Baking&Snack - July 2011 - 42

In the Family
As members of a family that runs a substantial business, “we all wear a lot of hats,” said Gina Campione, vice-president, sales and marketing, Joseph Campione, Inc. “And we get the satisfaction of knowing and trying to make sure things will be done right,” added Salvatore (Sal) Campione, vice-president, operations. While Sal oversees the plant and its manufacturing side, his three sisters all carry the same title: vice-president of sales and marketing. Anne Campione attends to branded sales, with private label customers as well as creative marketing aspects of packaging and Web design. Madlyn (Maddy) Campione handles private label as well, but she also does production scheduling and purchasing. Gina involves herself with private label, marketing, trade shows and similar activities. Company president and family matriarch Angie Campione is the lynchpin, keeping the financial side stable. “We’re out on the plant floor every day,” Angie noted. “And there’s always one of us here,” Gina said. “There’s always a Campione for a customer or consumer to talk to.” The family dynamics are passionate and supportive. “We have a kitchen here not only for customer demonstrations but also because we eat lunch together most days,” Angie said. “These women here,” Sal said, sweeping his arm around the table to indicate his mother and sisters, “they are all gold. They are instrumental to our success.” And they extended this dynamic to Scott Fulton, who joined the company in 2006 and is its director of operations. A few years after company founder Joe Campione passed away, the family recognized a need to bring in outside talent. “We knew we needed someone to help us get to the next level,” Angie said. Mr. Fulton was ready for a change, having worked for 21 years at various publicly owned bakeries after graduating

▲ (Foreground, from left) Maddy, Gina and Anne Campione and (background, from left) Scott Fulton and Sal Campione sample products. Many days, they eat lunch together.
RICHARD LANENGA PHOTOGRAPHY

from the American Institute of Baking. The Campiones convinced him to relocate from Florida to Wisconsin. Today, they all refer to him as another brother. “With Scott, it’s like he came down from heaven,” Sal said. “Our father must have sent him. He came in here, and he came into our family as well. My father often said that people come and go, but only people with heart stay. Today, our biggest concern is finding associates who bring high caliber to the operation. If you want to grow a company, you have to find the right people.” The company provides its employees benefits that support their futures, including a 401(k) program and school tuition benefits, among other programs. “We treat our employees like family,” Gina said. “And they see us out on the floor all the time. This business is our lives, too, and we need them.” “With good people like we have here, we are all warriors together,” Sal stated.

To supplement such scrutiny, the company participates in thirdparty food safety audits, notably the Safe Quality Food (SQF) program recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). In fact, it recently achieved SQF 2000 Level 3 certification. Scott Fulton, director of operations, explained that most food processors target Level 2 compliance, but very few opt for the rigorous Level 3. Also, the facility just received its fourth Superior rating from AIB International. As one aspect of these programs, the company asks all visitors to sign a Good Manufacturing

Practices (GMP) agreement form before entering the plant. “We went with these top-level audits to support customer confidence,” Angie said. “Scott Fulton and our quality assurance manager Ilda Nace helped us achieve this.” Mr. Fulton explained that Ms. Nace came on board three weeks before the company’s initial SQF audit and carried it out with flying colors. She is currently enrolled in the company’s employee tuition benefit to add to her education. A native of Albania, she is also the reason that the communications board in the hallway at the

entrance to the production area posts reports in Albanian as well as English and Spanish. The 300 people who work at Joseph Campione are a diverse group. “The reports posted here are for our employees as are the stars in the banner above,” Mr. Fulton said. The boards show how orders, production volume, staffing, safety and other critical variables stack up against previous measurements. The boards also display the inspection certificates. “When we started this reporting in 2007, we were at 98% efficiency,” he added. “We’re still at

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Baking&Snack - July 2011

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