1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,680 Hey friends, thanks for tuning in again. If this is your first time watching, my name 2 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:15,280 is Tracy Martens and this is YQG in Bloom. Okay, today we are having a lot of fun here. 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:20,760 I am at Williams Food Equipment with Joel Beneteau, who is the product ambassador and 4 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,040 general knowledge of everything kitchen. How are you doing? 5 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:25,040 Very well and yourself? 6 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:29,120 I'm doing great. I try not to come in here too often because I have an issue with buying 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:30,120 too much. 8 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,000 Feel free. Feel free. We can have a lot of fun. 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,080 I know. That's the problem. Then he has the bills and it's not a lot of fun. 10 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:38,080 That's his problem. 11 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:42,080 Now, how long has Williams Food been around? 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:48,580 So Williams Food Equipment has been around since 1968. Around the mid-90s, that's when 13 00:00:48,580 --> 00:00:54,960 Williams moved to this location here and really started making more of a push to be more inclusive 14 00:00:54,960 --> 00:01:00,120 of retail as well as restaurant, grocery and butcher and all that. 15 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:06,080 Now, did it always have the retail section or was it mostly wholesale? 16 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:12,840 It was mostly wholesale but always anyone could come and buy but the experience for 17 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,040 retail is different than the experience for commercial. 18 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:23,360 Yeah. I can see that and I mean this location, I think a lot of people just assume that it's 19 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:30,360 wholesale, it's retail and it's heaven. It is awesome. If you want anything quality, 20 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:31,560 this is the place to come. 21 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:37,640 Yeah. It's really nice to be able to do a blending and a hybrid of both because it brings 22 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:42,480 all the professional tools to the home and sometimes some of the home gadgets can be 23 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:44,560 pretty neat for commercial use as well. 24 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:50,200 You got it. I mean, we're kind of surrounded here by espresso machines. How many different 25 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,400 espresso machines do you guys have? 26 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:58,240 Currently on display, we have about eight or nine different machines and those are live 27 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:02,680 machines as well. So you can taste all the different nuances between the machines. 28 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:04,320 Oh, so they're samples too. 29 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,720 Yes, because with an espresso machine especially, you want to be able to make sure that it'll 30 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,320 make the drink that you're looking for and make it the way that you're looking for it. 31 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:18,920 We had a nice espresso machine but it just didn't want to calibrate properly so it would 32 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:25,640 always just depending on your beans, it never really gave you the right shot and it drove 33 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:31,360 me crazy. So I'm like, okay, we got to get rid of it. But now it's like they're all, 34 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:32,720 they just do it for you. 35 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:37,840 Yeah, we concentrate mostly on super automatic machines. So you just touch the button and 36 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:43,000 it'll make the coffee drink of your choice. Everything from espressos, cappuccinos, lattes. 37 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:49,040 Out of everything in the store, what is the most popular product right now? 38 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:55,280 That can vary and very significantly. It depends on season, depends on what someone's looking 39 00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:02,480 for. But there's always the core items, our knife display. Our knife display is probably 40 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,360 one of the biggest knife displays in Canada. 41 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,760 Oh, I know. You get an entire aisle of knives. 42 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:12,080 Yeah, the display we have over usually over 300 knives on display. Also that it could 43 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,600 as the cast iron cookware, all our stainless steel cookware. 44 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:21,280 Yeah, I do notice some stainless steel cookware over there. I'm going to have to take a look 45 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:27,640 at later. Now, talking about knives, Candice was telling me that you guys have a knife 46 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:29,000 sharpening program? 47 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:37,560 Yes. So we do sharpen knives here and 250 per blade. And all of those proceeds for every 48 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,760 month we have a different charity that those proceeds go to. 49 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,600 Oh, that's wonderful. So it all stays local. 50 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,520 Yes. So this month it's the downtown mission for August. 51 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:53,000 Now we're sitting at we didn't bring this set. I didn't know you guys sold outdoor furniture 52 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:54,000 as well. 53 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,900 Yes. And this is outdoor furniture meant for commercial use. So it's a type of outdoor 54 00:03:57,900 --> 00:04:01,600 furniture that will last pretty much in any any type of weather. 