By E. Sloman

 
In the old days, when things were less complicated in the realm of pizza, there were few oven options. Most operators used a deck oven and that was the end of that. Now there’s a dizzying selection of ovens from the most high-tech to the age-old wood burners, making the search even more complicated.

For first-time buyers, who are somewhat still inexperienced with their product, the task can be daunting. Whether a newcomer or a veteran to the pizza business, buyers at both ends of the experience spectrum benefit from trying ovens out before buying. In fact, most oven manufacturers highly recommend oven “test drives.”

Where to Go From Here

Foodservice equipment shows — and especially International Pizza ExpoTM, Northeast Pizza ExpoTM and Chicago Pizza ExpoTM — are great places to view pizza ovens. These venues offer you the unique opportunity to see the equipment first hand and to discuss it directly with the manufacturer.
The advantages of seeing the oven in action at a show include the ability to audition the end product and take advantage of the oven maker’s in-depth knowledge. If what is being produced at the show is very similar to what you do at your shop, the sale could be fairly seamless. The disadvantages come when your product is not similar to what is being produced and the manufacturer tells you it can be done with their oven. If it involves customizing the equipment (which is often the case), you definitely want to test out a unit before purchasing a custom piece.

After rounding up prospects from the show, narrow down the selection of ovens that you are seriously interested in and  have the manufacturer get their local rep in touch with you. Make sure you obtain as much information about the oven directly from the manufacturer at the show Local reps may or may not have as much experience with the units. In some cases, if they represent several manufacturers, they may try to push the unit on which they make the best margins. Most of the major pizza oven manufacturers have reliable and knowledgeable reps, but some reps, especially those that sell general foodservice equipment and don’t specialize, are not as savvy.

Try Before You Buy

Say you’ve made your decision and you’re set on a particular oven. Don’t let emotions take over — don’t be seduced by its cool specs and prospects of dollar signs dancing on your bottom line. Make the commitment of trying your product out in it first. Make sure all the promises you hear from your rep will hold true for your operation. Ibis is going to be a very expensive purchase and you want to make sure you’ll be getting a good return on your investment. Traditionally most oven manufacturers have their own test kitchens where they will happily work with you on your particular product. If you are lucky enough to live near their factories, or can afford to travel, working with their trained experts will be both a treat and a very rewarding experience. For those who can’t travel to the factory test kitchen, some manufacturers will set up time in a regional test kitchen. Another popular alternative is to bring your product to a local end-user of the same oven. Most oven manufacturers offer one or all of the above options.

Martha Fincher, from the sales and marketing department of Lincoln Food Service Products, advises contacting the territory rep who has access to test kitchen facilities. For custom configurations, Lincoln recommends developing them in their factory test kitchen. This type of service is especially important to an operator who is looking to produce some very specialized products and to multi-unit operations that are going to convert all of their equipment.

Up Close and Personal

for those who still aren’t sure that the rarified atmosphere of a test kitchen or cooking in someone else’s store will convince them, there’s always the option of bringing the pizza oven to your store.
 

Some oven manufacturers have found that taking their ovens on the road and setting up literally at the store’s back door allows the operator to compare their oven almost physically side by side with what they already have.
At Q-Matic Technologies, Constantin Burtea is very enthusiastic about their fleet of mobile units on trailers. In this take-it-to-the-customer approach, roving reps can bring the oven to the customer’s doorstep where they can truly make a side by side comparison. They have the opportunity to bake one or a hundred pizzas and anything else they would need the oven for. Q-Matic also has a fancy test kitchen, but Burtea pointed out that few of their customers wanted to make the trek. So, they decided to create the mobile units and bring the ovens directly to the shops.
 

In another original solution, Roto-Flex Oven Company goes one step further in taking a full-fledged oven test kitchen on the road. Richard Dunfield, from marketing and sales at Roto-Flex, explained that the mobile test kitchen has a dual purpose. The fully equipped mobile test kitchen with oven, refrigeration, prep, turnout areas and water was originally designed to travel to the various trade shows and still travels from show to show However, Roto-Flex now arranges for the test kitchen to travel around in the area of a given show and directly to the prospective customer.

The beauty of this industrial test kitchen on wheels is that an operator can re-create the volume they would produce on a busy night and compare what the oven can really do for them. The kitchen can be fully stocked and staffed,
just as your own would be. According to Dunfield, since most of the operations they travel to are upgrades of existing facilities, the test kitchen allows the operator to attain a real hands-on personal experience of what one of these ovens could really do for their production. Customers know exactly what they are getting. •