Delicious! Hans-Jürgen Grygo delivers ingredients for pizza and pasta

RoadStars meets

Real Italian.

Working at Andronaco, a family-run company in Hamburg, Hans-Jürgen Grygo supplies pizzerias and Italian restaurants with fresh ingredients. A big advantage of this job: he often gets to enjoy what the customers conjure up with his freight.

On the road in the HafenCity district: Andronaco also owns premises in Hamburg's youngest district with its Elbphilharmonie - a brand new concert and event hall.


Where can you get a really good pizza in Hamburg and the tastiest pasta in Sankt Peter-Ording? "Friends are always asking me that and I always have a few tips," says Hans-Jürgen "Hansi" Grygo. He can't say anything about this in public; after all he has an obligation to his customers: Italian restaurants and pizzerias in the Hanseatic city, at the North Sea and on the way there.

Ingredients for pizza, pasta and more.

Hansi delivers restaurants with all of the ingredients needed for the dishes on a true Italian menu. The 45 year-old is a driver for Andronaco, which is one of the largest suppliers of Italian foods in Germany. The Hamburg-based company has subsidiaries in Cologne and five other cities and offers around 9000 different products – in their own markets accessible to everyone and as a supplier to the catering industry currently with a fleet of 14 Atego trucks.

Hansi has been working for Andronaco since 2000. During that time he has seen the family-run company grow continuously – and from another perspective at times: "I worked in the warehouse for three years," he tells us. "Last year I got back on the road, which is a good thing!" Every now and again Hansi delivers within Hamburg, but usually he travels to the North Sea.

 

Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.
Delicious freight and a favourite truck: Hansi Grygo particularly likes to be on the road in the current Atego 1624.

Fixed tour plans and an early start to work.

Hansi drives according to fixed tour plans, but not with one particular vehicle. But he still has one truck that he prefers: "I prefer to be out with the current Atego 1624, which is fantastic to handle," says the father of two grown sons and two younger daughters. "After I had driven it the first time, I told my boss: Don't buy anything else!

The driver's work days begin early: "Every morning I am at work at around 5 a.m.," he says. "Then I allow myself a coffee before I start loading up. It is important to me that I do that myself." During his tours to the North Sea, Hansi sometimes drives to eight customers and sometimes to twice as many. But it doesn't matter how many there are: there is more than enough space in the refrigeration body of the Atego for both fresh and frozen foodstuffs.


Lots to do: the "Al Lido" restaurant in Hamburg is one of hundreds of restaurants that receive goods from Hansi Grygo and his colleagues at Andronaco.
Lots to do: the "Al Lido" restaurant in Hamburg is one of hundreds of restaurants that receive goods from Hansi Grygo and his colleagues at Andronaco.
Lots to do: the "Al Lido" restaurant in Hamburg is one of hundreds of restaurants that receive goods from Hansi Grygo and his colleagues at Andronaco.
Lots to do: the "Al Lido" restaurant in Hamburg is one of hundreds of restaurants that receive goods from Hansi Grygo and his colleagues at Andronaco.
Lots to do: the "Al Lido" restaurant in Hamburg is one of hundreds of restaurants that receive goods from Hansi Grygo and his colleagues at Andronaco.
Lots to do: the "Al Lido" restaurant in Hamburg is one of hundreds of restaurants that receive goods from Hansi Grygo and his colleagues at Andronaco.
Lots to do: the "Al Lido" restaurant in Hamburg is one of hundreds of restaurants that receive goods from Hansi Grygo and his colleagues at Andronaco.
Lots to do: the "Al Lido" restaurant in Hamburg is one of hundreds of restaurants that receive goods from Hansi Grygo and his colleagues at Andronaco.

Hansi is convinced that the pressure of meeting delivery times is not as high as in freight haulage, the sector he worked in before starting at Andronaco. "But you shouldn't underestimate it. Because a lot of what I deliver is processed the same day it's delivered." He is allowed to sample the results sometimes too. "There are customers who often offer me something and who would almost be offended if I refused," he says – and then grins as he explains: "We have to observe our break times, so it's no problem!" You could also add: after all, anyone who wants to give their friends good restaurant tips needs to know what they are talking about!


Photos: Christian Schmid

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