Case Studies
- Schulstad A/S, a leading Denmark commercial baking company sought to establish a presence in the United States in 1995. The full line baking company’s strategy was to introduce its pre-proofed Royal Danish Pastry line in the US. Briant Associates successfully conducted Schulstad’s search for its first US President.
- One of Europe’s largest baking companies, Lantmannen Unibake, acquired Schulstad A/S in 2005. Euro Bake, a St. Petersburg, FL based artisan bread bakery was acquired in 2008.
- First search executed for Schulstad/Unibake USA in 1995. Presently, Briant Associates continues to be a trusted search consultant for Lantmannen Unibake.
Results:
- 17 search projects successfully completed since 1995.
- President
- Vice President of Operations
- Director of Sales, Foodservice
- Director of Sales, In-store Bakery
- Director of Finance
- Director of Operations
- Plant Manager
- National Sales Manager
- Construction & Project Manager
- Regional Sales Manager (6)
- Quality Assurance Manager
- R&D Manager
- Schulstad/Unibake USA has grown from have zero business in the US, to $100 million plus in sales revenues, with a highly productive artisan bread bakery operation. Unibake USA has consistently met its operating profit objectives, while successfully expanding and growing its business in the foodservice and in-store bakery channels.
- The current US President was placed as the company’s Director of Sales in 2000. He was promoted to President in 2007.
- Privately-help OEM in the protein and foodservice industry. Bettcher Industries’ patented equipment has built a dominate position in protein industry, establishing a unique niche and highly profitable business model. The company’s employees and management team are dedicated, loyal and competent with an average tenure of approximately 15 years.
- Bettcher’s leadership team seeks to grow its already substantial international business and over time top-grade its executive management team and sales organization.
- Bettcher launched Gainco from ground-zero in 2000. Gainco started as a scale and weighing systems company specializing in the poultry industry. It had been unprofitable since its start-up and was lacking effective leadership.
- First search executed for Bettcher Industries in 2006. Presently, Briant Associates continues to be a trusted search consultant for Bettcher Industries.
Results:
- 26 search projects successfully completed since 2006 including:
- Vice President & General Manager – Gainco
- Managing Director – Bettcher GmbH
- Vice President Sales & Marketing – Bettcher Industries
- Vice President of Manufacturing Operations – Bettcher Industries
- Vice President Engineering & Quality – Bettcher Industries
- Director Foodservice Equipment – Bettcher Industries
- Director of Product Development – Bettcher Industries
- International Sales Manager (3) – Bettcher GmbH
- Regional Sales Managers (8) Bettcher Industries & Gainco
- Gainco sales revenues have more than quadrupled and the business is consistently profitable and a well-respected OEM in the poultry industry.
- Bettcher GmbH has substantially grown international business and has moved to a direct-sales moved in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and the UK most recently.
- Bettcher Industries has realized many consecutive years of record sales growth and profitability.
- In 2017, Bettcher Industries’ Board of Director sold a majority of its ESOP shares to a financial partner at a superior multiple.
- Our placed Vice President & General Manager at Gainco promoted to Global Vice President of Operations at Bettcher Industries.
- Our placed Regional Sales Manager, East at Gainco promoted to Director of Sales and the promoted to VP & General Manager at Gainco.
- Our placed Managing Director Bettcher Industries GmbH promoted to Global Vice President of Sales at Bettcher Industries.
- Our placed International Sales Manager Bettcher GmbH promoted to Managing Director of Bettcher Industries GmbH.
- The Middleby Corporation launched its Processing & Packaging Division with its first acquisition in 2005. In 2012 it acquired the F. R. Drake Company, the global leader in automatic loading systems in the protein processing industry.
- Briant Associates was retained in 2012 to conduct F.R. Drake’s search for a new President, as its incumbent President had been named Executive Vice President of Middleby Processing & Packaging.
Results:
- 7 search projects successfully completed since 2012 including:
- President – F.R. Drake
- Executive VP of Operations – Bakery Group
- Vice President Sales & Service – MP Equipment
- Plant Manager – Bakery Group
- N. America Sales Manager – Spooner Vicars
- F.R. Drake’s sales revenues and profitability have continued to grow over the past six years meeting or exceeding objectives.
- The F.R. Drake President placed by Briant Associates was named President of Middleby’s Packaging Group in February 2018.
- The MP Equipment Vice President Sales & Service placed by Briant Associates was named President of MP Equipment two years after joining the company.
- Tomra acquired Odenberg and Best NV in 2011 and 2012 respectively, establishing Tomra as a global leader in food processing sorting solutions.
- In early 2014, Briant Associates was retained to conduct a search for the North American Sales Manager of Tomra’s Process Analytics (protein) Division.
- Over the past four years Briant Associates has successfully executed many search projects, both internationally and in the US, recruiting key personnel for Tomra’s commercial leadership team.
Results:
- 16 search projects successfully completed since 2014 including:
- Director of Sales, Americas (Vice President level)
- Director of Service, Americas (Vice President level)
- Director of Solutions Engineering – Compac
- Manager of Project Management, Americas
- N. America Sales Manager Process Analytics
- N. America Sales Manager Metals
- Sales Manager, FR BE, ES Process Analytics
- Sales Manager, DE, AU Process Analytics
- Area Sales Manager, Germany
- Area Sales Manager, Brazil
- Area Sales Manager Recycling, Mexico
- Area Sales Manager USA, (5)
- Tomra’s Food Sorting Solutions Americas’ Division has realized four consecutive years of record year/year sales growth since 2014.
- Tomra’s US service organization has realized a substantial turn-around to become a significant contributor to the Division’s profitability.
- Briant Associates successfully completed the Director of Solutions Engineering search for Compac, the global leader in lane sorting solutions, which joined the Tomra family in 2017.
- Privately-held robotics packaging systems manufacturer and supplier. For more than 50 years, JLS Automation has enjoyed success in the packaging industry across various business segments. By the mid-2000’s its strategic plan was wholly focused-on solutions for food processing applications in primary and secondary packaging.
- JLS has been granted several patents in tooling for its primary packaging applications. By 2013, JLS had partnered with a various protein, bakery and cheese processors delivering unique solutions. However, further growth required the sales and operations teams needed to take their performance to the next level.
- First search executed for JLS Automation in 2013. Presently, Briant Associates continues to be a trusted search consultant for JLS Automation.
Results:
- 5 search projects successfully completed since 2013.
- Vice President of Operations
- Director of Engineering
- Director of Parts & Service
- Regional Sales Manager, East
- Regional Sales Manager, Central
- Sales revenues have more than tripled. The entire JLS team contributed to and achieved this growth
- Vice President of Operations promoted to Vice President & General Manager. Four of the five people hired continue to contribute to JLS Automation’s success today.