History

HESCO has been supporting the hospitality and food service industries for nearly a century. The Edmonton based company was launched in 1921 during a booming era of new construction, as new towns began sprouting up across the prairie in the wake of expanding railways.

Founder R.J. Talbot recognized that these new towns would need hotels and eateries and he jumped at the chance to supply them with an inexhaustible list of products, from stoves and floor wax to cooking utensils and linens.

When Larry and Adam Ungarian bought the business in 2006, HESCO was still the go-to store for a dizzying array of food service products. But the father and son team realized that there was a new gap in the market that needed to be filled. While still focusing on the supply aspect of the business, the Ungarians turned their attention to designing and building commercial kitchens.

The team has taken on projects ranging from $20,000 to $5 million and they are not afraid to tackle challenging, out of the box assignments. For instance, HESCO is currently transforming an airport hangar in Edmonton into a banqueting facility.