Supplier of the month: Andy Mannhart

Tell me about the commercial potential in the mid-market hospitality sector.

Having worked in and around the hospitality industry within Dubai for more than 35 years, I can say that the pace of growth and change we have witnessed in the past five years is almost unmatched, and presents a great opportunity to evolve our offering to meet broader client demands. Mid-market hospitality sector is booming, and so is the need for partners like us to enhance and support the needs of the infrastructure.

What sets Andy Mannhart apart from the competition?

When it comes to being in the market and having seen Dubai and the GCC developing, Andy Mannhart Co.LLC has always been a key player in kitchen equipment’s and utensils; this has been the core business for more than 20 years since its establishment. This sets us apart from most of the competitors, because along with that we also offer the tableware, buffet ware, in-room amenities, linen and front cooking possibilities which is an added value while working with us.

Why do mid-market hoteliers choose Andy Mannhart over others on the market?

We believe that we are a one-stop solution for the hoteliers, but we also practice it though offering the various brands and meeting their requirements, which allows them to deal with one partner and makes their life hassle-free and gives them a peace of mind to focus into other aspects of their business, which is managing and operating the hotel. Apart from that, our brand has always been associated with chefs, F&B managers and general managers who have been our clients or utilised our services in other part of the world, which allow them to always refer back to our products and they find all possible solutions from them.

What obstacles have you encountered in developing your business in this region?

The biggest challenge — not obstacle — that any company in our line of work faces is counterfeit products and low quality products that are taking over the market through various mediums, which gives the operators the flexibility to buy similar products for less value and with no warranty/guarantee for service/repair et cetera. But this is also being tackled by working closely with our brand partners who ensure that we price ourselves reasonably well and provide the best quality, genuine and warranted products to our clients.

Tell us about your plans for the coming years in the region?

It’s always the case with many companies in our line of work, they get stagnated and eventually want to change their offerings. But this does not work well in our line of business; we need to adapt and change as the hotel companies evolve and change every coming year and their demands in innovation, creativity and development increases by two-fold. For our future plans we have bought Anand Nair on board as our general manager. He started with us in December 2016, and comes with a vast experience and knowledge within the hotel business. He will oversee this part of our growth with new line of offerings, develop our portfolio in terms of regions where we will make inroads, and of course further enhance our company’s culture to adapt it for future needs.