The art of sales and relationships in the food equipment industry with Rafal Rusiniak

Rafal Rusiniak is the National Business Development & Sales Manager at Handtmann Canada Limited, a company specializing in food processing equipment solutions. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, Rafal’s journey into sales was unexpected—he originally pursued a degree in engineering before discovering his passion for sales and business development.

In this episode, Rafal takes us inside the world of food processing equipment sales, sharing insights on building relationships with clients, the structured approach to sales training, and the process behind purchasing large-scale food manufacturing equipment. We also dive into the skills that make a great salesperson—like storytelling and understanding personality types—and why food processing equipment companies need food scientists too!

***

SPONSOR

CareersNOW! is Food and Beverage Ontario’s multi-year workforce development initiative that is connecting students and job seekers with employers in Ontario’s food and beverage processing industry for exciting career opportunities. Check out CareersNOW.ca for more information on exciting jobs, career information, industry mentors and training opportunities for professional development.

***

RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE

→ #33 -Somayeh Salemi, Business Development Specialist at Klever Equipped Inc.
https://foodgrads.com/podcast/Somayeh...

***

SIGN UP FOR WEEKLY FOOD INDUSTRY CAREER TIPS

→ Sign up for the newsletter
https://foodgrads.com/subscribe-foodg...

***

CONNECT WITH US
🐦 X:   / foodgrads  
📸 Instagram:   / foodgrads  
🎵 TikTok:   / foodgrads.com  
💼 LinkedIn:   / foodgrads  

***
CONNECT WITH BRIAN
🌐 Website: https://www.madewithlocal.com/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madewithloc...
💼 LinkedIn:   / made-with-local  
📹 YouTube: /‪@madewithlocal‬

***

TIMESTAMPS
[0:00] Introduction
[0:39] What Handtmann Canada is
[1:33] What does a sales professional do?
[5:26] Equipment and service equipment Handtamm creates
[10:15] Steps to obtain a piece of equipment
[16:30] Partnerships in sales with customers
Probably a good place to put the insert
[18:20] How Rafal got into his position
[23:06] What skills help Rafal to be an effective sales person
[29:22] Topics/skills Rafal is working
Maybe a good place after 32 because he talks about culture
[36:22] Roles available for students at a Handtmand Canada
[41:42] Advice for students thinking about going into food processing or sales