Revitalizing the Ground Beef Industry
Jensen Meat
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Jensen Meat
Revitalizing the Ground Beef Industry California-based Jensen Meats refreshes its brand with facility upgrades and a focus on honesty and transparency Written by: Sasha Orman Produced by: Sam Hustler >>>
FEBRUARY | 2013 |
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Jensen Meat Revitalizing the Ground Beef Industry
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Our customer sees value in sustainability, and it’s the right thing to do
- Travis Scarpace Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Jensen Meat
J
ensen Meat is no stranger to transformations – founded by Reggie Jensen in the 1950s as a steak cutter for hotels and restaurants, the Vista, CA-based business evolved in the 1980s to become a strictly ground beef grinding facility for high profile clients like Checkers and U.S. Foods. Now under new management, Jensen Meat is on the precipice of transformation yet again.
The Path to Revitalization One of the largest changes that Jensen Meat is facing in the upcoming months is a full brand revitalization, beginning with a stripping down of the company website – a visceral prelude to Jensen Meat’s executives rebuilding the brand from the ground up. “Really the direction we’re heading is to be a new younger company with a lot of zero base thinking,” says Jensen Meat Vice President of Sales & Marketing Travis Scarpace. “Things have FEBRUARY | 2013 |
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Jensen Meat Revitalizing the Ground Beef Industry
gone on in our industry for fifty to sixty years without a lot of change. We’re looking at everything with fresh eyes and saying: is this the way it should be done? If it isn’t, we should do something different.” That involves bringing together Jensen Meat’s old guard and new faces throughout the ranks to identify core values and construct 6
a new mission statement that accurately represents the future of the business. “We have a great team of people all the way from the top to the bottom,” says Scarpace. “We have new guys who come from different industries –our CFO Sam Acuña came from electric cars (Electric/Automotive), I came
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from commercial real estate, and our COO Abel Olivera came from blending waxes. Then we have guys who have been here for decades – our head of production has been here for 25 years, our head of logistics for fifteen, our head of customer service fifteen. It’s really been putting those guys together, asking what our core objectives here, and starting from scratch looking at where we wanted to be and who we were already. It’s been a fun process for us, and the new branding emphasizes those things – the fact that we’re energetic, young, and transparent. It’s a reworking of what we want to be.” Expanding the Brand “Where we are right now – one of our customers came in and said we’re the world’s most efficient sardine can,” says Scarpace of the 29,000 square foot production facility where Jensen Meat currently does business. But that’s all about to change. Along with its brand revitalization, Jensen Meat is also undergoing a physical transformation as it prepares to move into a new 81,000 square foot facility. “Just getting things in a straight line and getting them FEBRUARY | 2013 |
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Jensen Meat
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Supplier Profile
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nufacturing solutions complete with space planning and management, custom equipment ms, automation and controls. Between our multipurpose manufacturing facility in Springdale, Website: www.FPEC.com acturing facility in Santa Fe Springs, California, and a network of distributors, FPEC is able to l customers large and small. FPEC’s reputation has been built on trust, quality and service. n about our full range of products, call or visit our website @ www.FPEC.com
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Innovative Cold Storage Innovative Cold Storage is offering cold storage services for frozen product in San Diego, California. With 25 years of industry experience, we are introducing our 2nd facility with more than 38,000 pallet spaces, state of the art technology, and an impressive list of green features. Website: www.innovativecold.com
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Jensen Meat will also be able to devote nearly the entire facility to production thanks to cooperation from sister company Innovative Cold Storage Enterprises (ICE). “All of our cold storage is going to be done in a LEED Gold facility that’s totally sustainable with solar power, wind power, water reclamation, and recyclable materials,” says Scarpace, who understands the myriad benefits of access to a cold storage facility with such accreditation. “Our customer sees value in sustainability, and it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “We’re not the biggest company on the block, so for us to find an efficient way to do it or leverage somebody else’s expertise is a big win for us.” The Importance of Being Transparent One of the hottest issues in the food industry today is that of transparency, especially within the world of meat processing. It’s an issue that Jensen Meat takes very seriously, not only in regards to processing practices but in all areas of the business. “I think there are two levels of transparency –our corporate customer and then the end consumer – and on both accounts, being open and honest and FEBRUARY | 2013 |
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transparent are very important,” says Scarpace. “When it comes to pricing we don’t play games. We really leave it to the customer to decide whether or not they want to do business with us. In our industry, especially in ground beef, it seems like a lot of companies, in order to reach certain price points, just don’t tell customers all it took to get there. We’ve decided we’re just not going to do that.” “Then, with the whole pink slime issue, the meat industry needs to earn back the trust of the consumer,” he adds. “Somebody has to make the first move and 12
extend the olive branch, and we’re going to consistently try to do that. Two or three percent of people are never going to be on your side, and that’s not going to change – but that shouldn’t stop us from making a positive effort.” The NAMA Connection With the advent of the new year, Jensen Meat is gearing up to exhibit at the North American Meat Association’s MEATXPO 2013 in Las Vegas this coming February. “I almost look at it as a Jensen retreat,” says Scarpace, who will be bringing several staff members along to the
The meat industry needs to earn back the trust of the consumer. Somebody has to make the first move and extend the olive branch, and we’re going to consistently try to do that
conference. “We’ve taken it upon ourselves to leverage our expertise and make our whole staff more knowledgeable about what’s going on in the industry as a whole.” The collective industry knowledge and expertise on display at MEATXPO is part of what makes being a part of NAMA so valuable. “We’ve had a long history of being involved in associations – Bob Jensen was the chairman and former president of NAMA a couple years ago, and he was also heavily involved in merging the associations,” says Scarpace. “We’ve found that being involved FEBRUARY | 2013 |
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Jensen Meat Revitalizing the Ground Beef Industry
in an association is really beneficial for us. For me, being a young guy, it’s been important for me to have people that I can call who can mentor me, and that I can ask advice from. Then in terms of our staff, they have great meetings in terms of safety, regulations, what’s going on in the industry, and also as a resource if we have questions on the USDA or different regulations. We can always talk to them and they’re very responsive, so we found that to be great as well.”
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The Jensen Meat Difference There are a few traits that set Jensen Meat apart from the competition. “Our safety record, never having a recall in our company’s history – we’re enthusiastic about safety,” says Scarpace. “Also the fact that
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STATISTICS
Industry: Meat Processing
we’re young.” But there’s one simple philosophical difference that seems to stand out above all. “I think one of the biggest things that sets us apart is that we set out every day to do something good for the customer, and then we make money because of it,” notes Scarpace. “I think a lot of people set out to make money, and then they figure out a way to do that, and I think that’s a basic philosophical difference.” That’s a difference that shows every day in Jensen Meat’s commitment to customer service and product quality – and it’s a difference that more consumers will have the chance to experience as the business continues its path to growth and success in the years ahead.
Founded: 1958 Headquarters: Vista, CA Key People/Titles: Products: Ground Beef Products Website:
www.jensenmeat.com
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Jensen Meat
2525 Birch Street, Vista, CA 92081 Tel: 760.727.6700 www.jensenmeat.com
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