Until 1996 John Strachan worked as an Electrician for a company specializing in Industrial and Rural Electrical Maintenance and Installation in the Nelson area. He saw the need for a local business specializing in supply and maintenance of food service equipment, so ‘The Hostservice Company’ began.
In 1997, John was joined by his son Nick. A loyal customer base was gained in the Upper South region. This included schools, supermarkets, cafes, restaurants, hotels, bars, hospitals and resthomes. Our customer then valued a complete package including equipment supply, installation and after sales service support, as they do today. In 2000, the business moved to their own premises in McGlashen Avenue Richmond. John’s other sons Dan and Mark joined the business soon after. In 2005, Importing of our own product lines from the UK began. Panther bain maries were one of our first imported products. By this time, we were specializing more in the aged care market and were starting to supply equipment throughout New Zealand.
By late 2012 we had built our first 20 foot container kitchen. This was developed by Dan for an aged care customer in Whangarei to provide a temporary kitchen during the refurbishment of their existing facility.
In 2014, our North Island office at Levin was opened and in 2015 we moved to our current Forests Road premises in Nelson. Now in 2022, we have 10 staff and have a fleet of eight container kitchens. We are focused on providing design, advice and solutions to our clients throughout New Zealand for better ways to prepare, cook and serve.