Twin Eagles Hearth and Home Aug 2012 Issue

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THE VOICE OF THE HEARTH, BARBECUE AND PATIO INDUSTRIES AUGUST 2012®

HEARTH & HOME 2

The Outdoor Room - Manufacturing

Dante Cantal launched TwinEagles grills two years beforethe recession; today, hiscompany is flying high.

By Lisa Readie Mayer

1 HEARTH & HOME

In the backyard of his California home, Dante Cantal has createda spectacular Outdoor Room and a showcase for products hemanufactures.

PHOTOS: ©2012 BARRY SCHWARTZ PHOTOGRAPHY. WWW.BARRYSCHWARTZPHOTOGRAPHY.COM.

n 2006, Hearth & Home first profiled Dante Cantal andhis company, Twin Eagles, just as he was trading hisbehind-the-scenes role as an OEM manufacturer for a

new one in the spotlight manufacturing and marketing hisown branded line of stainless-steel, commercial-quality grillsand appliances.

Cantal was up for the challenge. A native of the Philip-pines, the gas products engineer already had more than adecade of experience in the high-end grill category, first asa co-founder of Lynx Professional Grills, and later as anOEM grill designer and manufacturer for many companies.Together with his wife Fannie, also an engineer, his daugh-ter Karen, and a few trusted colleagues, Cantal set aboutbuilding a brand that is arguably one of the fastest-growingand most-respected in the high-end gas grill segment.

Named after Cantal’s twin children, Twin Eagles grills haverealized annual double-digit sales growth and North Ameri-can-wide distribution in the six years since launching. Cantalhas achieved much in that time personally, as well. He hasearned several industry awards and his latest recognition camein June when he received the Lifetime Member Award by theAmerican Society of Gas Engineers, the youngest person everto be presented with this prestigious honor.

Hearth & Home spoke with Dante Cantal recently tocatch up on what’s been happening and continue the con-versation we left off six years ago.

Hearth & Home: When we first met, you had just taken theleap to launch your own branded grill line after years ofsuccess as an OEM manufacturer. Looking back, are youstill happy with that decision?

Dante Cantal: “Yes, definitely. The decision to start TwinEagles was mostly born out of necessity. At the time, wewere at a crossroads as an OEM manufacturer. Ducane, oneof our biggest accounts, was going under, and many of ourother OEM customers were leaving us to source cheaperproduct from China.

“Previously, we had not wanted to compete with our cus-tomers by introducing our own grill brand, but times werechanging and the marketplace was different. It was a scarysituation and we had to adapt and respond.”

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to 10 percent. We put much greateremphasis and focus on Twin Eagles; it’sour priority. Delta Heat has done wellfor us, but there are many well-estab-lished competitors at that price point.We’re better known for the high end.”

Where is the Delta Heat line made?

Cantal: “Initially, we designed DeltaHeat grills here, but manufactured themin China for cost savings. After a while,we began to realize the difficulty of con-trolling the quality in China. We werespending lots of time testing each grillto ensure it performed to our standards,so any cost savings was being eaten up.

“Last year we moved production ofthe 38-in. unit back to our Californiafacility, and by the end of 2012 all man-ufacturing of Delta Heat will be donein-house in the U.S., just like Twin Eagles.

“When we first introduced the line,dealers didn’t think ‘Made in the USA’was important, but that sentiment hasevolved and it is now significant tomore people.”

Has moving production back to the U.S.made you less competitive against off-shore imports?

Cantal: “No, on the contrary. The wayto compete with low labor costs in Chinais to invest in equipment that reduceslabor and time. We added a fiber opticlaser from Italy – it’s only the secondsuch machine west of the Mississippi.It’s a cutting machine that is four tosix times faster than a standard carbondioxide laser, so it allows us to be moreefficient and produce product faster.

“Ironically, now our OEM divisionis growing again and has become a veryimportant part of our business. The com-panies that were going offshore are nowcoming back, although I won’t revealthe brands. We are very selective regard-ing companies we work for as an OEM.Because our name is still associated withthe product, it must be to our standards.”Amazing how it has come full circle. Ear-lier you mentioned that selling and dis-tributing the grills were new challengeswhen you launched the Twin Eaglesbrand. Six years ago you were mainlyselling dealer-direct. Is that still the case?

Cantal: “Getting distribution establishedwas critical to moving forward withTwin Eagles. We decided initially tosell dealer-direct, carefully targeting

one area at a time to expand distrib-ution, rather than take a shotgunapproach. We would analyze the areaand hone in on our target. We are veryniche oriented. Most high-end grillmanufacturers sell through appliancedealers, but we focused on hearth deal-ers because they specialize in barbe-cues. Hearth dealers have knowledgeof the category like no one else. Andspecialty stores are usually familyowned, like our business.

