HP Sales Northeast

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HP Sales Northeast Profiled in Food Trade News

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(l-r) Kimberly Guns, office manager; Hal Guns, sales manager; Harry Meyers, president; Corey Meyers, director of marketing and inside sales; and Lindsay Meyers, service manager.

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It’s a partnership that’s lasted 37 years and continues to grow.  That’s how strong the relationship has been between Harry Meyers and Henny Penny (HP), the well-known manufacturer of premium foodservice equipment.

After a short stint with Ecolab after graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Meyers joined HP as a sales rep with responsibility for Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. Four years later, Meyers was offered the opportunity to acquire the distributorship for that territory and the foundation of HP Sales Northeast was created. Over the past 33 years, the relationship between Meyers and HP has flourished.

The Eaton, OH equipment fabricator and designer has continued to produce durable and versatile products that have proven to be popular with not only restaurants, but with food retailers who utilize HP’s products in the delis. For HP Sales Northeast, a keen focus on customer service has accelerated the company’s expansion efforts. The Mount Laurel, NJ-based firm now sells and services customers from Delaware to Maine, making HP Sales Northeast the largest independent HP distributor in the country. The New England expansion is relatively new. HP Sales Northeast had been covering the Delaware Valley and New York Metro markets for many years. In 2020, at the behest of the parent firm, HP Sales Northeast opened its first New England office in Hopkinton, MA. Today, HP Sales Northeast employs 15 associates.

In 2012, Harry’s son, Corey joined the company and now serves as director of marketing and inside sales. We asked the father and son team what they believe have been the key components of the distributor’s success.

“Understanding and anticipating the needs of our customers is vital to our business,” said Harry. “We spend a lot of time training store associates about how to operate the equipment they purchased. I feel the relationship between our retailers and us is truly a partnership. Between our team at HP Sales Northeast and the corporate HP service associates, I also believe that our ability to execute at a high level is what separates us from other equipment distributors.”

Corey added: “Our customer base is constantly evolving and each customer’s needs are somewhat different. We understand that we are operating in several distinctively different marketing areas and we have a sales team that understands the nuances of each market and each customer. As Harry said, that’s a difference maker.

HP Sales Northeast does about 65 percent of its business in the retail segment, serving some of the biggest chains and top independent retailers in an area that is diverse and highly competitive. Henny Penny, which practically invented the pressure fryer business in 1957, continues to  maintain a dominant market share with its legacy item as well as open fryers (requiring less oil), rotisserie ovens, “combi” ovens, display warmers and holding cabinets.

In addition to its core HP brand, the distributor also sells products from Preprite (blast chillers, vacuum sealers), Smokaroma (pressure smokers), Liebherr (commercial refrigeration equipment), Doregrill (French-made rotisserie ovens), Frontline (smart oil management solutions), and Ayr King (breading, blending and sifting equipment).

“All of those other lines that we sell complement the Henny Brands items which remain the focus of our business,” Harry explained.

Asked if his business has been impacted by some of the supply chain challenges that many manufacturers and most retailers face today, Harry stated product availability has not been a factor until very recently.

“HP has a significant advantage because they are based in the U.S. and build their own component boards which allows them to keep the fabrication process in-house,” Harry explained. “Like many involved in the food business, 2020 was a record year and most of 2021 was also very strong. Recently, because of very high demand, there has been a bit of a slowdown, but we expect that to be a temporary bump and we’re optimistic about our sales projections going forward.”

Harry also believes that HP Sales Northeast is well positioned for the future. Along with Corey, Hal and Kimberly Guns serve as sales and office manager respectively and Lindsay Meyers is the service manager at HP Sales Northeast.

A priority on customer service, a product line with a strong pedigree and an entrepreneurial spirit that includes a strong work ethic and attention to detail have all contributed to the continuing success of HP Sales Northeast.

*The featured photo shows the leadership team at HP Sales Northeast: (l-r) Kimberly Guns, office manager; Hal Guns, sales manager; Harry Meyers, president; Corey Meyers, director of marketing and inside sales; and Lindsay Meyers, service manager.*

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3 Reasons Foodservice Operators Love Pressure Assist

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Pressure Assist is a new feature available on all Henny Penny 4-Head Pressure Fryers with C8000 controls. Exclusive to Henny Penny, Pressure Assist uses an external means of developing pressure within the fry pot for small product loads, which otherwise would not build optimum pressure levels on their own.

Cook smaller batches when you need them

Gone are the days of being forced to pressure fry a large batch of product! Pressure Assist enables you to cook to-order, making it ideal for off-peak periods.

