REGION

From the Beskids to

the Wide,

Wide World of

Gastronomy

In 1994, in the Wallachian town of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm,

five young entrepreneurs partnered together and founded

the Czech enterprise Retigo s.r.o. The company is still in

Czech hands and employs 210 people. It is one of the last

independent producers of convection ovens in the world

who specialises in steam convection ovens, focusing on

outstanding quality for a good price. The company is a just

and proud winner of Vodafone award “Company of the

Year” (Firma roku) 2018. We asked company executives

Libor Pavelka and Václav Miller for an interview to explain

how an upstart Wallachian startup conquered the world.

The Beskid Mountains and this region of Wallachia

represent hard-working people. What inspired you to

join up and start a business together?

Pavelka: The story of Retigo s.r.o. began at Tesla

Rožnov in the early 1990s when we were thinking of

running a business together. We wanted to cash in on

our experience in the electrotechnical industry, and we

considered the production of gastronomic equipment

very attractive. We expected a great development in

services. When we learned more about steam convection

ovens, the decision was made. We made our first piece in

an improvised workshop in a garage.

First, we ran the business as a part time job after work,

with only limited capital from our joint savings. I want

to make clear that our company was not founded by

the privatisation of a state-governed factory, and we

have never had any investor. That made the first steps

very adventurous. Each of us brought something very

particular into our business: one was a specialist in

machinery development, another in electronics, another

in economics, marketing, and sales.

Your steam convection ovens are used in school

canteens as well as famous restaurants in our country

and abroad. How do you manage to design and improve

affordable products of such exclusive quality?

Miller: The principle of a steam convection oven, its

multifunctionality and range, came from Germany in the

late 1970s. The first steam convection ovens in the Czech

Republic became usual only after the fall of socialism

in 1989, firstly because international imports became

possible, and secondly because our company, Retigo

s.r.o., started production. Everybody has some kind of

inspiration in their beginnings, and we were inspired by

German products. In our own ways, we started developing

similar technology. This approach has proved successful.

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Our first oven was controlled by a microprocessor; we

have not made a single oven with keys or buttons. Each

generation of our convection ovens has brought some

novelty or innovation. Today, the sixth generation is being

produced. Our innovations include a touch screen (we

were the first to introduce it as the control panel with

convection ovens), an original way to use waste heat to

reduce energy consumption, and the special shape of door

glazing, which is a designer piece that functions efficiently.

We have our own research and development centre which

incorporates customer demands (based on feedback

from the service and sales departments) in the hardware

or software of our products. The quality of our products is

based on the materials used, on the precision of how they

work, and on the final assembly of each convection oven.

The final inspection and thorough burn-in of all products is

our company’s are standard and reassurance that a faulty

product will never ever leave the plant.

One thing must not be neglected: without good

employees, good decisions a good strategy, nothing of

what we are proud of would be possible. Anybody who

excels in their field or business must first and foremost be