[Viewpoint] Jack Link’s Corporate Culture Promotes Safety

Jack Link’s Corporate Culture Promotes Safety

Creating a healthy corporate culture is easier said than done. Just ask anyone in management. It requires getting everyone in the company on the same page and pulling in the same direction, with the ultimate goal of achieving a shared vision for the business.

When a food processing operation is small and just starting out, the corporate culture often takes care of itself thanks to the initial excitement associated with launching a new venture. After all, when you’re fighting for your business survival – as is the case with most small businesses – there’s a single-minded commitment to the goal, which is to sell enough product to make payroll and invest in the company’s future growth.

However, as the company expands and the workforce grows, new additions to the staff must be indoctrinated successfully into the company’s corporate culture. Otherwise it will break down, resulting in negative implications for the business. Fortunately, maintaining a healthy corporate culture is somewhat easier when the founder of the business stays directly involved in day-to-day operations, sharing his or her passion for the business and communicating that passion in both word and deed to front-line service personnel. Such is the case with Jack Link, chairman and CEO of Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, Minong, Wis. Link founded the business in 1985 as Link Snacks, basing Jack Link’s Beef Jerky on his family’s "Old World" recipes. Today, the company produces more than 100 different meat snack products that can be found in more than 40 countries.

It’s an amazing success story, one which wouldn’t have been possible if the company didn’t sustain its unique corporate culture as it grew, a culture based on the finest traditions of food safety. "Producing a quality product is number one," Link says. "Quality products, food safety and equipment safety all go hand in hand. The overall cleanliness of the facility; the safety at work; the cleanliness of the food…these are all everyone’s job…every day."

The result has been a steadily growing share of the highly competitive meat snack business. "I think it’s the passion that we have as a company, our focus on the meat snack category exclusively, and our underlying foundation of quality, cleanliness and safety that have driven and will continue to drive our growth," Link says.

To learn more about Jack Link’s Beef Jerky and its unique corporate culture, turn to page 10 and read Contributing Editor Lisa Lupo’s first-hand account of her visit to this remarkable family-owned business that is competing successfully with Fortune 500 companies. You won’t be disappointed. QA