Our History
The Hansen Group represents the evolution of over 60 years of continuous service to the hospitality industry. Beginning in 1957, founder Austin Hansen traveled throughout the Southeast, offering consultation help on concept development. He was effective in solving the complete needs of foodservice equipment operations and was an encyclopedia of knowledge about equipment and supplies.
Austin covered an eight-state territory with Cambro as his first partnered manufacturer, a brand still represented by The Hansen Group today. In the early 1960’s he adopted the model of selling multiple lines with the addition of Fischer Steam Equipment and Delfield.
After 20 years of growing success, Austin’s son, Cris, along with Phil Kenny (PK) joined the group. A few years later Austin’s youngest son, Mark joined and later Jim Myers and Tony Thompson. This core group renamed the company The Hansen Group and established themselves as one of the premier Rep firms in the Southeast.
In 1996, Austin retired and Cris and PK acquired the company. In 2000, Wayne Jones joined the team. A few months later, much success followed with the addition of the Enodis package and subsequently continued when Enodis was acquired by Manitowoc Corporation. In 2004, Dave Schwefler joined as well.
In 2010, Cris and PK handed over leadership to Wayne and Dave to provide the third generation of ownership. The Hansen Group and RepsSouth merged in 2014 to unite companies in MAFSI Region 12 and thus Dennis Elliot became an additional partner. After eight prosperous years, Dennis retired and turned his leadership over to Kristin Bishop. We are proud to call Kristin our first female partner in THG history! In 2023, Michael Riley became our fourth partner, managing the THG West territory. Today, The Hansen Group Team continues to offer the same high-quality service to customers in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama the Florida panhandle, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
We are proud to represent manufacturers who produce the highest quality products in the industry. We gladly offer our manufacturer-specific and knowledgeable consultation services, design facilitation, culinary facilities, and hands-on training for dealers and end-users alike.