55 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:06,400 I know it's really, really nice. And these chairs are actually quite comfy. I might have 56 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:15,160 to steal them. Now we're in the kitchen demo, the test kitchen area. So what do you test? 57 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:19,180 So that's just the name that we've given to this section here. We used to there's a large 58 00:04:19,180 --> 00:04:23,560 hood over here. So if we do need to bring in a piece of equipment and use it, we do 59 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:24,760 have the hood right there. 60 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:25,760 Okay. 61 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:33,000 Yeah. And we do do demonstrations, videos during the weekends right now with our canning 62 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,960 channel. So we're showing how to use tomato squeezers. And we've been showing how to use 63 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:37,960 pasta makers. 64 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:42,600 Okay, so you show it in store and or you're just doing the videos. 65 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:43,600 We're showing it in store. 66 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,520 Okay. And do you do videos of that as well? 67 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:48,240 We do do videos as well. Yeah. 68 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,600 And where do you where can we find them? 69 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:55,040 Different social media. Candice will be the better person to answer those questions. 70 00:04:55,040 --> 00:05:00,720 We will definitely get her out in a minute. Now what's your favorite section? Other than 71 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:01,720 the knives? 72 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:07,880 I'm an knife guy. But I do love all the different sections. Because it's not just about the 73 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:14,800 products. It's about the customers and truly listening to what the customer needs and listening 74 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,640 and replying to get them to where they want to go. 75 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:19,640 Yeah. 76 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,040 So sometimes they might have an idea of the tool that they want. But it might not be the 77 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,760 tool that they need. So wherever the customer is, that's my favorite spot. 78 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:34,680 So you really get good quality service as well as a good quality product. 79 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:39,680 Yes. So we really that's the important thing for us is to be able to interact with our 80 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:40,680 customers. 81 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,900 I mean, there's various department stores or even kitchen stores that you can go into 82 00:05:44,900 --> 00:05:52,360 and say, I want a knife. And you tell them what it would be for. And a lot of people, 83 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:58,680 they can't tell you what knife would be the right one for you. So to come in here, you 84 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:04,580 had said everybody is a product ambassador. That's great. Really helps out a lot, especially 85 00:06:04,580 --> 00:06:11,280 with the new kids that are just getting their houses for the first time and new cooks, chefs. 86 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:12,880 And I love that. 87 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,340 It's good to have great product. And it's important to have great product. But it's 88 00:06:16,340 --> 00:06:20,520 also important to fall out of love with your product and in love with the customer. 89 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:21,880 Because it's the customer that comes first. 90 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:27,720 That's so sweet. I love that. I love that thought. Because that's what brings the customers 91 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:34,960 back. And that's what people need to know that Williams food equipment is for retail 92 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:41,280 as well as a lot of people just assume it's for restaurants or wholesale. And this is 93 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:44,560 a place that you could spend an hour or two. 94 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:46,040 Easily, easily. 95 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:51,560 Just looking around and make sure you bring your debit cards when you come because it's 96 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:58,880 amazing. And right behind me, I know you guys can't see or you might be able to, is we have 97 00:06:58,880 --> 00:06:59,880 outdoor pizza ovens. 98 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:04,600 Yeah, we have the Fontana pizza ovens, all made in Italy, all artisanally made. 99 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,680 I already got the gist of them because I was looking at them and something I might want 100 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:15,920 to think about for future endeavors. So what are your hours here? 101 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:21,120 So we're here Monday to Friday from 9 to 6. And Saturdays, we're here 9 to 4. 102 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:27,480 Now that's during most of the year. For November and December, we're also here on Sundays from 103 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:28,480 12 to 4. 104 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:34,360 Oh, cool. So that makes it handy around the holidays. And I heard from Candice that you 105 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,280 are also on a cooking show sometimes? 106 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:44,720 Sometimes, yeah. If depending on which show is doing what, I can make myself available. 107 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,960 Nice. So do you cook? 108 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:48,960 That's my original trade. 109 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:49,960 Oh, it is? 110 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:52,520 That's where my original education was in. 111 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,640 Oh, nice. How long did you do that for? 112 00:07:55,640 --> 00:08:02,520 I did that for just a few years. Because basically, I fell in here as a young man and fell in 113 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,280 love with the customers. And I've been here over 20 years now. 114 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,440 Oh my goodness. But you still cook? 115 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:11,440 Yes. 116 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:12,440 For yourself? 