Meat + Poultry - May 2008 - 50

LAND O'FROST

Plants at a Glance
Lansing, Ill. - The processing plant is a part of the corporate complex, which
also includes corporate headquarters, the Innovation Center and an Engineering building, - 150,000 sq. ft. plant; Plant opened: 1969.
Searcy, Ark. - 250,000 sq. ft.; Manufacturing facility; Distribution hub;
Opened: 1976.
Madisonville, Ky. - 198,000 sq. ft.; Manufacturing facility; Opened: 2007.
Land O' Frost operates redundant processes at all three facilities so it can
transfer production to any other plant in the event a line or plant goes down.
At present, the lion's share of the production is split between the Lansing
and Searcy facilities. Once all three plants reach capacity within three to five
years, each will produce one-third of total product capacity.

"Our delivery rate is the No. 1 customer service we're proud of," David says.
"We went through one full quarter and
shipped less than 1,000 lbs. short."
A major reason behind this success
is Land O'Frost controls most product
deliveries because it operates more than
50 trucks in its LTL (less-than truckload)

fleet. "We do all of our product shipments to individual customers, with the
exception of full-load shipments."
Changing demographics in this country offer challenges and opportunities
for the prepackaged meat industry. "We
have an aging population and heavy
immigration," Donna Van Eekeren

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May 2008

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says. "This can change a whole lot of
what's being featured in deli products
and what we produce."
International expansion is another
vehicle for company growth. "We're
have begun our foray into Mexico,"
David says. "We have been in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico for years, but
going into Mexico is new for us and it's
already a growing business."
David muses on the past while
looking to the future.
"It was awful when my dad passed
away in 2001," he says. "It was a tragedy
for our family and the company. However, it was also the catalyst for our current growth. When Mom took over, she
led us to the fastest growth in our history
because she was focused on growth.
"We have grown from the eighth to
the third best-selling brand of lunchmeat
in the category since 2001. Our average
annual growth is more than 11 percent
in retail grocery sales," he adds.
"Our family came together and talked about what we wanted to do - and
that was to grow the business," David
continues. "She said, 'OK guys, it's time
to do it.' She took the reigns and did it.
My grandfather was a wonderful entrepreneur. My father grew this business
from 11 employees to 1,000."
"Paul grew Land O'Frost with his
entrepreneurial spirit and constant innovation of products and processes,"
Donna adds.
"My mom took it to the next level," David continues. "So, we are now
the No. 3 brand in the category and
we wouldn't have done it without her
saying: 'do it.'"
When asked how the company
may further diversify in the future,
David answers: "Our strength is in
prepackaged meats. We can look into
further-packaged goods in the category...whether it's products in new
packaging technology or new products. There are many things we can
do within the category that can expand our horizons."
We would like to hear from you - to comment on
this story or to request reprints, contact us by
e-mail at: meatpoultry@sosland.com.

http://www.afstexas.com email:sales@afstexas.com http://www.MEATPOULTRY.com

Meat + Poultry - May 2008

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