Poseidon Seafood

Source: Food and Drink Digital

Date :18/03/2008 05:49:34

Poseidon Seafood promises a quality product and an understanding of customer needs, but demands efficiency. Exec learns how Poseidon Seafood became a leading seafood distributor

Written by Ben O’Hanlon and produced by Michael Magno

Amongst the county’s leading wholesale seafood distributors, Poseidon Enterprises Inc., was founded by CEO Richard Lavecchia in 1986. The company has five temperature-controlled processing facilities reaching from Atlanta, GA to Richmond, VA as well as a regional distribution centre in Bristol, TN. Over 250 employees throughout these locations are tasked with packing and distributing food to service and retail establishments throughout the South-East, one of the largest such networks in America.

In all, Poseidon boasts 10,000 points of distribution across 14 states.

Given the nature of the product, there’s not much time for thinking; typically, it takes between three and seven days for a fish to make the journey from deep sea to restaurant kitchen. President and Chief Operations Officer CP Davis explains how the business keeps him on his toes: “I can’t think of another industry that’s this dynamic. With such a quick turnaround our work is extremely challenging, but for me that’s the most exciting part.” Our ability to execute and to insure consistent quality throughout our supply chain is our key differentiator.

Rise to the Challenge

CP took over as President in June 2007 when Hunt Providence Equity Group became one of Poseidon’s investment partners and, with over 25 years experience in food sales and distribution with leading consumer goods companies like Frito-Lay, Kraft Foods and Campbell Soup – plus his logistics background as an US Army officer, he was well poised for the challenge of a demanding industry.

Historically, meeting those challenges has required a continued focus on all aspects of the business in order to streamline processes and deliver efficiencies wherever they can be found. “We look at all aspects of the supply chain, from end to end,” says CP. “We work closely with suppliers to share our vision and scrutinize all processes from cutting and packing to shipping and distributing. All through the system everybody is monitored in order to highlight redundancy or repeated errors.”

This level of focus is part of an underlying commitment, not just to fill orders on time, but to ensure that the end product is received in the best possible condition. “We know our customers have choices and we want to make sure they see we’re making every possible effort to make the business better. That’s very important,” explains CP. In this business, execution is just as important as strategy.

Technology

As part of its ongoing drive for efficiency Poseidon has been keen to embrace new technologies. This has recently seen the installation of a new telecommunications system by Altigen. The system tracks calls and will direct inbound calls to the appropriate department. By recognizing the caller’s phone number it can automatically retrieve customer records and display them on the screen, even before a word has been spoken.

And technology impacts every aspect of the business. A routing system (“Roadnet”), provided by UPS, batches orders and creates delivery routes based on demand and geographical information. The system not only helps to meet customer needs, but also to compete with rising fuel costs. This has proved to be vital for Poseidon’s route sales representatives, who might find themselves in the dense metropolis of Atlanta, the rural mountains of West Virginia, or pretty much anywhere in between.

To further improve distribution capabilities, Poseidon worked closely with its fleet partner, Penske, to upgrade its entire DSD fleet last year. “From our over-the-road assets to our local route trucks, Penske supported our vision to have the most effective fleet on the street. We are constantly working together to address route productivity, safety and coverage, states Davis.”

Investment has also seen the implementation of real time management systems, providing up to the minute information that’s invaluable in such a fast paced industry. Micro Strategies’ software is used daily to analyze costs and the subsequent profitability of sales. This is used to drive the sales team, to identify trends and to give an accurate footing to management decisions. “We no longer have to wait until the end of the month to see how the business is doing,” says CP. “Our new CFO, Bill Cave has been truly instrumental in bringing about massive change in a short period of time at Poseidon.”

Putting People First

“We have very dedicated, committed team members at Poseidon – we place a premium on open communication, performance assessment and evaluation.” Information about our performance is broadcasted “real-time” according to Davis. This information is shared with all team members via large flat screen televisions, all part of Poseidon’s open communications policy and ongoing commitment to its team members.

“While we do spend time planning and working through our strategic plans, this business requires intense day to day focus. We demand all executives and sales management to work closely with our Route Sales Representatives (RSR’s). We often conduct work-withs with our RSR’s and help make deliveries to customer or make numerous market visits each week. We spend a great deal of time with our salesforce visiting our customers in every market,” says CP.

Equally as important is the physical distribution of management staff across the business. Instead of being based solely in the company’s head office, executives are deployed throughout Poseidon’s different locations. This allows leadership to be exercised effectively in all the key operating areas. “We have a senior executive with local P&L responsibility for each sales and operations location.”

The Poseidon Adventure

Even without the tidal waves there’s certainly a sense of adventure about Poseidon’s ambitions for its future. The company aims to double its annual revenue over the next three to four years.

Key to this is its strategy of developing existing markets in the South - across all key food channels and expanding its operations as better of its alignment with strategic accounts.

Based on past accomplishments, you would have to acknowledge that there is a strong foothold for achieving these ambitions. A mix of shrewd capital investments, amounting to around $1 million, and the strategic acquisition of Low Country Lobster – used as a springboard for coastal expansion – have well and truly set the ship sailing at a rapid speed and clear course.

CP says the current day environmental and marketplace challenges are tackled head-on as Poseidon is much more disciplined than ever before: “We are investing heavily in our infrastructure and talent, while removing a great deal of cost and waste out of the system.”

But for all the investment in technology, process re-engineering and ambitious strategic thinking, it seems that, in the end, success has and will, come down to good, honest, hard-work: “There’s no easy way to grow. Our growth strategy is really about working day-in and day-out to meet customer needs. We are not about being the largest distributor partner – but the absolute “best” in all aspects of servicing our customers.”

Click here to view the corporate brochure on Poseidon Seafood