Q&A with Jerry Baldwin, Owner at Baldwin Consulting

Jerry grew up standing on a milk crate running a Hobart Dishwasher, when needed, for his mom who was a Holiday Innkeeper. When short of help, it was a family affair for Jerry and his mom, a single parent. He remained in the business until he was engaged, but decided married life would be much simpler without having to run a hotel. This sparked a change in his career, to sales, for a very large broad line food service supply company. 

He quickly built his reputation as a specialist in restaurant chains. He had an innate understanding of their needs, especially in the supply chain. 

Jerry made strategic moves within the industry to expand and further his career. He became a turnaround specialist for food industry companies losing money, and is still known as the person who loves turnarounds to this day. 

Chances are, if you’ve eaten in a particular chain restaurant, Jerry has probably worked on the supply chain or been on the industry panel advising supply chain professionals that manage the supply chain there. He is a frequent guest speaker on chain-restaurant supply chains at industry functions. He spent the past years working for equity fund-owned chain restaurant concepts. Most of them had no supply chain departments when he started – such as McCormick & Schmick's, Craftwork's, and Quiznos.

He was once an equity fund Interim CPO, and this experience guided Jerry to a successful career in supply chain consulting, with a growing portfolio of chain restaurants. While he primarily works with equity funds, some owning as many as 12 concepts, he also does work for small independent start up chains. 

He takes all the supply chain data from multiple chains, and seeks leverage and synergies in both direct and indirect spend, starting at the global level and ending with the line item detail to maximize savings.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you have met in your career?

Jerry: Overcoming the belief that purchasing is not an important function within a restaurant chain. For many years, chains simply took someone from operations, or another department, and made them in charge of purchasing. 

However, they had no experience and no understanding of the position. The term ‘Supply Chain; was unknown. We had to educate the Executive Team, because they felt that purchasing was simply a small part of the overall Supply Chain. Furthermore, the Supply Chain Head needed to be on the Executive Team for a successful concept. 

Q: How you would describe your company culture, and what are the superpowers of your team?

Jerry: My company only has one person – me. I provide the expertise while being very hands on. I have established a culture of no contracts, if you want to retain me, we have a handshake deal and I’ll go to work. If you decide you no longer need me, simply give me a 30 day notice. 

I am available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for emergency supply chain direction on issues. I am fully transparent in my fees, I charge a set fee and do not take vendor rebates for any item. My goal is to pass all savings to the end user. This will allow the restaurant concept on the street to lower their food costs. 

While I work alone, I have a superior supply chain team of experts behind me. Many, if not all, have been a VP or Director of Supply Chain at restaurant concepts. They are all independent contractors. This allows us to manage projects of any size. This team lives and breathes chain restaurant supply chain every day. They can make things happen fast with their vast experience. 

Q: What are some challenges or trends you see in supply chain today? 

Jerry: We are on a long cycle, over three years, of flat to low commodity pricing. Many chains have enjoyed this, but have not made plans to manage these changes. It will change, it is very cyclical. If unprepared, the impact will be huge, especially if food costs rise by a few points on a low margin business like restaurant chains. 

Distribution is as challenging as any time in the past. A few years ago, two of the largest distributors attempted to merge. This took well over 18 months and did not occur at the end. Few realize what this meant for the future. For a period of over 18 months the two largest distributors did not spend funds on adding on to the existing structures. More freezer space, dry warehouse spaces or needed improvements, as they were unsure of their final plan upon merger and if they would have multiple warehouses in the same cities. Although it wasn’t wrong to think this way, it did also result in a "slot" shortage in our industry. It takes a "slot" for each pallet to hold each individual item needed to run a restaurant in the warehouse. 

It is not unusual today to send out an RFP (Request For Proposal) for distribution services for a chain and not receive one single bid. They simply don't have the space for a chains proprietary item. Notice that straws used to have a printed wrapper and most don't now. That item took up a "slot" and had to make way for others.

Q: How would you describe your leadership style? 

Jerry: Being a leader is something each has to decide in their own way, but I believe it is driven by how you want the end result to be seen. I have always believed that each person in my department should be cross trained to completely understand the other job functions. This prepares them to make better decisions in every way. Without a full understanding of logistics, the category manager cannot make appropriate purchasing decisions. 

This means I lead the entire department into a cohesive group who would have cross conversations about any and all issues so that each department could make informed decisions. My style has always been “don't tell me no if you don’t have another proposal as to how we can solve the issue”. If you allow your staff to make decisions, they grow. Even if the decision is wrong it is a learning experience for them to understand why they could have made another decision with a different outcome. 

Q: Who inspires you and why?

Jerry: I always go back to two people, Norman Brinker and Herb Kelleher. 

They were each true entrepreneurs who overcame all obstacles. Herb had an outrageous personality and stripped costs out of the airline much like a good team of supply chain and operations would do, and created the first low cost airline. Norman was a true gentleman and entrepreneur who left behind some of the greatest restaurant management quotes. He also trained a team who went on to lead some of the largest restaurant chains in America. He was, perhaps, the last of the true restauranteur breed. His book On The Brink is a great read of a true story. The book about Herb is correctly entitled The Art of Business: In the Footsteps of Giants.

Q: Have you ever had an hourly job? If yes, please share with us your experience.

Jerry: Hourly jobs put me through both high school and college. My first job, at 12, was pumping gas on Saturdays at a local small station. The owner paid me $12 for the day in cash. 

Being very mechanical, I found I could earn the most per hour by working as an auto mechanic. While I was covered in grease at the end of the day, I made more than most of my friends! It was just my mom and I so every penny counted. I look back on those days and smile. 

Are you also running a business single-handedly, and looking for ways to expand your team? Schedule a call with us, and we’ll help you get started!