117 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:13,920 Yes. Still have fun with that. 118 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:23,120 I was going to say it would be a sacrilege not to enjoy the fruits of your labor and 119 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:24,120 these products. 120 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,600 And it's such a great hobby, especially in this area here where we have such wonderful 121 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:28,600 produce. 122 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:29,600 Yes. 123 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,520 In the summers, it's ridiculous, the beauty of the stuff we can get. 124 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:38,320 Oh, I know. I know. The greenhouses we have and the gardens, the weather is perfect for 125 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:39,320 growing. 126 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,080 The orchards in the fall and in the summer. 127 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:48,400 Yeah, I can say that this is one of the more perfect places unless you were in a place 128 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:53,120 like California that had summer year round. In Canada, this is a pretty perfect place. 129 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:54,600 I'll still take Southwestern Ontario. 130 00:08:54,600 --> 00:09:01,080 Oh yeah. You need the seasons. Come on. But I do want to thank you so much for being on 131 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:05,320 this show. And I'm just going to be back here in one minute with Candice. 132 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:06,320 I appreciate you. 133 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,880 And we will have a chat with her. Thank you so much. 134 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:10,880 Thank you. 135 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:17,940 Okay. We're back here and I have Candice-Rose Gagnon with Williams Food Equipment. 136 00:09:17,940 --> 00:09:23,600 She is another product ambassador and social media expert here. How you doing? 137 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:25,000 Excellent. Thanks for having me. 138 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,720 Oh, thank you. So how long have you been here? 139 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:34,560 I'm just going on two years now. I came from a competitor, which was amazing. And I got 140 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:39,040 scooped up and here I am making my own waves here at Williams. 141 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:45,320 Making waves. I like that. So you work in the store as well as do the social media? 142 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:50,280 So I strictly do the social media, all of the marketing, all of the event planning that 143 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:56,720 goes on. So any time that we have a big sale, that's on me, as well as I'm producing and 144 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,360 planning all of the demos that we have that go on here. 145 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:08,120 Ah, okay. Yeah. I didn't know that you guys had demos until like today. So I think that's 146 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:13,200 great. Do you have any demos coming up? I'm just looking here. We're probably going to 147 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,400 be airing around the beginning of September. Do you know if there's anything coming up 148 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:18,400 yet? 149 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:23,840 Yep. So if you're a pizza owner, we have a pizza oven coming in. It's called the Dragon 150 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:30,360 and the Dragon is a conveyor belt style pizza oven. It can do a pizza from start to finish 151 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:34,560 in less than two minutes. So those are really ideal for especially a Windsor style pizza 152 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:38,400 here in this area. So we're going to have that coming up in September and then we're 153 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:43,040 going to start getting back into more retail and home driven demos as well. So we work 154 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:47,640 with a local chef and he'll come in and once we announce those details, of course I'll 155 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:54,040 share it on social media too. But we're hoping to have our nightly demos back for the home 156 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,040 and for our commercial clients as well. 157 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:58,040 Nightly? 158 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:03,680 We're going to have nights where we're going to be dedicated to having people come in and 159 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:08,120 doing demos and teaching you how to use the equipment as well as recipes. 160 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,840 That sounds like a lot of fun. Now can people sign up for, is there newsletters? 161 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:19,880 Yes. So we send out weekly recipes, which I work with the team with to do. So we send 162 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:27,000 out emails focused every week on our recipes that we work on. And then we tie our products 163 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:31,600 to those recipes so that people can easily see how they can make it themselves at home. 164 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,160 You guys have a lot of sales. 165 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:38,680 We do. So in those emails we have those sales and they have all the indications of where 166 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:44,000 and when they're happening. So both for our local store as well as we ship across Canada. 167 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,120 Now how can somebody get on your newsletter? 168 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,160 So you can come into the store and we can sign you up directly or you can send me an 169 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,440 email. I'm sure you can link to my email and I'll add you to the list directly. 170 00:11:54,440 --> 00:12:00,980 Yay! Because I mean, who doesn't love samples and getting to try out the new products? That's 171 00:12:00,980 --> 00:12:02,520 right up my alley. I love that. 172 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:06,480 Yeah. And you're going to get the first sneak peek of when the sales are happening, when 173 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:11,120 we're going to have those special demos, when we're going to have recipes alive in person 174 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:16,120 too that we can watch together. So yeah, we'll have all those information on our websites. 