In March, Rick Pajak and his team rolled out a new breakfast sandwich program under Wilson Farms’ self-branded Fresh N Ready label. The sandwiches come in four varieties produced by Lettieri’s, a division of Hot Stuff Foods, which was able to tailor the menu according to the chain’s tastes. The previous program required employees to make breakfast sandwiches each morning, a setup that slowed the product’s speed to market.
The new program requires top-to-bottom planning and cooperation from the supplier, in-store employees and executives at all levels. New warmers were added to each store and an on-site employee training program was rolled out. Sales and marketing promotions went full throttle. The result was greater than expected.
“We’re up close to 100% in volume,” Pajak said, crediting the top-to-bottom commitment from all levels of the chain. “I don’t sell anything from my desk. You have to really get operational support behind the program to make it extremely successful.”