“Today, we primarily still sell dealer-direct in most states; however, we dowork with distributors in parts ofCanada, the Northeast, Midwest andrecently, Colorado. Our distributors arevery important to us and have reallyexpanded our sales in those areas.

“We are very big on training for ourdistributors and dealers, and we bringthem to our facility for training ses-sions. It really pays off when salespeo-ple can explain about the company, thatthe product is handmade in the USA,how it’s shipped, that the owner is agas engineer who has designed the grillto perform efficiently. It helps them todifferentiate our product from others.”

You launched another new venturerecently – an outdoor island business.How is that going?

Cantal: “In 2010 I partnered with AlbertoOlivo and we started Outdoor Entertain-ment Islands. Initially we made display

islands for dealers to showcase our built-in grills and equipment in their stores.We didn’t sell them at first because wedidn’t want to compete with dealers whowere already building and selling islandsto their customers. But the opposite hap-pened; dealers wanted our islands andasked to sell them.”

Of the grills you sell, what percentageis built into outdoor kitchens? And arethese grills typically sold individually oralong with other appliances?

Cantal: “About 85 percent of our grillsales are built-in and 15 percent are cartmodels. As a premium brand, the bulkof our business has always been built-in. Built-in grills are almost always sold

with access doors, but in many casesthey are sold with a number of otherappliances and accessories. We find thatthe more components dealers display, themore people buy.”

What has happened with the outdoorkitchen trend since you first launchedTwin Eagles?

Cantal: “In 2006 the economy was verygood and the outdoor kitchen trendwas doing very well and growingrapidly. When the economic downturnhit, it eliminated the 30 percent of out-door kitchen buyers who were financ-ing these projects with home equityloans. Even the high-end buyers who

Cantal, a gas products engineer with a strong background in gas grills, is also a hands-onmanager.

You had extensive experience as an OEMmanufacturer. How was this different?

Cantal: “As an OEM company, afterdesigning and manufacturing the prod-uct we would have handed it off to ourcustomer to take care of things fromthere. But with our own brand we hadto deal with the sales and marketing.That was all new to us.”

Tell us about the learning curve in yournew venture.

Cantal: “When we first started, webrought our product to local dealers weknew in southern California. Many ofthem took on our new grills because theyknew Doug (Pryor, Twin Eagles’ salesmanager) and me from when we wereat Lynx – it was completely on trustbecause of our previous relationship. Thatfact came with a big responsibility andhas guided our philosophy to this day.

“We believe we work for our deal-ers and distributors, and it is our respon-sibility to make their jobs as easy aspossible. We strive to give them prod-ucts the consumer wants, the tools andeducation to sell those products, andsuperior customer service to back it up.

“So, after we signed on our firstdealers, we spent all of 2007 listening

to them. We learned what they wantedin terms of products and customer ser-vice. For example, dealers emphati-cally told us they did not like automatedcustomer service systems. That is whywe implemented a ‘live’ customer ser-vice system. You can always speak toa live person at Twin Eagles.

“We appreciate everything the deal-ers do for us, even today. If a dealer

complains, they do it because they careand want us to improve. Dealers com-pliment us too. We forward these mes-sages to all our employees at everylevel, because it inspires them and makesthem feel part of the team.”

Did you change your products or yourcompany based on what you learnedduring that year of listening?

Cantal: “In 2008 we completely re-designed and revamped the Twin Eaglesline. We incorporated many improve-ments based on dealer feedback.”

You had just barely launched TwinEagles when the recession hit. How didthat impact your business?

Cantal: “When the recession hit in 2008,we decided we weren’t going to slow

down like some of our competitors whostopped R&D on new products, stoppedmarketing, stopped going to trade shows.Our philosophy was to go full force sowhen the economy improved we wouldbe far ahead of the competition. Thisstrategy has worked. We gained a bigmarket share during this time and grewbetween 22 and 33 percent each of thelast three years.”

Was your lower-priced Delta Heat lineintroduced in response to the economy?

Cantal: “Our dealers were requesting alower-priced grill because of the econ-omy and to better compete with all theChinese imports. In 2009 we introducedDelta Heat. It’s priced between $1,300and $2,200, compared with $2,700 andup for our Twin Eagles grills. The deal-ers were thrilled because it offered thema chance to sell at a wider price range.Dealers usually introduce Twin Eagles toa customer first, but if it is not within thebudget, the dealer can show them DeltaHeat. They are able to close more sales.”

Which of the two lines is the betterseller and why?

Cantal: “By far the Twin Eagles lineoutsells Delta Heat, probably 90 percent


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The showroom in the Twin Eagles factory in Cerritos, California.


still had money got nervous. Outdoorkitchens declined a little for a fewyears, until the wealthy regained con-fidence in the economy and began tostart projects again.

