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In early 2022, Adam Michaels received an unexpected call from a small processed food company called Mama Mancini's looking for a new CEO, but at first he wasn't interested.
The CPG veteran had nearly a decade of experience at Mondelēz International, where he was “living the dream” arranging multi-million dollar deals for the Oreo giant.
But after a two-hour meeting with Mama's nine-person board and a few days later touring the plant with company founder Dan Mancini, he decided to make the move to the food manufacturing industry he had observed. “We had a real story in the right growth category.” “There were so many opportunities for improvement.”
Founded in 2007 by Dan Mancini with a line of packaged meatballs and sauces modeled after his grandmother's, Mama Mancini was already a successful presence in the Italian food market and was expanding its presence in the fast-growing deli prepared foods sector. Michaels saw an opportunity to accelerate his entry into the deli market while also turning around a company that was losing millions of dollars annually due to low margins, unnecessary costs and inefficiencies.
“I had a vision of what we could be,” Michaels said in an interview. “I didn’t want to be a $100 million company. We wanted to be a billion-dollar business.”
Mama's sales increased 11% to $103 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2024, surpassing the 100-year milestone for the first time in its 17-year history. Gross profit soared more than 50% to $30 million compared to 2023.
Adam Michaels, CEO of Mama's Creations
Licensed by Mama's Creations.
It's not hard to see Michaels' influence on the Mamas.
Since taking office as CEO in September 2022that 48In just one year, Mama's margins more than doubled, cash reserves increased by more than $10 million, and debt was cut in half.
We've cut our freight costs by 50%. “We used to send two trucks half-empty. Same thing “We serviced customers the same day,” Michaels recalled, adding that contracts with customers were also rewritten to better benefit Mama's.
Michaels hired former Mondelēz executive Lauren Sella to run marketing, a position Mama's didn't previously hold. Sella Regain vitality The company's brand positioning and product portfolio. She also An organization that can respond faster Walmart, Kroger, Target And other people too Please contact us for inquiries regarding sales of MAMAS products.
The company's manufacturing process has also been completely overhauled to become more reliant on technology. Mama's used to have employees shovel meatballs and sauces into cups and trim or cut chicken by hand. Now, they've invested in millions of dollars in machines to do the work. This change has allowed Mama's to increase production while also cutting costs.
Since Michaels took over, little has gone untouched, including the company's name. He changed the name from Mama Mancini's to Mama's Creations last August to reflect its position as a major player in fresh deli foods.
Despite all the changes, Michaels vows there’s more to come. “We haven’t even started yet,” he declared.
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Licensed by Mama's Creations.
To achieve $1 billion in sales Michaels wants half of it to come out. Organic growth, the rest through acquisitions.
The biggest driver inside Mama's is persuading retailers to sell more products in their delis. When Michaels started, retailers Averagely sold Less than Five of his items are now above that. seven.
A big part of that comes from strengthening Mama's portfolio through acquisitions, giving retailers more food choices. Previously, if you didn't want meatballs in a store, there was little else Mama's could offer. Now, the company's menu includes dozens of green salads, pasta salads, olives, wraps, paninis, sausages, couscous, Italian dishes and more. Beef, chicken, pasta item.
It is no coincidence that he decided to double his spending in Delhi.
According to Michaels, the perishables section of a grocery store is the best performing section, and shoppers who shop at the deli generally spend more money during their visit. Deli shoppers also tend to visit the store more frequently and buy meals for dinner, which is a big reason why retailers are increasing the space they devote to the deli.
“That’s where the consumer is going,” he said. “We wanted to open up and become a one-stop-shop deli solutions business.”
Michaels is “actively” looking for companies to acquire outside of Mama’s. He’s targeting as many as five deals over the next few years, with a priority given to businesses that make food, such as sushi, pizza or soup, that fill existing gaps in the portfolio.
“We significantly underinvested in our people, our equipment, our vision of where we wanted to go,” he said. “And now we have that vision… and we’re executing on it every day.”
