IFYA Newsmakers: Forte Supply Named Master Distributor for Spaceman USA

Spaceman USA

We’re introducing a new interview series, IFYA Newsmakers. IFYA Newsmakers covers significant frozen yogurt industry events.

Our first IFYA Newsmakers interview is with Jeff Resnick, Founder and CEO of Forte Supply. Forte Supply recently became the master distributor for Spaceman USA, a line of high quality soft serve machines. Forte Supply is now the exclusive distributor for Spaceman in the US.

Q: Congratulations on becoming the master distributor for Spaceman Company in the USA. We’d love to hear more about what this means for Spaceman and Forte Supply. What was your reason for seeking distributorship for Spaceman Company?

Resnick: I have been following Spaceman Company soft serve machines for over 5 years now. In fact, prior to beginning Forte Supply I reached out to Spaceman Company China and Spaceman USA to begin our relationship. I knew from my research that Spaceman had the highest quality frozen yogurt and ice cream equipment available. At the time, I did not have the experience or infrastructure to support a supply agreement with a manufacturer of that size, although I did try (laughs).  So it has always been my goal to procure the rights to Spaceman products in the US and we have finally realized the opportunity! We are excited to partner with Spaceman Company and bring the entire soft serve and frozen beverage line into the USA backed by the Forte service promise and culture.

Q: Tell us more about the Spaceman brand and its history in the US.

Resnick: Spaceman has been manufacturing soft serve equipment since 1991. The company was founded by a team of aerospace engineers, hence the name. In the late 90s, Monty Rice of America Classic Foods began to work as a consultant with Spaceman to prepare the product for the American marketplace. In 2005 Spaceman USA was founded by Mr. Rice and the full line of soft serve equipment development began for quality, testing, and certification purposes. The product has developed to such an outstanding level that I know we will literally shock the market over the next year. We have excellent feedback from all our current users and now we will implement Forte’s existing team, service, support and training model to reach our potential and bring the Spaceman brand into a similar market position as Taylor, Stoelting, and Electro Freeze.

Q: Will you be offering new soft serve machine models or will you be distributing Spaceman models that were already available in the US?

Resnick: Spaceman has a full line of commercially ready models that have been sold for the last 9 years in the USA. Over the last 2 years we have developed a few new models that are tailored to meet the needs of our existing niche markets such as the 6240 (ss100C) and the 6250 (which is the new standard for USA frozen yogurt stores, similar to the Stoelting F231 and Taylor C723 or 791).

Q: What can we expect from the new Spaceman USA models? When will they be available?

Resnick: We will be keeping 4 models of soft serve machines in stock in California and Colorado, the 6225, 6240, 6250 and 6378. Each is ideal for a different user. We will also stock 2 models of frozen beverage machines, the 6490 and 6690. Larger dealers and key accounts such as restaurant chains that need a tailored machine will have access to our full line of over 14 models. We will also have these models available to the public, though the manufacturing time will be longer. All models have the following options: air or water cooled, air pump, mix agitators, flexible or single blade beaters. Each machine has a design element for the freezing cylinders and valve body which keeps the overrun around 34% for the gravity fed machines using 4MM air tubes. We can adjust the overrun down by putting larger air tubes or taking them out completely. If a customer needs higher overrun, then our air pumps will do the trick. The bottom line is the product comes out amazingly creamy and keeps its consistency over a longer period than any other machine I have tested.  All machines have safety features and menus in the display boards that are easy to use and customizable.

Q: Can you share some of your future plans with Spaceman USA?

Resnick: Right now we are focused on getting our full line out to the public through franchises, dealers, and buying groups. Self-serve frozen yogurt stores have always been our “Forte” and there is no one in the industry with more knowledge then the Forte staff. With our new models available we project sales to increase this year to over 2,000 total units. We are working on batch freezers and should be able to release them sometime in 2015 commercially. We are also working on a few “secret” projects at the factory; you will be the first to know once we are ready to release more info!

Q: What will this mean for the Forte models you carry? How will this affect your service and support?

Resnick: Spaceman USA is a Forte Company. Our priority is always to our existing customers; nothing supersedes them. We know that our customers have built this company with us. We have several full time employees who will maintain their current position at Forte to continue to support existing customers of the SS100 and SS100B models.  Our warehouse is well stocked with warranty and replacement parts and we continue to get new parts in often. Our service network is larger than ever and we continue to make improvements. For instance, in November we were granted access to upload service documents for all Forte model machines onto over 1,000 Ecolab equipment technicians’ iPads throughout the US. This gives Ecolab more onsite access to important service manuals, diagrams, and instructions. It is our promise to continue to utilize the best available practices in the industry to service our customers and to never be complacent on the road to total customer satisfaction and distinction!

For additional information about Spaceman USA, please visit the Spaceman USA website: http://spacemanusa.com/