Specialty Food Magazine

FALL 2015

Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.

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Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 3508 Partners Artisan Hors D'Oeuvre Crackers 800-632-7477 • www.partnerscrackers.com • NON GMO Available in 3 delicious flavors: • Roasted Garlic & Rosemary • Olive Oil & Sea Salt • Everything & More *NEW FLAVOR* Made with high quality non-GMO ingredients Perfect for creating elegant party platters Hearty and wholesome crackers Made with high quality non-GMO ingredients Perfect for creating elegant party platters toward the same goals," Walker explains. For the system to work, management needs to open its books to employees, acqui- escing to full transparency and involving each and every worker in the business. Zingerman's Weinzweig and Saginaw teach several classes at their companies, with lessons on topics from food to business and finance, all for the betterment of their employees. With the exception of those fin- icky HR issues, all their meetings are open. "If you're going to leverage the fact that you have co-workers as owners, they have to understand how the business runs," says Christine Perich, president of New Belgium Brewing Co. Employees of the Fort Collins, Colorado-based brewery became full own- ers of the company's stock at the end of 2012. Until then, employees had owned 41 percent of the company, with the control- ling share owned by co-founder and CEO, Kim Jordan, and her family. "It's a great asset if you choose to use it," Perich adds. "But if not, it's like inviting people to smell the lunch but not letting them eat. You want full engagement. We're driving this value together every single day. Having that business literacy across the board and knowing whatever part you play in the brewery and how that is involved with the bottom line drives a different connec- tion to your work every day." That kind of connection and business f luency takes time for managers to culti- vate, but, Perich notes, "a whole lot less" than if the company were publicly traded. It requires a CFO and management team will- ing and able to dig in and explain the new structure and their roles to staff in detail. Structuring a company to become partially or wholly employee-owned requires long- term planning. Litehouse Foods took nearly 10 years to become a full-fledged ESOP. PHOTO LITEHOUSE FOODS 30 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com

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