We welcome Julien Paris, our new Research and Innovation Director at Valentine Fabrique SA. Julien’s role is to drive the Valentine LAB forward and future proof our portfolio of high-quality professional kitchen equipment.
Julien is an Electrical Engineer and part of the third generation of the Valentine Fabrique family. He joined the family business in the middle of the COVID19 lockdown. Julien describes his introduction in these special times.
“It was an interesting start. I got a general presentation from Christophe and I then took my laptop and started working from home. My introduction was quite special, but it is very exciting to finally be part of the family business.”
We asked Julien a couple of questions to get to know him better and to reveal what is happening in the Valentine LAB right now…
Tell us a bit about your background
“I’m an Electrical Engineer and I have worked at Eaton in France, Austria and Switzerland. During this time I learned a lot about innovation and how to develop the right products based on customer feedback. For the past 5 years I worked at Bombardier Transportation in Zurich where I gained experience in software and project management. I believe my background will help develop new products at Valentine”
Can you describe what the Valentine LAB is today?
“I normally describe The Valentine LAB from 2 perspectives:
- The Valentine LAB is a spirit, deeply connected with our culture and it helps us to be more innovative. My mission is to keep this spirit alive in our everyday decision making. How can we be more innovative? How can we improve our processes or make things differently? How can we make our customers work in the professional kitchen easier, safer and better? These are the key questions I am asking myself every day.
- The Valentine LAB is also a space. We have dedicated a physical space in the production area for the Valentine LAB. This is where we have our innovation meetings and workshops to improve our processes, our products and to find new innovative product ideas.”
What challenges is the Valentine LAB focusing on right now?
“Valentine Fabrique SA is a high quality and innovative kitchen equipment company. Our core business is our professional fryers, but we are also looking into extending our product portfolio. Our vision for Valentine is to be an innovation leader and we strongly believe in this vision.”
How do you get inspiration to keep the innovative spirit alive?
“As a person, I have always been very curious about new things and new technologies. This is the main reason I studied electrical engineering. Curiosity can be trying out a new sport, thinking about a new kitchen product or just finding a new road to work. I believe that if you change your habits it will make you think differently and sometimes, find the solution to your problem.”
What do you appreciate the most working at Valentine?
“Over the years I have noticed that Valentine is a well-known company, known globally for our high-quality professional fryers and outstanding service, which makes me proud. We build everything at our production site in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland, and this is important to me. Our products are made with high-quality materials and expertise.”
Last, any secrets from the Valentine LAB you can reveal today?
“2020 is very different from previous years. However, we have continued to work on our ideas in the Valentine LAB. Thanks to (and not despite of) COVID19, we started to think outside the box. The current situation accelerated our innovative spirit and some of the new ideas are already in production… I can’t tell more right now, but shortly we will announce some quite exciting news regarding our product portfolio, so stay updated by following our company page on LinkedIn!”