Dear Class,

 

Here are some reflections of mine based on my view of our company stakeholder map:

 

1 – sometimes in the spirit of an overly flexible entrepreneurial environment, we did not set clear nor consistent direction for our employees.  I recall many projects like co-packing crusts, co-packing tamales, and producing a cheap, preservative filled pizza that did not align with our core values nor our core competencies because it happened to be the “opportunity du jour”.  These projects all failed, but not without extracting a toll on a management team that was confused and perhaps slightly demoralized from having to deal with these explorations, not because exploration itself is bad, but rather because explorations that do not align with your company vision and company values are at best a distraction.

 

2 – sometimes in the spirit of vendor loyalty, we missed opportunities to align ourselves with vendors who could help us better serve our customers.  I recall specific examples of a vegetable supplier and an insurance brokerage where personal relationships of people in decision making positions prevented or hampered our ability to make a beneficial change for our business, and thus our product and our customers.  The vendor stakeholder “won” at the expense of our consumer stakeholders who “lost”.

 

3 – originally I was not going to have this next comment, but point #2 made me think of it.  This is actually a reason I am so strongly against the merged/outsourced salesforce to our distribution business partner.  I feel the customers (retailers in outside markets whom we used to service directly), and our consumers whom we were able to reach through those outside, warehouse retailers, along with our shareholders may all end up on the “losing” end of this decision in favor of a “winning” move for our distributor.  One stakeholder relationship benefits at the expense of others.  It remains to be seen if this fear will come to fruition.

 

All in all, I feel our company has done a remarkable job of balancing these relationship over time, which I believe has been reflected in our positive growth over the past 25 years or so, but if I were to comment as a critic, the above points are the ones we likely want to have a look at in the proverbial mirror.

 

Thanks all,

 

J Kevin Costello, Chairman

Perrino Group Board of Directors

1300 Internationale Parkway

Woodridge, IL 60517

630-783-9696 ext 2112