ACityDiscount attends one of the most important factory trainings in the foodservice industry
Southbend is a recognized leader of heavy-duty commercial cooking equipment across the globe. They build fully customizable products including restaurant ranges, sectional equipment, convection ovens, steamers, fryers and more. ACityDiscount team members James Laird, product merchandising specialist and Alex Ojeda, new sales representative, attended their recent factory training from July 23-26 in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina.
The company reps received in-depth training on food service brands including Star, FireX (cooking and chilling products), Crown steam products, Desmon refrigeration, high-end residential equipment brand U-Line and more – which included a range of specialty kitchen equipment like ventless hood systems, blast freezers, tilt kettles and more. The team was educated on Southbend’s custom kitchen build-out program, where restaurateurs can work with our sales team to build a custom product in real time, and then have it made-to-order.
The training attendees were also taken on a factory tour to get a first-hand look into the making of all Southbend equipment, including their convection ovens, which are built with a porcelain interior and exterior cavity for more resistance to wear and tear and greater performance. They also got to test out Southbend’s grilling ranges, with Alex Ojeda grilling steaks for the team. Speaking of steaks, the company’s top chef gave an infrared steakhouse broiler presentation where he demonstrated how the heating elements are pushed down onto the meat to make the perfect broiled streak.
One of the highlights of this training session is the cooking competition where sales reps team up and create a unique dish with a surprise ingredient. James and Alex’s team came up with an ingenious idea for a steak rub using coffee and they won second place – way to go, team!
During the factory tour, the reps were educated on Southbend’s convection oven systems, which can be customized for any size and combination needed, whether a steakhouse broiler and oven configuration, stacked ovens, or an oven and cooking range configuration. All ovens , from their economic lines up to the high-end lines use TrueVection technology, in which the interior and exterior oven cavity is made of porcelain, which helps to keep moisture out and prevents rusting, so they perform for a longer period.
View more Southbend products here. Contact our sales team today at 404-752-6715, ext. 2 to learn about custom ordering and products.
Alex Ojeda, ACityDiscount employee cooks lunch for the gang on a Southbend range.
Part of the Southbend Platinum Series, the gas infrared upright broiler and oven combo was a hit.
Southbend reps take trainees on a tour of the Southbend factory in North Carolina, where all of thier products are made.
James (left) and Alex (right) show pride in thier meat rub with coffee as thier secret ingredient for the cooking competition. Their team won second place!