For Food Tools in South Haven, 2010 was a sweet year. Appropriate for a business manufacturing tools used to cut and portion just that--sweets.
Vice President and owner Doug Petrovich says he hopes that this year's sales will climb toward the numbers he saw two years ago.
"Sales dropped a bit in 2011, but we filled three jobs in assembly and the machine shop," Petrovich says of his 28-year-old company. "It's possible that we'll add more in the second quarter if the economy keeps building. Business is slowly picking up--not exactly robust, but getting better."
Clients as large as Sara Lee and the Cheesecake Factory use the full-line industrial products to slice round cakes, sheet cakes, pies and cheeses that Food Tools manufactures in its own plants.
Large and small wholesale bakeries, some of which supply their confections to restaurants and retail establishments also use the slicers. Some use small table-top machines to ensure portion control. Others use Food Tools' crumb spreaders to fashion the bottoms of cheesecakes and other sweets.
The slicers insert dividers between each slice of pie or cake and ultrasound machines are specially designed to cut even the most delicate of fresh and frozen foods. Pizza and tortilla cutters are a recent addition to the Food Tools' lineup of products as well.
Some use small table-top machines to ensure portion control. Others use Food Tools' crumb spreaders to fashion the bottoms of cheesecakes and other sweets.
"We're pretty optimistic about this year," Petrovich says. "We go to three different trade shows every year -- one in Germany, one in the United Kingdom and one in Chicago."
He credits a sales, service and manufacturing crop of 16 employees for much of the prosperity that Food Tools enjoys.
"It's hard to find good people, but we've been at this 28 years," Petrovich says. "We've got a really good mix and they get the job done. As a result, we are very successful."
Writer: Kelle Barr, Second Wave
Source: Doug Petrovich, Food Tools
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