Finding the secret ingredient for restaurant success: Solving a water challenge in New Orleans

How one restaurant solved a 30-year filtration problem with 3M's help.

In the competitive world of foodservice, Creole Cuisine has managed to thrive and expand.

The trick is having the right people in the right place, according to Michael Richard, technical service manager for Creole Cuisine. And sometimes it’s looking to the right partners to solve a tricky problem.

The New Orleans-based restaurant group started out in 1989 with one daquiri shop, which they expanded by adding several new locations. A few years ago they began rapidly expanding their enterprise into other restaurant and hospitality venues.

Michael has been working on full-service maintenance in the restaurant industry for the past 30 years, working for them as a vendor when they were just starting out with their daquiri shops. “I worked for them doing maintenance starting in the 90s. I was brought into the business, in house, along with my supervisor when they started to expand six years ago,” he says. He now manages the entire 16-strong maintenance team.

Over the years, he’s focused on his specialty area – ice machines – and has continued to go to school and update his certifications and accreditations for maintaining ice machines. And as an ice machine expert in New Orleans, he has some particular concerns. “I’ve been aggravated for 30 years,” he says.

His frustration stems from the calcium carbonate in water, which is fine for consumption, but is hard on restaurant equipment. He says water filters work but they would clog up quickly—sometimes in just one day during really busy times. The last thing you want to deal with on a busy Mardi Gras weekend is having to continually change out filters. And it’s not only a time-consuming interruption – it’s also expensive. He said they could spend up to $2000 on ice issues during big festival weekend.

“I’ve tried every filter under the sun,” he says. “And then Mickey approached us.” Mickey Hess is a sales rep for 3M Separation and Purification Sciences, and he had a filtration system that could help solve Michael’s ice problems.