Nashville-based Chairman’s Foods has been producing high-quality products for the foodservice industry for more than 40 years. Their products include soups, stews and chowders; wet, prepared salads; cooked proteins; fillings and toppings; gravies and dips; and side dishes. When one of their customers wanted a refrigerated chicken casserole product that combined cooked chicken with the casserole base, Chairman’s CEO, Chris Staudt, started exploring options. In 2010, they started researching and validating High Pressure Processing (HPP). They considered buying their own equipment, but after realizing the expense and manpower needs, they decided to outsource with Universal Pure. As a result, their business model changed from selling 100 percent frozen foods to 60 percent fresh/refrigerated foods, and their revenue increased from $10 million in 2011 to $35 million last year. You can learn more about the Chairman’s Foods HPP journey by reading our Q&A interview with Chris Staudt below.
Q. How did you get into the food business?
A. I started in the food business in 2001 by working for a customized foodservice manufacturer & distributor in Nashville, Tenn., serving national chain restaurants. I spent most of my time working in the supply chain, managing shipping and transportation functions for refrigerated and frozen food products. I learned a lot about the challenges with fresh and frozen food in the supply chain and grew in my role to manage and develop new business for our manufacturing facility.
So, when the distribution center closed in 2008, it wasn’t a stretch for me to step into leadership of the new business that emerged, which was Chairman’s Foods. Today I serve as CEO and continue to spend my time developing custom solutions for our foodservice customers.
Q. What does Chairman’s do?
A. Chairman’s provides food manufacturing, co-packing and white labeling services for brand-name companies in the food warehouse, grocery, restaurant and retail business.
Q. What made you change from manufacturing mostly frozen food to fresh food?
A. The main reason was customer demand. Previously, we were providing mostly frozen foods using thermal processing. One of our customers asked us to add fully cooked chicken to a casserole base product and they wanted it to be fresh and have a shelf life of 30 days post-delivery. The addition of the chicken required us to have a post lethality step to inactivate foodborne pathogens. Using HPP, we obtained food safety and shelf life without negatively affecting the integrity of the product, extending the shelf life from 21 to 60 days. From a standpoint of product development, HPP opened new market opportunities that weren’t available to us before.
Q. What do you see as the biggest benefit of HPP?
A. Food safety assurance is first and foremost. Fresh foods require a longer shelf life and HPP enables this. HPP is able to open solution-based opportunities: increased shelf life, no ingredient spoilage, integrity of foods and cleaner labels. It’s helped our revenue grow by reducing shipping expenses because we have the option to ship full truckloads and obtain better rates. Extended shelf life allows customers to keep fresh products on the shelf longer, reducing stocking frequency and out-of-code products.
Q. What do you see as the challenge in getting other manufacturers to adopt HPP?
A. I think there is a lack of understanding among manufacturers. They’ve got business and they’re not willing to make a change even though there’s an opportunity to expand. They’re not willing to be open and see the opportunity. For me it’s a capacity play – being able to extend shelf life allows you to schedule production in the most optimal way and improve supply chain needs. We’ve done a lot of work on our own to understand how it applies to what we do and to validate the process. We’re custom, so when an opportunity comes along, we do something others can’t, and we do it with HPP.
Q. What do you see as the future for HPP?
A. The need for convenient, safe, ready-to-eat products is on the rise, as people work longer hours and have less free time. Having a wholesome ready-to-go convenient meal is important, and HPP foods are able to best fill that need.
We recently conducted an HPP case study with Chairman’s Foods. For more details on how Chairman’s took advantage of the benefits of HPP while increasing enterprise value, download the full case study here.
