Questions for the CMO of Lloyd Pans

What is your role with Lloyd now?

President and CEO.

What do you spend most of your time focused on at this point?

Two areas.  

Don Spencer has been my management coach for twelve years.  He changed my job title.  I’m now called the CMO.  Chief Morale Officer.  And I’ve found that the way to keep morale up is making sure people have meaningful work.

The second thing that I do is I’m always looking for the next good customer.  We built a profile of what good customers look like and we know that not everyone qualifies to be a Lloyd customer.

Best piece of advice you ever received?

‘Hire people smarter than yourself.’  If you are the CEO and you are in a room full of your own employees and you are the smartest person in the room, you are not hiring very well.

Also: ‘Fifty percent of being smart is knowing what you are dumb at.’

What are you working on at Lloyd Pans right now?

What keeps me up at night is trying to get the balance between all our businesses.  We have commercial pizza, commercial bakeware, and commercial cookware and then we have ManPans which is our consumer product.  

We’d like to grow ManPans; it is something we can make when we are slow and put in the warehouse.

Tell us two fun things about Lloyd.

We are the first or second largest pizza pan manufacturer in the world.  We sell orders up to 4 million dollars and we take orders for $49 on the internet.  The scope of the work that we do is, I think, really phenomenal.

The other thing people are shocked by the number of pan emergencies we have.  A small operator or a chain will have a restaurant they’ve had to find a location, get a permit to build, buy all the furniture and buy the oven, and then two weeks before their grand opening they say, “Oh my gosh, we have no pans.”

We’ve had at least 100 pan emergencies like that.  We’ve put pans on a Southwest flight for a guy who called up at 9 am saying ‘I’ve got people coming tomorrow and I have no pans for my grand opening.”

Big guys will design a whole marketing plan around a new pan and six weeks before implementation, they will realize they don’t have any of the new pans.

We love procrastinators.  We turn around things so fast that if they wait too long we are the only game in the world.  If you plan poorly, we are it.

What do you eat when you are tired or stressed?

 I’ve actually changed that.  It used to be sweets.  Now it is a cup of tea.

What kind of tea?

Any kind of tea as long as it is green.

What made you interested in connecting with Big Table?

I’ve been involved with philanthropy all my life and I’ve found a common theme in just about everything I’ve ever been involved in: ‘if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for the rest of his life.’

I think Big Table does a great job of teaching people how to fish.  That is what attracted me: a hand up rather than a hand out.

Next to teachers, hospitality workers are the least appreciated in the world.  Big Table gives people a sense that someone cares about them.

Big Table 2012 Year End Report

In our year-end report below are snapshot statistics of Big Table in 2012, an introduction to our gifted board, pictures, quotes, ideas on ways to engage, and a request that you consider Big Table in your year-end giving. This was a year of great leaps forward for Big Table and we are so grateful to each of you for your support. Thank you.

Questions For Spokane Sysco President

What is your role with Sysco?
President and Chief Operating Officer for Sysco Spokane.

Best piece of advice you ever received?  
Save your money!  Thanks, Dad.

Tell us two fun or surprising things about Sysco.  
One - our corporation as a whole is the single largest purchaser of Northwest grown/processed products in the world!   Two - Sysco has hosted nearly 400 small farmers in its “Good Agricultural Practices” workshops in the past two years.

What are you working on a company right now that is exciting or gaining traction?  
We just held our 2nd “Chefs’ Table” Event, which are invitation-only, highly focused culinary events that allow our customers to interact with our specialists and suppliers in a more relaxed and intimate setting than a traditional food show.  We are planning several more throughout our marketing area, with a focus on cuisine type.

Out of all the places in the community where your company could give, why do you support Big Table?
With its focus on the hospitality industry, Big Table is a natural fit for Sysco.  We understand the challenges that many in our industry face, and Big Table is unique in their outreach to those in need.  Plus, it is an organization that knows how to throw a party, and we are all about that, too!

What about Big Table aligns with the values you are working to live out as a company?  
At Sysco, our vision is to be our customers’ most trusted and valued business partner.   Trust and Value come in a lot of forms, but at a very basic level, we feel that trust is built when we truly value our customers – not just their business, but their commitment to their employees and communities.  Big Table provides an ideal vehicle for us to put our values into action – whether by financial support or donating the time and talent of our culinary team to Big Table events.

What do you eat when you are stressed or tired?  
Chips and Salsa.  Lots of Chips and Salsa.

Whimsical Gastronomy From Brett Fontana

The heart of Big Table is care, but we certainly do love greate food.  Consequently we loved Monday night.  For our November 12th Big Table dinner Brett Fontana from the Hayden Lake Country Club plated some wonderful courses built around simple ingredients reimagined. 

Thanks Brett for the delicious creativity. 

We also loved the descriptions of each course that Fontana provided.  He talks with his hands just like we do.

Here he is describing the Second Course of the evening that he named "BLT." 

Candied BACON and broiled LOBSTER with corn pudding, chipotle cream, and TANQUERAY fennel salad.

Second Course

Third Course

Salad mache with iceberg dressing, blue toast, and red onion jam.

Fourth Course

Coffee seared cod with corn grits, chervil, and candied orange.

Great Pizza, Great Cause. Dine2Care October at the Flying Goat

Whether you are a regular at the Flying Goat or have never had their brilliant artisan pizzas, here is a great reason to go in or order out.  From now until the 24th,the Goat will donate $5 to Big Table from every featured special pizza ordered. 

Just what is this featured pizza?

We've tried it and Chef Gleason nailed it.  He is brushing the dough with extra virgin olive oil and then topping the pizza with thin shaved panetta, fresh mozzarella, chantrelle mushrooms, carmelized onions, and fresh thyme.  Then into the Wood Stone oven it goes for several minutes at 800 degrees.  Out it comes to be topped with some shaved pecorino cheese.  You want one (or if you are like us, two or three).

But the real kicker comes next Tuesday - October 23rd.  10 % of all sales that day at lunch and dinner (eat in or order out) goes to support Big Table.  There will also be great beer and wine specials to kick in an additional percentage.  Bring your friends.

If that isn't enough, you can also buy raffle tickets on the 23rd for a pizza feast for 8 at the Goat.