Since the late 80s, JTM Foods has been working out of Erie, Pennsylvania. Over the last ten years, the company has developed a highly automated footprint that has powered aggressive growth in the handheld snack and crispy treat categories.
“We view ourselves as the ‘Best Choice’ in the sectors where we compete, with an engaged workforce and a strong platform for further growth,” says Monty Pooley, President and CEO of JTM Foods. “We are the predominant player in our category globally, and we are looking to leverage that platform for further growth.”
Until recently JTM Foods has operated out of its 140,000 square-foot facilities in Erie, of which 80,000 square feet is dedicated to the production, and 60,000 square feet are used for materials and finished goods. Last year, however, the company broke ground on a new facility in Wichita, Kansas, as well as acquired an edible cookie dough and baked goods business in McKinney, Texas.
“We are the Best Choice in sweet snacks, with our handheld snack pie delivering aggressive growth over the next five years,” Pooley says.
Tomorrow’s Snack Industry
This growth is driven by the fact that JTM Foods has never been afraid to leverage technology to achieve its business goals, from automation to big data.
“What differentiates us from the marketplace is the engineering that went into the design and construction of our highly automated manufacturing facility,” Pooley. “That is what lets us make consistently great tasting products extraordinarily efficiently.”
All the efficiency in the world is no use if the snacks themselves don’t taste good, and JTM Foods is hard at continuous improvement work, meeting consumer needs with a variety of flavours.
“We are consistently better than other light treats in our category and we offer our retail partners an opportunity to make nice margins,” Pooley says. “We take a data-based approach to the marketplace. We take data, analyse it, drive insights from that data and turn those insights into action. It places us in the best position to be strategic partners with our retail customers.”
Using that data, JTM Foods takes a personalised approach to those retail customers.
“We sell the private label to many large retailers and branded companies that recognise our ability to make these products efficiently, putting us in the best position to be preferred manufacturing partners,” Pooley says. “We are all about driving category growth for retailers, using data to co-develop plans that work for our customers.”
JTM Foods has been undergoing a process of professionalisation, putting operations into play to improve safety, quality, reliability and efficiency, all driven by the data the company has access to.
Data-Driven Insights
JTM Foods is the leading player in the fifth-largest category of sweet day goods. It is competing against manufacturers that either do not or cannot choose to focus on data or leverage the scale needed to acquire that data in the hand-held snack pie and edible cookie dough categories.
“We are partnered with syndicated data company, IRI, and based on that information we understand the right way to merchandise our product, the right price points, the best way for our customers to grow their category utilizing approaches that make strategic sense for them,” Pooley says. “We share with our customers optimized pricing schemes, the best positioning on the store floor, and how to boost both category sales and profitability.”
JTM’s marketing resources work with the end consumer, showing them products, getting feedback from them and learning their expectations and how their products can improve.
“We can find out what they want, whether that’s more fruit, different flavour varieties or adjustments to our nutrition formulation profile,” Pooley tells us. “We leverage all those data points to find solutions, explain the choices we have made with our brand and show retailers how those choices can benefit their own brand.”
‘The Best Choice’
It is clear talking with Pooley that he is excited by the opportunities JTM Foods’ use of data can open up, but that is only one part of the company’s ongoing mission.
“We believe that we offer the ‘Best Choice,’ and we say that as an aspiration and an expectation as we expand our business, put shovels in the ground and acquire new businesses,” Pooley says. 
“When we work together with our domestic and international partners, associates, suppliers, and customers, we have six values that we highlight. Those values are respect, trust, accountability, teamwork, ownership and continuous improvement. We make a point of talking about these values in any interaction with our associates, existing customers and new customers.”
The company is expanding into new markets, engaging with its associations and competing in the categories that will continue to be relevant for retailers and consumers.
“We win in the marketplace because we are safe, our associates are safe and our products are safe,” Pooley says. “Customers expect us to deliver what they have ordered on time, priced right and damage free, even during very challenging periods.”
In delivering on that mission, Pooley is keen to point out the role of JTM Foods’ staff in its success.
“JTM as a business is important to our communities. We are working hard to make JTM an ‘employer of choice’ by understanding how our associates feel about working at JTM,” Pooley says. “We have developed a compensation plan that is competitive in the marketplace. We share our wins financially back with our associates driving home the value of ownership.”
In recruitment, the company looks for reliable individuals who share JTM’s positive attitude. Positions within the company are structured so that associates can come in at the ground level and develop skill sets that prepare them to take on more responsibility and gain value-added expertise. We are bringing in partners who see themselves building a career at JTM and who are willing to invest in a continuous improvement mindset.”
Having consolidated its position as a leader in the sweet baked goods and snacking categories, JTM is set to expand in the US and is looking for acquisitions that will let it broaden its portfolio.
“We know how to work productively with our customers to grow their categories profitably,” Pooley confirms.
