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When Jim Hannigan first started J&J Distributing in 1978, his goal for the St. Paul, Minn.-based company was to make it possible — and ideal — for a retail partner to work directly with a wholesaler to get product sent directly from the field to a retailer’s facility.
“Jim wanted to get as close to a ‘farm to fork’ reality as he could while giving his partners the best quality and most dynamic product possible,” said John Carkoski, chief operating officer of J&J.
Today, the company works out of a 100,000-square-foot warehouse offering a full range of conventional, organic, and value-added fresh and dried products to take care of retailers’ every need.
Hannigan first got involved with organic produce in 1991, and through the years, J&J has always been at the forefront of organic opportunity.
“Staying in front of the organic movement and buying into the benefits of eating organic along with our value-added fresh cut line has led to our growth and is leading the charge in our growth for the foreseeable future,” Carkoski said.
In fact, organics are the largest portion of J&J’s wholesale business with 76 percent of the bulk cases that leave its facility being organic. The company also introduced the first organic fresh cut line in the Midwest and have had unbelievable success with growing that line for its customers.
“We have started to see other companies try to replicate what we have already accomplished with organic value-added, but our commitment to organics is not out of a desire to increase our profits, it is a love affair with the organic lifestyle and a commitment to supporting our organic farmers and consumers alike,” Carkoski said.
Success in organics has come from a strong team that is locked into the organic movement and J&J’s philosophy, with Carkoski noting you cannot just give lip service about wanting to get into organics—your company and personnel need to commit to the idea that shoppers are paying a premium for the product and expect more out of the experience.
“Telling the story and developing trust in a label is very important in getting their loyalty. The payoff for having paid more and putting effort into the shopping trip to a specific natural food store must be backed up by the quality of the produce and an educational gain by the customer,” he said.
Jim Hannigan
The company’s philosophy includes moving from neutral to positive in areas such as waste, water and energy.
“We need to find ways to repurpose our produce and limit the amount of waste we incur throughout the supply chain,” Carkoski said. “Of course, this would have a positive effect on our bottom line, but more importantly we want to help create a healthier Earth and more avenues for our consumers to access fresh produce. Our farmers put their life into the product they grow, and it needs to fall on companies like ours to maximize the usability of these products.”
J&J has been slowly growing for decades, and now is looking at aggressively pursuing organic customers throughout the Midwest and other areas of the country with strategic partnerships to help with distribution and customer contact.
“We are also going to be expanding our organic fresh cut line to be more in line with our conventional offerings as we continue to see more customers asking to get organic value-added to keep up with their consumers’ demands,” Carkoski said. “It is very important that we enhance livability, create opportunities for economic prosperity, foster environmental responsibility, embrace excellence, and demonstrate visionary leadership and strong governance.”