“Even though the aspirational buy-ers went away, the outdoor kitchentrend has started to grow again at arapid rate in the last couple of years.In fact, the category is coming backin a bigger way as people learn aboutall the different appliances and ameni-ties that can be built into an outdoorkitchen. We get calls from dealers allthe time who tell us they have justsold their biggest or most expensiveoutdoor kitchen to date.”

Where do you forecast the category willbe five years from now?

Cantal: “In five years I think it willcontinue to grow, driven by the greaterawareness of outdoor kitchens and allthe components available for them acrossthe country. This category is not as tiedto desirable weather as some peoplethink. People in cooler climates are will-ing to spend the money to enjoy thegood weather they have – you see poolsin backyards in the Northeast, don’tyou? In fact, the Northeast and Texasare growing fastest for us. The South-east seems to have gotten hit hardestwith the economy, so that region iscoming back at a slower pace.”

Any new products on the drawingboard?

Cantal: “We are working on 2013 prod-ucts now. We try to continually intro-duce new items and ask our sales repsand dealers for suggestions and ideas.Our product engineers monitor trends inthe barbecue and appliance industries, andI attend Expos for the commercial cook-ing equipment industry to look for inspi-ration. Right now, my wife Fannie ispushing for a charcoal grill for next year.”

Looking long term, where do you expectyour company to be in five years?

Cantal: “In five years we expect to dou-ble our sales. This sounds ambitious, butactually it is a conservative estimate basedon our sales experience over the past

three years and our reps’ forecasts. Infive years we expect our distribution willstill be growing, both in North Americaand even in Europe, where we have begungetting many inquiries.

“Our goal is to make the companyas efficient as possible and put the rightpeople and procedures in place to accom-modate future growth. The last thingwe want to do is outgrow ourselves assome companies have done when theyhave grown too fast or do not have thesystems in place to handle the salesincreases. We have a fantastic team.”

What about your staff and facility? Arethese some of the areas you haveaddressed to handle the growth?

Cantal: “Yes, absolutely. We had 40employees when we started marketingour branded grill in 2006 and now wehave 123 and are hiring more. I used tomicromanage out of necessity, but nowwe have excellent people in place to han-dle sales, marketing, purchasing, produc-tion and customer service. We are up totwo shifts now. In 2006, our facility was45,000 sq. ft. and we have since added20,000 sq. ft. next door.”

Dante, where do you expect to be infive years? Will you still be at the helmof Twin Eagles?

Cantal: “Yes (laughs)! I’m able to takea vacation now, and I can spend timewith our new twin granddaughters – wecall them our twin eaglets – but I haveno plans to retire. My attitude is, Whywalk when you can run?”

Inside the Cerritos factory.

The Twin Eagles plant is clean, bright and airy.

5 HEARTH & HOME

Andy Todd, Energy ClassicsNorthwest(360) 606-4400

Christina ChungNorthern California & Nevada(562) 405-1275

Joe PannellSouthern California(562) 544-9248

Darrin DillavouArizona & New Mexico(602) 463-8596

Majestic Hearth DistributorsColorado(800) 750-4005

Paul Bolduc, Ray Murray, Inc.Illinois, Wisconsin & U.P. Michigan (847) 961-8221

Peter Anderson, Ray Murray, Inc.Lower Michigan (less Detroit)(248) 563-3805

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The Product Solution Group, LLC.Southeast(888) 522-9947 Ext. 700

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Cassandra Barry, Ray Murray, Inc.Massachusetts, Connecticut & Rhode Island (413) 822-7222

Jim Mazur, Ray Murray, Inc.W. New York & N. Pennsylvania(413) 281-8874

Greg Dengler, Ray Murray, Inc.Long Island, New York, New Jersey, E. Maryland & Philadelphia / Bucks County Pennsylvania (267) 374-1512

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Mark Dennis, Ray Murray, Inc.Virginia & West Virginia (276) 220-6649

Concorde Distributing Inc.Western Canada(888) 287-3333

Urban HearthOntario, Canada(866) 377-1796

Coleman & AssociatesCentral & Eastern Canada(888) 697-8900

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Interested in Becoming anAuthorized Twin Eagles® Dealer?

Please contact the sales professional who services your market.

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Twin Eagles

Style

Defi ning The Art of Outdoor Cooking

Stylish outdoor kitchens are still the trend for outdoor entertaining. Choosing the right grill and accessories for the perfect backyard entertainment center is important. It’s your client’s personal touch to their outdoor kitchen, a refl ection of their lifestyle.

With exclusive geometric shapes, contoured angles and hi-polished accents, every grill is an intriguing blend of modern design and classic elegance. Like your client, Twin Eagles style is truly unique.

To become a Twin Eagles dealer please call (800) 789-2206 or email us at [email protected]©2012 Twin Eagles, Inc. 13231 East 166th Street, Cerritos, CA 90703 www.TwinEaglesBBQ.com

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Twin Eagles Hearth and Home Aug 2012 Issue