Consulting Services - Maddalena's History

The Maddalena's offer a consulting service, if you are considering opening a small food related business or just having trouble re-directing the food related business you now own, you may want to speak to someone who has been there.

Maddalena's can offer advice on:

Equipment purchases

• Plant Layout & Design
• Marketing your Food Related Products In the US, Canada and Mexico
• Packaging & Packaging Equipment
• How to avoid mistakes while developing a new business
• Redirecting your current business

History:

Gene Maddalena was 24 and Janet Maddalena was 22, when in 1982 they got the courage to go into business for themselves. He was a 1976 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and had been working in restaurants and Country Clubs since he was 16; she was a college graduate with no prior food or restaurant experience at all.

Having saved $10,000 the couple decided to take the leap and go into business for themselves. They wanted to own a catering service, but not having a recognized name and with no prior business experience, they decided they needed a product to sell in order to make ends meet until they built a clientele for their business. In January 1982, they found a small space in the Old Oliver Rubber Mill in Flemington, N. J. The three small rooms needed to be gutted and converted into one large space. The work began - with the help of their parents the space was cleared and made ready for the equipment that they didn't even own yet.

They watched for appropriate restaurant and bakery auctions and eventually lugged home used mixers, ovens, sinks, cake racks, walk-in refrigeration etc. Gradually they reconditioned the used equipment; by April the 7^th 1982 the first Maddalena's Cheesecake was baked and ready for sale.

Long hours ensued (often 90 -110 hours per week) but gradually the cake sales took on a life of their own. Catering clients booked parties and re-booked for the following year. An opportunity to move their home and business to a property in Ringoes, New Jersey was too hard to resist when early in 1983 they found themselves expecting their first child.

Business was very good, both catering and cheesecake production were up. The property was purchased and life seemed pretty good. Unfortunately, the property was more expensive to maintain than expected and a very expensive septic problem developed. But - the cakes kept selling and every weekend the catering was at full tilt. An addition was put on the bakeshop, the septic problems took over a year to correct and additional bank loans were taken.

Life got more complicated, the family was growing and a second child was born in January 1986. The addition had more than doubled the bakery and production space. Over 10,000 cheesecakes were baked during peak weeks, sales reached from Coast to Coast, Canada and Mexico, and additional employees were hired. The off site catering was every weekend serving an average of 150 to 300 people, work was literally non stop.

One day a buyer from one of the large club stores called and inquired about purchasing cheesecake for their chain in the North East. This seemed at the time to be too good to be true.

The Maddalena's were too busy juggling the day to day business to notice the trend begin to shift in the cheesecake business. Initially, in the early 80s there were a handful of cheesecake companies vying for the same customers, gradually, that number became 30 or more. Soon the competition began a price war, lowering pricing to get business and Maddalena's soon found them selves lowering prices just to keep the old customer base. They hoped the high volume club store business would be the answer to their problems. It took months to get all the necessary steps (new packaging and new equipment) in place to make it happen. They were sure the added volume was all they needed to get them back on the right track. Unfortunately the problems were only intensified by the Club Store Business, extremely high volume combined with very low margins equaled disaster.

In 1990 the Maddalena's felt trapped and took a partner on. For five years the partners tried to make it all work but in reality they had different motivations. Devastated and backed into a corner in 1995, with no other alternative in sight they decided to file for personal and corporate bankruptcy. Months went by and when it looked like everything was lost forever they prepared to say good-bye to the place that had been home to their young family & business since 1984. At almost the last second, literally 3 days before the final move, something happened to change everything. They got a second chance; the opportunity to start over with the knowledge they had gained was the answer to their prayers.

Today 21 years almost to the day that it all began they have proven to be survivors. Still working hard but understanding their limitations, their business and their customers far better than ever before.

The Maddalena's refer the failure of their original company as their "Ivy League Education". The entire experience was one that they say; they would not have lived by choice, but a lesson so valuable that they would not trade for anything.