Metos has one hundred years of history behind it this year. In September Sami Kuparinen will step into the role of the CEO, and his goal is to combine professionalism and in-depth knowledge, stemming from a long history, with new thinking. At the center of everything is the customer and their challenges and wishes.

– I came here as a product manager in the early 2000s. I had no kitchen background. At the time, I wanted an operator that was strongly international and growth-oriented, he says.

Thus, Metos was the perfect match for Sami.

Metos’ all-rounder marinated in many broths

The duties of the product manager of food distribution equipment soon expanded into product development responsibilities, after which Sami took on the position of the sales manager at the Finnish organization. With the purchase of the Austrian service and sales organization came the responsibility to lead the service unit, and the management of the wholesale unit came alongside the responsibilities a little later. With increasing responsibilities, the road led to the position of sales director, and during the past year he also participated in the work and strategy development of the Swedish sales organization.

– I feel slightly nervous, but good at the same time. Now I look at things with an even wider perspective than before. With a lot of thoughts in his head about how things could be, Sami sums up his feelings about starting in the role of the CEO.

– Now, that we celebrate our centenary year, it is great to think about our own work history against that background. I have been involved for a long time as a part of our history, and we have a lot of people at Metos who have had a long career here.

– It is really great to be the CEO for the beginning of the next century! He rejoices.

In his opinion, the starting position is really good, because Metos is in good shape, works well and is a good company for customers and personnel. So, development does not require anything revolutionary. Along with that, however, Sami also wants to bring a new kind of thinking.

– The company’s comprehensive strategy process starts in the fall, and it also generates development projects in the organization later, he says.

The purpose of Metos’ existence is to help customers succeed

Sami loves meeting customers and wants to continue in the customer interface in his new role, for example operating with international customers.

– I definitely want to keep my touch in the customer interface, that is what I enjoy the most, he emphasizes.

It is also justified, because the purpose of Metos’ operations is to help professional kitchens succeed.

– The operating environment of customers is changing, and it creates challenges for their operations. The challenges of the next decades are related to, for example, labor shortages, food waste, responsibility, automation and digitalization, as well as the price of energy, Sami lists.

These currently affect all customers, although there are also variations between countries.

– We must help customers to work flexibly and well in the challenges posed by the environment. Solutions must be found so that, for example, the labor shortage does not affect the operation of the customer’s kitchen. We can influence this with, for example, good kitchen design and automation and digital solutions. In addition, we will think about how monotonous work steps can be made easier with the help of technology and process development.

– Kitchens have become multinational and multilingual, and we must help customers to operate and work in that environment.

Sami calls for responsible choices

Responsibility is one important trend that is still on the surface and is strongly related to the life cycle of kitchen appliances. By maintaining the equipment with professional skills, their useful life can be extended significantly and thus the load on the environment is reduced.

– At Metos, our operations have been based on the idea that products have a long-life cycle. We have a great, professional service organization that can meet the customer’s needs, Sami says happily.

This will continue to be an important service package for customers. However, Sami also urges customers to make responsible choices.

– It is not a sustainable choice if only the cheapest option is sought. Products should not be chosen based on price but based on what is the best solution for the entire life cycle of the kitchen! He challenges.

The best bits of a hundred years of history as part of the future

Sami is proud of Metos’ own production, which is exported around the world, and sees it as an opportunity for growth. In our production, for example, the world’s bets combi kettles are made. Taking this Finnish know-how to the international market, even stronger than before, will be on the agenda in the future, he says.

Sami wants Metos to continue to be a pioneer and trend-setter in its industry.

– We want to take the best bits from our hundred years of experience and know-how, from the in-depth professional skills in which we are strong. At the same with we want to be dynamic, modern and capable of renewal in order to respond to the accelerating change in society.

– We want to develop our own work so that we can enable customers’ visions, he sums up.

In Sami’s opinion Metos has a good staring point to succeed for the next hundred years as well. With the recent acquisition of WelBilt, by the Ali Group – which includes Metos – Metos is also part of the largest manufacturer of professional kitchen equipment in the world.

Although the operating methods change with digitization, genuine encounters are still valuable.

– After the pandemic, you can clearly see that people miss encounters and experiences. It is really great to be a part of it and to be able to make it possible! Sami finishes.

Additional information: CEO Sami Kuparinen, sami.kuparinen@metos.fi