SELLING THE

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AUGUST 2012

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The Futureof Fireplaces

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

Selling theHigh End!Selling theHigh End!

SELLING THE

OUTDOORROOMS

The Outdoor Room - Manufacturing

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BBQal Dante

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Dante Cantal launchedTwin Eagles grills two yearsbefore the recession; today,his company is flying high.

By Lisa Readie Mayer

In the backyard of his California home, Dante Cantalhas created a spectacular Outdoor Room and a show-case for products he manufactures.

n 2006, Hearth & Home first profiled DanteCantal and his company, Twin Eagles, justas he was trading his behind-the-scenes role

as an OEM manufacturer for a new one in thespotlight manufacturing and marketing his ownbranded line of stainless-steel, commercial-qual-ity grills and appliances.

Cantal was up for the challenge. A native ofthe Philippines, the gas products engineer alreadyhad more than a decade of experience in the high-end grill category, first as a co-founder of LynxProfessional Grills, and later as an OEM grilldesigner and manufacturer for many companies.Together with his wife Fannie, also an engineer,his daughter Karen, and a few trusted colleagues,Cantal set about building a brand that is arguablyone of the fastest-growing and most-respected inthe high-end gas grill segment.

Named after Cantal’s twin children, Twin Eaglesgrills have realized annual double-digit sales growthand North American-wide distribution in the sixyears since launching. Cantal has achieved much inthat time personally, as well. He has earned severalindustry awards and his latest recognition came inJune when he received the Lifetime Member Awardby the American Society of Gas Engineers, theyoungest person ever to be presented with this pres-tigious honor.

Hearth & Home spoke with Dante Cantal recentlyto catch up on what’s been happening and continuethe conversation we left off six years ago.

Hearth & Home: When we first met, you had justtaken the leap to launch your own branded grillline after years of success as an OEM manufac-turer. Looking back, are you still happy with thatdecision?

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Dante Cantal: “Yes, definitely. The deci-sion to start Twin Eagles was mostlyborn out of necessity. At the time, wewere at a crossroads as an OEM manu-facturer. Ducane, one of our biggestaccounts, was going under, and many ofour other OEM customers were leavingus to source cheaper product from China.

“Previously, we had not wanted tocompete with our customers by intro-ducing our own grill brand, but timeswere changing and the marketplace wasdifferent. It was a scary situation andwe had to adapt and respond.”

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. That

fact 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 ourresponsibility to make their jobs aseasy as possible. We strive to givethem products the consumer wants,the tools and education to sell thoseproducts, and superior customer ser-vice to back it up.

“So, after we signed on our firstdealers, we spent all of 2007 listeningto 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 dealercomplains, 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 slowdown 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 would

The Outdoor Room - Manufacturing

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

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be 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 percentto 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 more

efficient and produce product faster.“Ironically, now our OEM division

is 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.Earlier you mentioned that selling anddistributing the grills were new chal-lenges when you launched the TwinEagles brand. Six years ago you weremainly selling dealer-direct. Is that stillthe case?

Cantal: “Getting distribution establishedwas critical to moving forward with TwinEagles. We decided initially to sell dealer-direct, carefully targeting one area at atime to expand distribution, rather thantake a shotgun approach. We would ana-lyze the area and hone in on our target.We are very niche oriented. Most high-end grill manufacturers sell throughappliance dealers, but we focused onhearth dealers because they specialize inbarbecues. Hearth dealers have knowl-edge of the category like no one else.

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Seamless welding is essential to allTwin Eagles products.

Inside the Cerritos factory.

And specialty 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 displayislands 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 withaccess doors, but in many cases they aresold with a number of other appliancesand accessories. We find that the morecomponents dealers display, the morepeople 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 whostill 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.”

Twin Eagles products are hand-crafted with incredible attention to detail.

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The Outdoor Room - Manufacturing

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

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 people

think. 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

in the barbecue and appliance indus-tries, and I attend Expos for the com-mercial cooking equipment industry tolook for inspiration. Right now, mywife Fannie is pushing for a charcoalgrill 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 pastthree 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 market-ing our branded grill in 2006 and nowwe have 123 and are hiring more. Iused to micromanage out of necessity,

but now we have excellent people inplace to handle sales, marketing, pur-chasing, production and customer ser-vice. We are up to two shifts now. In2006, our facility was 45,000 sq. ft.and we have since added 20,000 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?”

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The Twin Eagles plant is clean, bright and airy.

REPRINTED FROM HEARTH & HOME © AUGUST 2012

Creative design, innovative engineering, precision manufacturing,

and impeccable quality control — all under one roof!

Twin Eagles develops, from design prototyping to testing to final

production, gas grills and outdoor kitchen accessories at their

state-of-the-art company owned facility in Cerritos, California.

The Twin Eagles family consists of passionate, highly trained

designers, engineers and skilled craftsmen bringing you

exquisite products and clearly...

Defining the Art of Outdoor Cooking.

MADE IN THE U.S.A.

Twin Eagles, Inc. 13231 East 166th Street, Cerritos, CA 90703 www.TwinEaglesBBQ.com (800) 789-2206

H&H back cover revision-3.indd 1 8/23/12 6:11 PM

Creative design, innovative engineering, precision manufacturing,

and impeccable quality control — all under one roof!

Twin Eagles develops, from design prototyping to testing to final

production, gas grills and outdoor kitchen accessories at their

state-of-the-art company owned facility in Cerritos, California.

The Twin Eagles family consists of passionate, highly trained

designers, engineers and skilled craftsmen bringing you

exquisite products and clearly...

Defining the Art of Outdoor Cooking.

MADE IN THE U.S.A.

Twin Eagles, Inc. 13231 East 166th Street, Cerritos, CA 90703 www.TwinEaglesBBQ.com (800) 789-2206

H&H back cover revision-3.indd 1 8/23/12 6:11 PM