Meat+Poultry - July 2017 - 39

"I started working through the ranks from
driving the local truck collecting product at
places like Foster Farms down the road. I was
doing that and processing," Merrell says. "Then
I started working in the quality control portion
of their plant, and then I ended up working
in the administrative end of things and the
procurement and stuff like that."
That company was one of the pioneers of
the pig ear dog treat in the '90s. They sold the
company with a non-compete agreement, an
agreement that expired during Merrell's final
year of an MBA at Fresno State Univ. Anxious
to put his entrepreneurial spirit to work,
Merrell put together a business plan to turn in
for credit.

BUSINESS BREEDING
During business school, Merrell and his
cohorts had studied a book by Jim Collins,
"Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make
the Leap...And Others Don't."
"It talks about focusing on what you have,
your unique strengths, and I kind of really took
it to heart, and put together this business plan
around that," he says.
The plan included leveraging the strengths,
experience and access to the supply chain
Merrell had from the years of working for the
same business, in the same industry, while
he was growing up. Upon completion of the
business plan for a pet treat company, for a
good grade Merrell showed the plan to his
long-time employers, and they liked the idea.
"I sat down and kind of had my 'Shark Tank'
moment with them and another partner who
owned a large pet food distribution company
and a retail store in southern California,"
Merrell says. "We got together and decided to
start the company with the business plan as I
had laid it out."
For the next year, Merrell worked at
putting the plan into action and transitioning
out of his role at the other company. Then in
2006, at the original pig ear plant in Indiana,
Merrell launched Plato Pet Treats and comitted
full time. He chose the former pig ear plant
because it was empty, had a lot of power, a
lot of gas, and it was directly connected to an
existing meat facility.
"I hired a team, a plant manager, and then I
kind of became the jack of all trades," Merrell
says of starting the company, "from helping

to develop the label to developing the recipes
to actually going out and doing cold calls and
trade shows and things."
For over six years Plato continually grew
until it eventually began outgrowing the space
available at the Indiana facility. On July 15,
2012, Plato officially left the Indiana facility. By
Sept. 1, 2012, it was up and running in Fresno.
The growth of the business set the move in
motion, as well as issues with the customer
base, labor force and access to ingredients.
"So, I relocated the company, and
actually in a very short amount of time, I
was able to transition from operating in
Indiana to operating in Fresno with basically
zero carryover as far as our team from the
manufacturing side," Merrell says.

"I hired a
team, a plant
manager, and
then I kind
of became
the jack of all
trades."
- AARON MERRELL

THE NEXT PHASE
Merrell worked long hours and did what it
took to make the move happen. Spending
nights at the new plant in Fresno and nights at
the old plant in Indiana during the transition
created an insane challenge, but it worked.
Plato ramped up on inventory in Indiana
before the move to ensure there was product
to ship during downtime, and documentation
and SOPs guaranteed the smoothest possible
transfer to production in Fresno.

Plato Pet Treats uses
industrial dehydrators
and fresh ingredients to
create its premium treats.

www.meatpoultry.com | 07.17 | MEAT+ POULTRY

39
http://www.meatpoultry.com
Meat+Poultry - July 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat+Poultry - July 2017
