Catalina Mihu: One of the most recent solutions launched by the Verhoeven Family of Companies, the VACTORR Vacuum Cooling and Baking range, was introduced in 2020 in an online event that even included remote unveiling. How has the company adapted to the constraints of the past 3-4 years?
René van Ass: Given our recent theme, symbolizing space and future, looking back gives us a measure of how fast things are developing. With events such as the pandemic, you are forced to think in a different way, to adapt and continue. Since we very much believe that personal contacts and personal business contribute to the success of our company, we staged the event online to launch the VACTORR, despite temporary isolation measures. The machine was ready, the concept was ready. However, we knew that it would be impossible to sell the vacuum cooling and baking concept without testing and live demonstrations. We certainly would not advise our clients to buy it before testing, because seeing and testing is believing, and ultimately, efficiently producing. But, this opportunity was not available during the pandemic. We decided to launch the machine (virtually) and attract attention, with the aim of encouraging potential clients to book appointments and test it for themselves. Testing provides many opportunities, depending on individual situations, ranging from products, recipes, and volumes, to floor space and many other factors that are unique to each bakery.
Being forced to use remote tools meant developing and adopting new technology. One of the biggest changes we made, which is still in practice today, was performing Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) and Site Acceptance Tests (SAT) online. It’s always best to choose the best option: is it necessary for us to be on-site or not? What technology can we use to achieve our goal?