175 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:21,680 And that's the good thing about this is it's really turning back to the customer and showing 176 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:29,120 the retail aspect of it so that people can come in and feel the products and touch them 177 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:30,720 and see them work. 178 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:36,000 You're paying for quality. So you want to make sure that this is what you want. And 179 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:43,680 it's like, I'm kind of in love with this French press. The, how do you pronounce that? 180 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:44,680 Le Creuset. 181 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:50,040 Le Creuset. And this French press is amazing. I want one. 182 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,600 Yeah. So like you said, most of the products that we sell are going to be of that high 183 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:59,280 quality and I call them forever gifts because you're going to get them and you can pass 184 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,100 those on to your next generation if needed, if you take good care of them. And that's 185 00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:08,840 why we're such experts in our field too. We really love everything that we sell, just 186 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:13,160 like Joel was saying, but we also go one step further and show you how to take care of it, 187 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,800 how to maintain it and how to make it last for generations. 188 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:22,640 Honestly, that's one thing we don't have anymore. Like I know growing up, my grandmother, they 189 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:28,440 had the Corning wear and they are also forever the Corning wear and stuff like that. But 190 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:33,800 then it just seemed that my generation and the newer ones, they were just going for, 191 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:39,400 you know, the whatever's the newest craze or the cheapest thing, you know, oh, I'm just 192 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:45,120 going to go buy some cutlery at the dollar store. And it's like, okay, well, they're 193 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,680 not as pretty or as nice as what you guys have. 194 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:52,800 Yeah, exactly. And that's why we really focus on the quality and the experts behind them 195 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,000 too so that we can show you how to use them going forward. 196 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,120 Which is great. Now, what is your favorite product in here? 197 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:04,600 That's like asking what my favorite day of the weekend is. I spend my paycheck here quite 198 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:12,380 often. I'm a bar girl, so I have my own business on the side where I bartend at people's homes. 199 00:14:12,380 --> 00:14:17,720 So my whole bar is stocked by this place. We have some really great syrups that we have 200 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:24,760 too. So bar syrups, coffee syrups that you can use in your cocktails or your coffee. 201 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,160 That's what I'm really gravitating forward right now. 202 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,880 Now are those the coffee syrups? Yeah. 203 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,320 Back there. Now you guys also have cocktail syrups? 204 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,720 I had no idea of this. Yep. In aisle one, we have them. 205 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,680 Get lost. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a really high quality 206 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:45,520 bar quality syrups that you can get. And you really have to really watch how much you use 207 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:50,920 because it is very concentrated. But with the right knowledge and we can show you how 208 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,140 to make excellent bar quality cocktails at home too. 209 00:14:54,140 --> 00:14:59,200 This really is the everything you need for a kitchen store and outdoor. 210 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,080 Yep. It used to be called the candy store for cooks and you can see why. 211 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:09,240 Oh, I can because I apologize right now if I seem distracted, but I'm noticing all these 212 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:14,160 things. They have me facing the aisles and that's never a good thing, especially when 213 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:17,600 it comes to kitchen products. Yeah. Try working here. 214 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,560 I couldn't. I really couldn't because I would owe money every week instead of getting a 215 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,320 paycheck. Yeah. Tell me about it. 216 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:30,120 And again, I want to thank both of you guys for being here today and getting the word 217 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:37,080 out that Williams Food Equipment is for retail customers, for everyday people, as well as 218 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:46,160 restaurants and wholesale. And it is the perfect place for your own kitchen or to buy presents, 219 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:51,740 wedding presents for the chef, cook or bartender in your life. 220 00:15:51,740 --> 00:15:55,400 You got it. And make sure to follow them. What is your 221 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,600 website? It's WilliamsFoodEquipment.com and our handles 222 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:04,640 on social media is WilliamsFoodEquipment. Make sure you follow them and get in on their 223 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:10,880 newsletter so that you can find out about the sales and the upcoming tastings and demos. 224 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:15,400 It's great. Thank you so much. Thanks for having us. 225 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,200 And again, my name is Tracy Martens. Thank you for joining me for another episode of 226 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:28,800 YQG In Bloom. You guys all have a great day.