Passion for Extraordinary Food

Anytime I have the pleasure of sharing career advice with a future leader, there is always one key message I share—in whatever role you’re in, be passionate about what you’re doing.

Here at Lunds & Byerlys, our staff never ceases to amaze me with their culinary creations, masterful merchandising and commitment to service. From those working behind the scenes to those serving you in our stores, there is an immense level of passion for creating truly sensational shopping experiences.

Most of you have probably never met Executive Chef Michael Selby. He leads our team of research and development chefs and spends most of his time behind the scenes developing many of our popular meat and seafood offerings, including our Manhattan Strip Roast, Cider Brined Turkey Breast and Butchers Kitchen products.

Chef Selby’s passion for creating unique and remarkable offerings is abundantly clear to everyone around him. And if you have seen him during his cooking appearances on many of the local television stations, you can’t miss his passion for food.

About five years ago our meat and seafood team set out to create an even better aging process for our premium beef. For more than 50 years, we were one of relatively few retailers across the country aging our own beef. We used a dry-aging process that resulted in great flavor and tenderness and helped establish our strong reputation for high-quality beef.

In our quest to continuously raise the bar, our team wanted to see if they could create a new aging process that would result in even more flavorful and tender beef. What followed for Chef Selby and Scott Kersting, our meat and seafood director, was a multiyear, cross-country tour of some of the most renowned steakhouses and butcher shops our country has to offer. They wanted to get an up-close look at the beef aging methods used by the best of the best.

With that knowledge and a passion for creating a unique aging process for our beef, Chef Selby went to work in our test kitchen on an innovative aging method for our Reserve Aged Beef. It is so innovative, in fact, that it is now patented! To learn more about it, see our story on page 11.

Developing a patented culinary process is no easy task. But when you’re as passionate about your work as Chef Selby is, that passion leads to incredible accomplishments.

I couldn’t be more proud to work alongside him and so many on our team who share a passion for bringing extraordinary food and exceptional service to you each and every day.

As always, we hope you continue to enjoy Real Food.

Sincerely,

Tres Lund President and CEO