 The Big Chill
'Keeping food cool' business a mainstay in Streamwood
July 22, 2007
By
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Staff Writer
They won't say Kool Technologies Inc., has licked the competition,
but co-owners Kristine and David Schmitz appear to have the inside
track on sales of refrigerated restaurant equipment. The husband-wife team figured they could turn a tidy profit on their
own as David was cooling his heels as a service technician for another
firm some 30 years ago. In
1997, the couple unveiled Kool Technologies at 714 Bonded Parkway in
Streamwood which, in 2006, scooped up about $1 million in revenues.
As
she watched the business grow from the sidelines, Kristine, its vice
president, later brought her experience in national sales to the table
and joined David in the business.
The couple's success is built
around their relationship with Stoelting Food Service Equipment, a
company that builds soft-serve and frozen-drink machines and so-called
"batch" freezers used for ice cream, sorbet, water ices, sherbet and
the newest ice cream sensation from Italy: gelato.
Gelato is said to be denser and more flavorful than American ice cream.
It
also has significantly less butterfat than regular ice cream's typical
18 percent and 26 percent, registering less than 10 percent butterfat,
according to a recent state Department of Agriculture study.
The
emergence of gelato here has generated a demand for specialized
equipment, Kristine said. "It requires a completely different machine,"
she said, because gelato is served at a slightly warmer temperature
than ice cream.
Because it is less solidly frozen, she said, gelato's taste is further enhanced.
As
an authorized Stoelting distributor for North Central Illinois,
including Chicago and Northern Indiana, Kool Technologies sells,
delivers and installs equipment and provides training and what Kristine
calls "after-care."
Stoelting, Kristine added, has been up to the
task of tooling up for gelato and in general is ahead of the curve
industrywide. "Their technology is state of the art," she said.
"Everything is now electronically controlled -- we're right there with
technology."
The Schmitzes said their customers appreciate
Stoelting's ironclad five-year warranty and its reputation for
reliability -- and also the dedication of Kool Technologies when a
service call is made.
If a freezer should suddenly fail, Kristine said, the company goes the extra mile for its clients.
"If
we, out of our office, can't make" a service call within four hours,
she said, "we use one of our dealers -- the closest dealer to them."
In addition to on-location repair, the company offers rebuilding offsite when necessary.
To
keep in tune with industry trends, the couple recommends that clients
and would-be entrepreneurs attend seminars conducted by the Frozen
Dessert Institute in St. Louis.
"They show a customer from start
to finish how to open a business, how to finance it, and provide
employee training," Kristine explained.
"Where We Work" is
a series of stories focusing on local nonretail businesses and the
products they make or services they provide. If you have a suggestion
about a business you think our readers should know about, call Business
Editor Nick Petersen at (847) 888-7753, send a fax to (847) 888-7836,
or e-mail him at
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