RENZO Patina & ORZON Patina are just two of the many new products now being added by Arc Cardinal
For example, new options from Arc Cardinal to their flatware offerings are the new antiqued, patina-finished designs RENZO Patina and ORZON Patina – both added to their popular Chef & Sommelier products. Both these new “patina-ed” versions feature a distressed-looking appearance and look very vintage making for an exceptional overall on-trend look. And, of course, like all Arc Cardinal products, both designs are manufactured with an eye towards the practical. Both RENZO Patina and ORZON Patina are made from top quality 18/10 stainless steel and are commercial dishwasher safe.
But the real story here is that these new flatware introductions simply continue the journey that Arc Cardinal set out upon when the company received a €60 million investment 20 months ago by investment firm Peaked Hill Partners. Since then, Arc Cardinal has restructured and re-invigorated its manufacturing, expanded its product offering – both made in-house and sourced – and developed a new and exciting crystal glassware material, Krysta … all this happening at speeds rarely seen within hospitality tabletop sector.
“The new products you see from us are completely customer-driven and fit what the market demands are at the moment,” says Arc Cardinal COO Alexandre Bollengier. “We no longer sell what we manufacture. We manufacture what we can sell – what the customer wants. While we will continue to have coherent global collections and worldwide branding, we realize that markets are different around the world and we must produce products that those regional markets are looking for.”
The new products from Arc Cardinal remain the most tangible signs of this revitalized, stronger hospitality tabletop leader. Products like the new SEQUENCE glassware range, made from the new Krysta material, that is more brilliant and even more durable than previous collections from the company, which is already a durability leader in hospitality glassware. There are new dinnerware designs from artisan designer Jono Pandolfi, along with other new organic designs like Canyon Ridge and Terrastone that speak to Arc Cardinal’s commitment to more relevant, on-trend collections in the dinnerware portion of hospitality tabletop. The company also recently added a line of cast iron serving pieces that go easily from the kitchen to the restaurant table. And, finally, Arc Cardinal’s already wide range of flatware has grown significantly from its Royal & Imperial Steak Knife collections to its new RENZO and ORZON line extensions, made from top quality 18-10 stainless steel. And, in distribution, the company will also expand by opening a new Canadian distribution center on January 1, 2017 and has already hired four sales managers to cover the Canadian hospitality market.
Such rapid and dramatic change within the hospitality tabletop sector, where new product launches and cultural change have traditionally happened in a more methodical way, is quite uncommon. The metamorphosis underway at Arc Cardinal is nothing short of an impressive, and an example of what can be done with proper vision, a deep level of commitment, a hunger to improve and adapt to new ideas and to see themselves differently than before.
New products launches in dinnerware, flatware, and certainly glassware, are coming at an increasing rate from the revitalized Arc Cardinal these days.
At Arc Cardinal, it’s not just about being simply a glass manufacturing company that sold a few other tabletop items. It’s about embracing the concept of being a total hospitality tabletop supplier from glassware to dinnerware to steak knives – with products to fit all types of hospitality dining. It’s about incorporating design, style, and trends into making products for years that have been considered utilitarian products for the restaurant and hotel industry. In its short tenure, the company’s new management is not shy on investing when there is a proven return for that investment. The new, revitalized company also has less hierarchy, more autonomy, and more self-management. And, by the looks on the employee faces during a factory visit not long ago – the company is also having lots more fun these days, as well!
While there have been many changes in products and people at Arc Cardinal in the past 20 months, it is the cultural change that remains clearly the most dramatic. It is the change from being a large plodding, global manufacturer of glass goods to becoming a nimble, marketplace-responsive, total tabletop company that understands the regional differences in a world of globalization, that is igniting the future for Arc Cardinal these days.
Change is tough. Especially cultural change.
But, at Arc Cardinal, it’s how they got the groove back.
For more information on Arc Cardinal and its wide range of hospitality tabletop products, go here:
