Forty years in the making: Prioritising long-term success at Jimbo’s
PROJECT PARTNER
Forty years in the making: Prioritising long-term success at Jimbo’s
Justin Jackson, COO at Jimbo’s, highlights the organics grocer’s trailblazing journey of development and innovation.
Founded by Jim “Jimbo” Someck, organics grocer Jimbo’s Naturally (Jimbo’s) has spent the past forty years committed to a mission of social responsibility through honesty, integrity and respect.
rom the very beginning, Jimbo’s relationship with truly local San Diego farmers set the tone for its growth and success.
Over the years, the company’s excellence has been recognised, with the organisation having been awarded the Independent Natural Food Retailers Association (INFRA) 2021 Store of the Year Award and the New Hope Community Purpose & Impact 2022 JOY Award, among other accolades.
Today, Jimbo’s has four stores, built up from the company’s strong personal ties with local organic farmers and natural food vendors, and is considered the premier natural food store in San Diego County.
Speaking to us about the company’s commitment to its core ethos and forty-year
journey towards innovation and sustainable practice is Chief Operating Officer Justin Jackson. To begin, he explains the business decisions Jimbo made at the start of the company that have led to its longevity.
“If you can’t sustain what you’re doing, it’s going to be very challenging to have long-term success,” says Justin. “Our founder Jimbo had always been interested in putting together a business rooted in natural foods, but his initial launch of the company focused heavily on first making sure that it was viable.
“He was very smart when it came to building up the company – he knew that he had to be careful so that he had that fiscal foundation on which to build. Once he felt like he was there and stable in his position, he began looking at how he could take care of people within the community.
“What he came to find as he committed more and more to taking care of people within the community was that the things he initially worried about relative to the fiscal soundness of the business took care of themselves, which allowed him to be a trailblazer and implement new things that other people weren’t doing – such as being one of the first stores to get rid of plastic bags and stop selling water in plastic bottles.
“Sometimes, these decisions may come at the short-term expense of sales, but we’re more focused on the long-term sustainable benefit.
If it’s the right thing to do, then that’s what we’re going to do.
“I’ve worked for a number of different retailers where things can change rapidly, and things that felt important faded from the priority list. I think when people come into Jimbo’s, they feel the opposite of that – it’s clear that we’re a company that stands by a belief system and delivers to that system every single day.”
However, while Jimbo’s is consistently standing by its belief system, that doesn’t mean the company is afraid to make changes where it matters. Instead, its team is
always looking for new ways to improve.
“We’re always embracing innovation within our operations,” explains Justin. “It’s easy to get stuck in a rut, but we try to focus on how we can get better each and every day. We’re rarely going into a day where our focus is on anything fiscal. Instead, we’re looking to figure out how we do better than we did yesterday – establishing what didn’t work, and what we can fix.
“There’s a great openness within our company as well. We always encourage people to speak up if they see something they don’t think is working, because we have great people and we want to give them a chance to try their great ideas. If it doesn’t work, that’s fine, but if it does work then we’ve got something new. Once you have that environment in place, it snowballs, and we have a fantastic time looking at
ways to consistently better the business.”
This culture of transformation extends beyond innovating within the business – Jimbo’s has placed significant emphasis on introducing new tools to protect the planet.
“We’re not a large company, but we invest a lot into our sustainable initiatives,” says Justin. “Chelsea Nelson, our Director of Environmental Impact, works tirelessly every single day to find ways to improve our sustainable practices. She looks at our team efficiency, how we compost and if there are ways to better help within our communities, as well as attending symposiums and helping other companies who may not be as far along as we are.
“On the product side of things, we recognised the need for
“I really believe in what we do, and I just want to get everyone to recognise what’s so special about the company”
Justin Jackson, COO at Jimbo’s
“Unfi is a company I have worked with for the better part of 30 years, and we have such a dynamic relationship with them”
regenerative agriculture long before regenerative organic certifications (ROC’s) came into play. We have already created our own S.O.I.L. programme focused on rebuilding the soil and protecting the planet.
“I attended a presentation a few years ago where they said that there are only 53 growing seasons left. That revelation really struck me, because I hadn’t realised at the time how drastically climate change is impacting agriculture – the topsoil of the planet is being eroded at such a dramatic rate, and we need to protect our planet to protect our future. That’s why our company’s belief system is so important.”
But revolutionary new initiatives such as this, Justin elaborates, would not be possible without the network of innovative partners Jimbo’s has built up over the years.
“A lot of people talk about partnerships, and it can be a great buzzword, but we really engage in our partner relationships,” says Justin. “We’re very lucky to be able to connect directly with our suppliers, large and small, and build our ecosystem around them. If you keep shipping to us, we’ll be here for you.
“My belief has always been that if you take the needs of your production partner into consideration, then they’re invested in you. Our partners have put a lot of thought into how they can improve things with us, because they know they get a lot in return.
