231 - Believe In Your Vision with Zach Fine of Holly Poultry

Got it.

Wow.

Now, COVID comes, you pivot the business to retail.

Very different what you were doing prior to COVID.

How was that experience for you?

It was good.

I mean, it was, it was challenging 'cause now all of a sudden you're not going B2B, you're going B2C.

Mm-hmm.

So that was challenging and understanding all that, and the, you know, the quality metrics, and all the things that need to be there.

But we pivoted.

Turn...

We didn't have a choice.

Um, it was survival.

And that's why when food service business came back really hard at the end of 2020, when people, you know, did the outdoor dining and just a lot of things that gave them comfort, well, we said, "Well, we're not losing this retail piece." And we didn't, and then it kind of has morphed over the last five years into its own, "Let's, let's bring a lot of our food service knowledge and expertise to the retail world, and let's do something different with some brands, and let's team up with some people to do something.

Bring newness and bring energy to the poultry aisle."

Mm-hmm.

And that's kind of what we've started, just at the infancy stages of starting to do, that has propelled us into a new, a new building.

With retail, you know, obviously going into that segment, was it easy or difficult, I get, I guess, to get your foot in the door to be sold and, you know, get good aisle, get good exposure, get, get the product into stores, right?

Yeah.

It was tough.

Okay.

It's tough.

Absolutely.

And it is today.

They're like, "Hey, I've been, you know, buying Perdue for 30 years," or, "I've been buying Allen for 20 years," or, "I've been buying any of these big Tyson for all these years.

Got it.

Wow.

Now, COVID comes, you pivot the business to retail.

Very different what you were doing prior to COVID.

How was that experience for you?

It was good.

I mean, it was, it was challenging 'cause now all of a sudden you're not going B2B, you're going B2C.

Mm-hmm.

So that was challenging and understanding all that, and the, you know, the quality metrics, and all the things that need to be there.

But we pivoted.

Turn...

We didn't have a choice.

Um, it was survival.

And that's why when food service business came back really hard at the end of 2020, when people, you know, did the outdoor dining and just a lot of things that gave them comfort, well, we said, "Well, we're not losing this retail piece." And we didn't, and then it kind of has morphed over the last five years into its own, "Let's, let's bring a lot of our food service knowledge and expertise to the retail world, and let's do something different with some brands, and let's team up with some people to do something.

Bring newness and bring energy to the poultry aisle."

Mm-hmm.

And that's kind of what we've started, just at the infancy stages of starting to do, that has propelled us into a new, a new building.

With retail, you know, obviously going into that segment, was it easy or difficult, I get, I guess, to get your foot in the door to be sold and, you know, get good aisle, get good exposure, get, get the product into stores, right?

Yeah.

It was tough.

Okay.

It's tough.

Absolutely.

And it is today.

They're like, "Hey, I've been, you know, buying Perdue for 30 years," or, "I've been buying Allen for 20 years," or, "I've been buying any of these big Tyson for all these years.