Maintain product quality and consistency

Until now, consistent quality for small orders has never been easy to achieve. Pressure Assist allows you to maintain your brand’s premium quality standards with confidence.

Eliminate unnecessary food waste

By cooking only what is needed, Pressure Assist helps eliminate food waste. It’s no longer necessary to use a full load of product for only a few small orders.

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Pressure Assist Now Available!

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What is Pressure Assist?

Pressure Assist uses an external means of developing pressure within the fry pot for small product loads, which otherwise will not build optimum pressure levels on their own. This assures that smaller product loads cook to the same quality and consistency as larger product loads, which develop optimum pressure levels on their own.

How does Pressure Assist work?

Electric Pressure Transducer
Pressure Assist Air Pump

A dedicated pressure assist air pump (compressor) pressurizes the fry pot by pumping air into the plumbing on the pot side of the deadweight assembly. A check valve assures that pressure generated by the assist pump can be transmitted to the fry pot, but pressure from the fry pot cannot be transmitted to the assist pump. Pressure Assist is also equipped with an electronic pressure transducer, allowing the control to monitor the pressure level within the fry pot.

This transducer determines whether pressure assist is needed for a given cook cycle. If the air pump is activated, the transducer reading is then used to determine when the desired pressurization level has been reached. The air pump is automatically turned off or on as needed to maintain optimum pressure level. For each individual menu item, you can customize pressure assist activation settings.

Which Henny Penny fryers offer Pressure Assist?

Pressure Assist is available on 4-Head Pressure Fryers with C8000 controls.
For additional information, please contact us today!

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The Ghost Kitchen Series: Velocity Pressure Fryer

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Our Velocity Pressure Fryer was made to sustain the highest-volume bone-in chicken programs, making it easy for wing-concept ghost kitchens to sacrifice two feet of wall space for extreme productivity.

Our Velocity series cooks 8-heads of chicken with 25% less oil than other high-volume fryers and provides up to four times longer oil life.

Batch cooking is a breeze when you combine a Velocity with any of our holding cabinets – Henny Penny sheet pans can be secured by a lip on top of the fryer.

Two half racks are then placed on each sheet pan and slid into the holding cabinet, allowing workers to skip re-racking and reducing product handling.

While product is being transferred to hold, Velocity filters automatically between every single load. Learn more about the Velocity series here.

The Ghost Kitchen Series: Evolution Elite (Single Well)

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In this series, we will highlight our top 4 best solutions for ghost kitchens.

Less is more with our single-well Evolution Elite, making it the ideal open fryer for any ghost kitchen. A smaller vat that requires 40% less oil means more ROI in the form of oil savings while maintaining the same throughput as a traditional 50 lb vat.

Employees won’t need to spend too much time taking care of the Evolution Elite – top-off-level sensors monitor the oil level and add fresh oil as needed, and Smart Touch Filtration alerts automatically with just one button-push required to activate a 4-minute filter cycle.

Models with two or more wells can filter one vat while cooking in another. Use a single-well fryer to prepare for the rush by pairing with SmartHold to cook in batches and hold for hours. Click here to learn more about the Evolution Elite open fryer.

The Ghost Kitchen Series: SmartHold Holding Cabinet

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In this series, we will highlight our top 4 best solutions for ghost kitchens.

In 2019, ghost kitchens (also referred to as dark kitchens and virtual kitchens) were simply an emerging trend to watch out for. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of these delivery-only kitchens in a big way. Just 15% of restaurant operators were using ghost kitchens before the pandemic, by May that number had risen to 51% (Technomic, 2020). The demand for off-premise dining options skyrocketed, creating an opportunity for operators to invest in ghost kitchens and even virtual brands.

The average ghost kitchen is only a few hundred square feet, meaning available space must be optimized and designed to operate with minimum labor. Luckily, the SmartHold Holding Cabinet can help with each of these factors while also making life easier for both operators and their staff.

Our SmartHold Holding Cabinet is just over two feet wide and can be configured half-sized to fit under a countertop or stacked to manage cooking in large batches. Precise humidity control sets SmartHold apart by creating the ideal holding environment for any food and keeping it fresh for hours instead of minutes. This holding cabinet also has proofing capabilities, saving operators the expense and floorspace of a separate proofing cabinet.

With SmartHold, ghost kitchens can also keep labor down by cooking and holding products before peak periods of high demand. We’ve got a couple of blog suggestions for anyone wanting more on SmartHold – learn more about optimal SmartHold settings for common menu items or discover more on how SmartHold brings value to any kitchen.