When it comes to good jerky, Bart Silvestro knows a few things. He knows even more about how to build a niche jerky brand into a grocery-store staple. He shares with us the wisdom he’s gained from his work and experiences as the CEO of Chef’s Cut.
1. What lessons did you learn from your previous career at Popcorn, Indiana that helped you in building Chef’s Cut?
I think the most valuable lesson I learned is that people matter. Don't rush in building your team; take your time to make sure you hire the "right" person for the task at hand. You will be amazed at how many times the right person is not always the most experienced or most successful person applying for the job. Personality and fitting into the culture are just as important as skill set.
2. What changes have you seen in the market, and how have you managed to adjust to those?
We are playing in a category that has been dominated by a few industry giants for years, but there is a significant shift taking place in what consumers are looking for in brands. Today's consumers care more about what they put in their bodies than ever before. But they also want to know the story behind the product they are buying. Our authentic "chef-crafted" origins and focus on quality aligns with these changing demands. We have shifted our marketing to really focus on including a chef’s perspective in our messaging, highlighting our premium product and our chef origins.
3. Do you have a philosophy for running your company?
There is absolutely a philosophy that I try to adhere to day-to-day, regardless of how challenging things get. That philosophy ties back to the people and the culture of our organization. First and foremost, I try to hire the best person for every role, get out of their way, and let them do what they were hired to do. If you empower people to make an impact on the business, they usually do. The other thing I stress is that we will ALL make mistakes during this journey that we are on, and it's ok to make these mistakes as long as we make sure to learn from them and try to never make the same mistake twice.
4. How do you define success?
Success is not financial in my mind, although it always helps. Success is about affecting someone's life in a positive way. In our business, we can positively impact the lives of our consumers by delivering on their expectations and becoming part of their diet. We can influence our team's lives by helping them gain experience and bettering their career while having a great experience working together. And then, of course, we can have an effect on our retail buyers that took a chance on us and put us in their stores by delivering quality sales and helping grow their category.
5. What do you hope to provide to your employees as a business owner?
I hope that at Chef's Cut we provide a culture and experience that motivates people to come to work and be successful, day in and day out. I know it sounds corny or cliché, but we do really have a family-type atmosphere at Chef's Cut. Everyone is always willing to pitch in to lend a hand in a New York-minute. We have something special!
6. How has social media impacted the growth of Chef’s Cut?
To be completely honest, it took us a minute to figure things out on social media. We weren't very good at it for the first year or so, but I need to give Ben Garnero, our Director of Marketing, props for developing a strategy and deploying the right people to create a successful platform. It's amazing for a brand of our size to have the amount of followers we have, but even more amazing, is the engagement we see with every post. Our social platform has created brand loyalists that help promote us, which is priceless.
7. As CEO, what’s your favorite part of your job?
I truly enjoy what I do more than words can describe. I'm a believer in "Do what you love and love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life.” That's what I feel every day. No matter what curve balls are thrown my way I just take them in stride. It's most exciting for me to see how fast we've grown in the past few years. Just over two years ago when I joined Chef's Cut, if I would have told anyone that we would have more than $100 million dollars in retail sales in 2017, they would have looked at me like I had three heads. But low and behold, it's now a reality.
