numbered. And that too has seen an increased demand for Pentair POU Water treatment solutions. A major quick-service restaurant chain in France, who have withdrawn bottled water from sale, has turned to Pentair Everpure for microfiltration in its water fountains. Similarly, marine water experts Hatenboer has launched ‘plasticfree@sea’ where it is installing Pentair filtration systems on board merchant ships in a bid to reduce plastic bottle waste at sea. We are pleased to be partnering these great initiatives and I expect to see more following in 2022.”

Keeping supplies rolling and minimising delays

“Despite a strong year, our business has not escaped the upheaval caused by the pressures on the global supply chain. These are well known, but sadly for us it has meant disruption to our stock levels and unavoidable price increases – especially later in the year. We remain grateful to our customers for their patience and understanding during these uncertain times. We appreciate it is the ‘not knowing’ that can be most frustrating, but they can rest assured we are doing everything we can to keep supplies rolling and to minimise any delays.”

New for ’22

Although the business interruptions seen in 2021 are not over, Karla sees grounds for optimism in 2022.

“While security of supply remains our number one priority right now, Pentair has always been innovating. We have announced plans to launch a new hot-water softener to market in the Spring – a first for Pentair. Look out for further announcements and previews at Internorga in March and Hostelco in April.”

“At the same time, we will build on the success we have found with our strategy of cross-selling products to known customers. Part of that will be highlighting our Total Water Management (TWM) solution. Increasingly we have been in dialogue with customers who want to talk about every aspect of the water in their business from analysis before it enters the building, its treatment specification, its safe disposal and all points in between. That’s where TWM fits in. It’s a highly bespoke turnkey service that covers all catering equipment; from coffee machines, ice machines, steam ovens, ware washing, cold drinks dispensing and even point-of-entry water treatment.”

So, exciting times for 2022, but Karla is keen to stress that existing customers come first.

“Above all, we will be continuing our efforts to support those customers who are getting back on their feet after a difficult year. There may be more setbacks yet to come. Our customer base has been very loyal to us and, in return, we will look after them – we will get through this together.”

“In 2022 we will be continuing our efforts to support those customers who are getting back on their feet after a difficult year.”