“In terms of specific partners, Unfi is a company I have worked with for the better part of 30 years, and we have such a dynamic relationship with them. Their capacity has shifted over the years as they’ve gone from
Congratulations to Jimbo’s on your outstanding achievements and success during these 40 years!
We appreciate your business partnership and all you do for our communities.
GRASS-FED CHEDDAR WITH A TOUCH
OF CELTIC
CHARM!
It may sound crazy to some - but Ireland has the most beautiful grass you’ll ever see. Year after year, the Gulf Stream brings us mild weather and steady rainfall - the perfect growing conditions for a lush, green landscape. We’ve earned the name ’Emerald Isle.’ Needless to say, the best grass on earth will make incredible milk, and incredible milk makes the very best cheese. With the wind blowing softly at our back, we’ve taken nature’s offerings and made this line of authentic Irish cheeses to share with you.
WHY DID WE CHOOSE TO MAKE OUR CHEESE WITH GRASSFED MILK?
The answer is quite simple. While many dairy producers will use the term grassfed, most of the milk used comes from cows who consume a combination of both grass and feed.
THE DIFFERENCE?
At McCall’s we work with our farmers to prioritise our pastures and make sure that the cows spend as much of the grazing season out in the open fields eating fresh, growing grass. This lush diet translates directly to the milk they produce and results in a cheese that expresses the unique terroir of Ireland’s rolling green hills.
The McCall family has spent decades in the cheese business advocating for family farms, clean energy, sustainable practices, and truly authentic cheeses. Ethical food just tastes better.
TRUE GRASSFED TASTE OF IRELAND. SL A INTE.
“We’ve also been incredibly lucky to work alongside GFI Foods. They were incredibly supportive in expanding our specialty cheese programme, really helping put it on the map”
a well-sized natural organic distribution company to a massive force in the industry.
“They’ve been real innovators over the years.
“The breadth of Unfi’s product selection and the efficiency with which they bring it to a company like ours is just remarkable. They always make sure we have what we need, and without them we couldn’t sustain what we do.
“We’ve also been incredibly lucky to work alongside GFI Foods. They were incredibly supportive in expanding our specialty cheese programme, really helping put it on the map. I don’t know how we would have done it without them.
“They’ve now expanded their specialty product base and their relationships on the specialty side, both domestically and
internationally. This means we’re able to easily get connected to whoever we need, whenever we need. In all honesty, GFI Foods is a phenomenal company to work with, and we’re very lucky to have that relationship.”
Looking to the future, Justin is excited for the company to scale up and invest in new communities.
“We’ve got a couple of new leases signed, and I’ve been having a lot of fun designing those stores and thinking of different ways to approach retail,” shares Justin.
“I think it’ll be very exciting to open additional stores and see how they work in different communities.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic ended, it’s been so encouraging to be within local communities and see the remarkable results of
our stores. We feel like we’ve figured out what people need and what’s important to them, and we want to be able to do that on a wider scale.
“I really believe in what we do, and I just want to get everyone to recognise what’s so special about the company. When I first joined Jimbo’s, I came here to impact the brand in a way that made people realise what we had here, because I wasn’t sure if the community could see it. We redeveloped the brand and shifted some of our strategies, which essentially relaunched the brand.
“I’m now hearing about Jimbo’s on a national scale – people are coming from all over to visit, and my sense is that we’ve really tapped into the right messaging for our brand.
People know what we do and how we can serve them, and we’re now a deeper part of the communities we serve. To be able to take that work and emulate it in other areas would be an incredible opportunity, and we’re very excited to see what the future will bring.”
Learn more about Jimbo’s here.
ADDED VALUE
Mentors
“I’ve had so many mentors throughout my career,” celebrates Justin. “Early on in my career I lived in Cambridge and a really gracious man, Ed Barsamian, owned a small specialty foods store and took me under his wing. I learned a lot about exceptionalism in retail from him, and he really helped me build up my career.
“Jimbo is someone else I’ve learned a lot from. It’s funny, because I’ve had a lot of variety in my career – I’ve been all over the place with all sorts of different experiences. But then I look at someone like him, who’s been in the same place for years, and I’m so impressed by it. I’ve learned so much from him about relating to people, and the way a business operates when it has a long-term vision.”
Family
“My family is what keeps me going,” says Justin. “My partner
and I have seven children all together – I have three from a previous relationship, she has two, and we’ve had two together. It brings me so much joy to be with them, and when I’m not with them I feel the need to get back to them.”
Naturally San Diego
“Outside of work I’m on the board of the Naturally San Diego movement,” says Justin. “Having the opportunity to be a part of this really does keep me connected to the food community here in San Diego, and I feel very lucky to be a part of it.
“It’s a remarkable group of people, and they all really inspire me. Sometimes I look around the room and I wonder what I’m doing here, and how I ended up on a board with such a talented array of leaders.”
Connect with Justin
