About this episode
Meet Sean Gerard, Regional Sales Manager for Clemens Food Group, who turned his food marketing degree from Western Michigan University into a career selling every pork product imaginable. Discover how this sixth-generation, vertically coordinated family business approaches food safety, follows restaurant trends like carnitas, and positions pork as a versatile, value-driven protein in today's market. 🕒 TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Sean's intentional path: food marketing degree at Western Michigan 1:53 - Career journey from Spartan Stores intern to Clemens Food Group 2:48 - Clemens Food Group: 130 years of vertically coordinated pork production 4:01 - How role-playing in college prepared him for pork sales 4:55 - Day in the life: fast-paced, data-driven pork industry 6:38 - Customer differentiation strategies across retailers and distributors 7:33 - Positioning pork as versatile and value-driven protein 8:15 - Following food service trends: carnitas roast innovation 9:19 - Food safety philosophy: "Never compromise on food safety" Thanks to Simbe for making our Spartan Nash Conference coverage possible! #FoodMarketing #ClemensFood #PorkIndustry #RegionalSales #FoodSafety #WesternMichigan #ProteinSales #FoodServiceTrends #FamilyBusiness #VerticalIntegration This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy