Tonon Shelving manufactures high-quality modular shelving units and rails for the food and meat industries with a quick turnaround. Since 1946, Tonon Shelving has been revolutionizing the European shelving market and has been rapidly expanding across the United States and around the world for the past decade. All around the country, restaurants, dining facilities, and warehouses are discovering the benefits of using Tonon’s beautiful, reliable products.
So why is Tonon shelving so special?
“Because we have competitive pricing and the best product on the market,” claimed Daniele Scelza, Vice-President of Tonon Shelving and Tonon USA’s Managing Director. “Keep in mind that with European chefs storing and aging meats and fresh product directly on our shelves that we set the industry standards.”
Tonon Shelving was founded in 1946 when Marino Tonon left the general carpentry industry in order to focus on creating meat rails for the food industry. The company, which began in Torino, Italy, now has headquarters in Asia, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and San Antonio (TX, USA). Yet despite their expansion, Tonon Shelving is still a family business; the company is now managed by Marino’s children Bruno and Sergio as well as his grandchildren Luca and Eric.
Tonon first disrupted the meat rail industry in 1973 by introducing the aluminum rail, which was sturdier, lighter, and cleaner than its steel predecessors. In 1983, the company launched its modular shelving line, which features durable thermoplastic material and reinforced stability. Since then, Tonon has focused on ensuring that these products are as high quality as possible, with an emphasis on aesthetics, quality, and service.
Scelza, who began working on Tonon’s team since their expansion into the United States, first encountered Tonon shelves as a buyer, not a seller. As a restaurant owner with an engineering background, Scelza discovered Tonon when he was looking for shelves for his own restaurant. Not only did he fall in love with the product, but he felt connected to the brand because of his family heritage. Later, Scelza worked as a consultant and noted that he would always recommend Tonon to his clients, even if they were not in the meat industry. So when Tonon decided to expand fully into the United States, Scelza found a perfect opportunity to join a company that he both trusted and valued. Since then, he has been the head of Tonon’s United States operations.
“The first thing people are impressed with is the look,” says Scelza. “When you see a Tonon shelf in person, you can tell that it was made with the care and attention to detail necessary for such important storage products.” Not only does each product have a smooth, (anodized) aluminum finish, but since Tonon shelf lengths are customizable within 1¼”, each shelf looks like it was made for its place within a cold room or kitchen. The Tonon line features a complete line of in-stock modular options.
“We manufacture 6 heights, 5 depths and 22 different lengths,” Scelza continued, “in order to reach an almost custom job by combining and not have to customize it, even though we can customize as we already mentioned.”
But like a finely-tuned Lamborghini, Tonon units work just as well as they look. Their best in class products use the same materials as commercial airplanes and high-grade computers and are 100% dishwasher safe. Moreover, Tonon provides quality assurance that you can trust. Not only are their shelves “the only shelves that are certified for direct contact with food,” according to Scelza, but they are also 99.9% recyclable and are certified by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the NSF, and the HACCP for cleanliness and sustainability.
But most importantly, Tonon Shelving provides the quality service you should expect from a family business. Even though their products are so customizable, the average turnaround in the United States is approximately five days. “We can easily fill custom needs from a company logo to a full line of color shelving,” Scelza explained. “We will ship product straight from our Italian headquarters to quickly fulfill special requests.”
Restaurateurs and the dealers that would like to purchase a Tonon product or learn more about the line can reach their US office via phone at (210) 410-0306 or via email at usa@tonon.com, or visit their website.
