For over three decades, Pecinka Ferri has built its reputation as one of the Metro New York area’s leading equipment and supply reps. The firm’s commitment to providing support to its dealer and consultant customers has never wavered.
Last month, the Ed Pecinka-Joe Ferri led firm welcomed the Metro New York food service community to its official grand opening of its new home. The spectacular new facility in Fairfield, NJ, will provide additional space for Pecinka Ferri and their on-going search for the latest innovative cooking and food prep solutions.
The company started back in 1972 as McKeever and Dumbach Associates. McKeever was a direct factory rep for the Blodgett Company. George Dumbach had worked for Traulsen, then went to Blodgett as regional sales manager. Ed Pecinka Sr. joined the duo after 38 years at Traulsen to work as a manufacturer’s rep.
Ed Pecinka Jr. joined the firm after college and in 1995 Joe Ferri Sr. became a partner. The Pecinka Ferri team has embraced its long-standing tradition of providing education to its customer base and marketing expertise on behalf of the manufacturers it represents.
The rep’s role has evolved explained Ed Pecinka: “We represent many forward-thinking companies. They also understand better than most that there is the need for manufacturing reps. No matter what we do in terms of the technology or how much of a role the Internet plays in the business, people still want relationships. Someone needs to take ownership of the customer when there’s a problem or issue. The game changer in sales is always going to be the relationship. Some may think it’s the bells and whistles, others price, but it comes down to the ability of that sales rep to answer those needs.
With the move to its new Fairfield home Ferri envisions the ability to expand the company’s marketing initiatives. “We now have an enhanced test kitchen with all the bells and whistles that technology provides.
The Pecinka Ferri test kitchen is anchored by one of the industry’s bright young talent: Chef Nick Mercogliano. The 23-year old certified executive chef is the youngest ACF local chapter president in the history of the national organization. “His latest experience before us was with a major health care institution, Ferri explained. He brings us an incredibly varied knowledge based on culinary trends, despite his young age. He gives us that window into culinary trends and the lowest-hanging fruit for foodservice and equipment, which is the health care market.”
With Chef Nick and the new facility, Pecinka Ferri’s goal is to keep its finger on the pulse of trends on Metro New York City’s menus. “In pan-Asian there are still a lot of openings going on,” Ferri added. Pizza, surprisingly, makes a comeback but a blending and morphing of different concepts. With the growth in fresh and farm to table has come an increase in raw food. With that comes enhanced need for proper refrigeration and handling.
“From manufacturers to end-users we need to provide a resource that makes it easy to go from that Mediterranean concept to a Vietnamese concept to a coffee concept,” Pecinka said. “You name it with our set-up, in Fairfield, we’re going to continue to promote these vignettes in our facility where you can visualize the hardware needed to produce any one of those concepts.
Pecinka Ferri’s new facility seeks to be a waypoint on the mobile highway. “We’ve adopted the Starbucks model so that end-users, dealers and consultants have a crash pad here in our offices with WiFi and coffee and all the accouterments required to do business in today’s mobile world,” Ferri concluded.
To learn more about Pecinka Ferri Associates, visit their website.
