Tamás Fonth joined the Matusz-Vad team three years ago, and his career at the group has been marked by continuous development. Tamás started as a regional representative, then proved himself as a regional commercial manager, and now he continues his work in a new area of responsibility, as Deputy Commercial Director. We spoke to Tamás about the milestones that led to his appointment, the challenges he faces in his new position and how he sees the future opportunities for Matusz-Vad in the market.
Eszter Drahos: You have been part of the Matusz-Vad team for 3 years now. What inspired you to join?
Tamás Fonth: I wanted to use my previous experience in hospitality and commerce in an organisation that is constantly able to innovate, improve service and product page and represents high quality, uniqueness and last but not least safety on the market. I have found this place!
DE: How has your career path with the company been so far, and what milestones have led to your promotion?
FT: As a regional representative, my main task was to manage and build the existing customer base and to win new customers and markets. As the months went by, I was able to deliver better results and business, which caught the attention of my managers at the time. During this period, it was already apparent on a regional level that the Budapest sales team is starting to „outgrow” itself. With a view to maintaining efficiency and momentum, my colleague Balázs Bognár and I were then given the opportunity by our commercial director to manage our areas as „small drivers” to support the team in Buda and Pest and, together with our business colleagues, to help them achieve their corporate objectives while providing a constant crutch. Keeping pressure on the territory, we eventually closed the project with 425 new customers. I consider it a success that we were able to achieve our goals as partners, helping each other and complementing each other, instead of rivalry, something I have always considered important and still believe in. During the six-month project period I gained a lot of experience and gained a broader insight into the company's operations and middle management tasks, which I finally mastered and was given another opportunity to represent the Pest sales team as a regional manager. With the change in the structure of the domestic trade in 2024, the scope for middle managers was further expanded, which meant more tasks and responsibilities, but I look back on it as a very exciting and challenging time. Here, as regional trade „directors”, we were responsible for the department's tasks, with maximum support and guidance from the CEO. We covered practically the entire commercial spectrum, from strategy development and planning to implementation. We worked in this set-up for a year and that's when I received the honourable invitation from our CEO, Bertold Simon, to support him in senior management tasks and the back office part of the trade.
DE: What new challenges do you face as Deputy Commercial Director?
FT: The new „with position” in addition to leading the team in Pest, I will have closer contact not only with the regional commercial managers but also with the senior managers of the partner divisions, giving me a broader insight into the company's operations than I currently have. My middle management responsibilities will remain, such as planning, monitoring and weekly coach days. I will also continue to manage the TOP customers in Pest, so the biggest challenge for me is to fully take on the extra tasks and to be able to deliver in all areas while giving the team maximum support. Last year brought many changes, perhaps more than we had previously thought. I think that the key to success was that we were able to react immediately to all sudden situations that arose and we didn't let ourselves get pushed off the field! In fact, we have been able to open up new markets by attacking them in advance, so that several areas have made significant progress. In 2025, it will be important to continue to follow the strategy defined and, in addition to exploiting the opportunities in the two main target segments this year, to surround ourselves with Matusz-Vad-compatible partners who have set themselves ambitious goals and are looking for a strong supplier partner. In the classic a la carte segment, restaurateurs have started to introduce technical stops, such as the Monday to Thursday closing time, partly due to the gradual increase in overheads and staff shortages, and partly due to the reduced willingness of domestic customers to spend in restaurants. Hotels, on the other hand, are forced into a 7-day working week, so in addition to gaining lost turnover in the aforementioned segment they will seize all means to fill the houses with enough guests. The current exchange rate of the forint - or its possible further weakening - could have a significant impact on foreign travel this year, and hotels can benefit the most from this by reacting in a timely and appropriate manner, for example by dynamic pricing. Taking into account consumer habits and preferences, a trend growth is forecasted on the spending side within the domestic streetfood and buffet market, so we intend to continue to focus on the item groups affecting this segment in the near future. The company has always been at the forefront of innovation and is at the forefront of both service and product in the domestic market. Keeping our portfolio up to date and in line with current trends will remain key to ensuring that our dealers are armed with the most powerful weapons possible. We have the maximum support from procurement in this and this year we want to complement this with a 52-week in-out and knock-on product package.
DE: Will there be any other changes in the workforce structure at Matusz-Vad?
FT: This year, a replacement career opportunity will be launched in every department in the company, with which our CEO intends to focus on appreciation and vitality, in addition to enhancing operational safety. We want to create a commercial pyramid, where each region has a leader with 1 to 1 person who can be relied on. In addition, we want to launch more projects at regional level with the support of commercial leaders, creating opportunities to fulfil personal ambitions and achieve our business goals, in addition to increasing efficiency. At the end of the day, both Matusz-Vad Zrt and the employee will be winners from these steps.
„I believe that we can achieve great results as a team and by building on this strength, there is no goal we cannot achieve together!”
