Jack Kilgore, President of the Consumer Brands Division of Rich Products Corporation shared some thoughts and insights from his career at the fourth quarter Manufacturers Round Table. Mr. Kilgore will be retiring at the end of 2014 and has always been a huge proponent of the local manufacturing and business community in the Golden Isles.
Mr. Kilgore was nice enough to type up his presentation notes and make them available for the group.
My Objectives:
- Provide historical context
- Share key lessons learned
- Offer my perspective on business insights for the future
Historical Context
Rich Products (RPC) founded in 1945, as a privately owned frozen food company based in Buffalo, NY. SeaPak founded on St Simons Island (SSI) in 1948 as frozen shrimp company. Rich purchased SeaPak from WR Grace in 1976. I joined Rich in 1978 when Rich was in the process of consolidating the retail business of SeaPak to Buffalo. My roll was as the liaison between S&M in Buffalo and the functional support groups in SSI.
Promoted to a RSM in 1979, for the consolidated Rich retail but by 1981 the SeaPak business was suffering and we split the businesses apart. I became the NSM for SeaPak retail. At the time our retail sales were about $24M.
Over the next 23 years, from 1981 to 2004, I was promoted several times by 3 different CEO’s, ending up as the EVP of S, M, CS and R&D. During this time we grew to $350M in sales through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth.
In 2004, I was promoted to President of RSP, a wholly owned sub of RPC. During my 10 years as president we’ve grown another $150 M+ while increasing our Op Income by 65%. And interestingly, in 2006 the Rich’s retail business that was still based in Buffalo was consolidated into our Consumer Brands Division on SSI.
Key Lessons Learned w/Examples
Having worked for 4 different CEO’s over 36 years I had the opportunity to learn from each and observe what worked well and what didn’t, in terms of how they set the vision for the company, their leadership styles, and how they planned and executed strategy.
The 5 points I’ll discuss are really the key strategies that we used at Rich’s to drive our growth and business success over my career:
- Focus on customers, in depth understanding; find ways to help them grow their top line and bottom line. Help customers be more successful and they will be loyal.
- Invest in Innovation; it is the greatest competitive advantage.
EX: Farm Rich bake able mozzarella cheese sticks in 1984
- Invest in quality, the best way to differentiate.
EX: 80’s & 90’s multiple shrimp brands – 2004 @ 40% market share. My first action as CEO – SeaPak breaded shrimp 60/40 preference led to strong share growth (over 50%) and elimination of all but 2 competitors.
- Attract & retain the best people you can afford. Right competencies and critical thinking skills, not experience. We can teach them the business.
EX: We’ve been a net exporter of talent to Buffalo
- Collaboration and team work win every time.
EX: Our long term, consistent growth in sales & profits
Insights for the Future
- Data & Analytic capabilities – Plethora of information, how best to use it?
EX: Total re-invention of our selling approach – from Features & Benefits to Consultative Selling – data analysis, customer & shopper insights, solutions
- Speed & Flexibility – 25% strategy and 75% execution
EX: Rolling strategic planning based on assumptions
- 3. More customization – driven by millennials, and quick access to information – consumers know what they want, where to get, and when
EX: Define your consumer/customer and know them better than your competition
- 4. Productivity – A new round of productivity, in all its forms will be required
EX: Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Right Sizing, Re-Engineering, Margin Enhancement – must continually be evaluating cost structure and improving your business model. ROI and RONA are key metrics that require leaderships full focus.
