Meals innovation in Battle Creek set to speed up by means of collaboration

When executive-level Kellogg workers half methods with their employer, over time sufficient of them have determined to remain in Battle Creek that town has secured its place as a nationwide and world meals innovation chief, says Joe Sobieralski, President and CEO of Battle Creek Limitless.

There isn’t any orchestrated marketing campaign by Battle Creek Limitless management to get them to remain within the metropolis. As a substitute, they’re making that selection on their very own. Jeff Grogg is a type of who determined to remain native and in 2009 based JPG Assets, a meals and beverage consulting enterprise. Grogg had labored for the Kellogg Co. primarily within the product improvement space and oversaw the implementation of Kashi merchandise. 
 
“These former Kellogg workers have established roots right here. It’s been occurring for a very long time,” Sobieralski says.
 
Glenn Pappalardo, a Managing Director with JPG Assets, and David Pelyhes, a accomplice with the enterprise, might have gone wherever after leaving Kellogg’s.
 
Pappalardo, who labored for eight years at Kellogg’s in varied company improvement and technique roles, says high quality of life points and the chance to work with Grogg are among the many causes he stayed.
 
David Pelyhes, left, and Glenn Pappalardo are each former Kellogg Firm workers who now work for JPG Assets.“On the time after I was nonetheless with Kellogg, I had the chance to maneuver to La Jolla, Calif., to work on the Kashi model,” he says. “I stayed as a result of this space has a pleasant steadiness of all the stuff you need and it’s not exhausting to journey to different locations. The panorama of the enterprise world seems a lot totally different now. It has shifted.”
 
Pelyhes, who left Kellogg’s in 2019 as Vice President of Shared Companies for the W.Ok. Kellogg Institute (WKKI) after nearly 25 years with the corporate, says, “I actually hadn’t been fascinated with leaving. I bought caught up in downsizing and after leaving, the thought course of was to remain within the space. My spouse and I actually like Michigan. There are all of those nice parks and trip locations obtainable and good college programs.”
 
On the skilled aspect, he says, for people engaged on the technical aspect of the meals enterprise, the work is moveable.

“Whereas I’m primarily based in southwest Michigan and I could possibly be sitting in our workplace in Battle Creek searching on the (W.Ok. Kellogg Basis), my work is moveable,” Pelyhes says. “We’re primarily based right here however we traveI. I’ve been in quite a lot of amenities within the Midwest within the final three years. I’ve spent my justifiable share of time in Chicagoland. Lots of people default to Chicago being this hub, however as a result of we have now such a excessive stage of experience right here, we’re making stronger connections in greater cities like New York and we will flex relying on what the consumer or buyer want is.”
 
Pappalardo says individuals within the meals business are conscious of Battle Creek due to Kellogg’s. He says they now not have the identical stage of shock once they discover out that that is the place JPG Assets is situated. Battle Creek, he says, “is somewhat bit tougher to get to than Chicago, but it surely’s so much cheaper to remain right here and do some work and you’ve got easy accessibility to all forms of facilities, extra so than should you have been in Chicago or New York or different city facilities. We’re near the place lots of people are doing issues. The ecosystem for our work exists in Battle Creek and the southwest Michigan space.”
 
Pelyhes says he and his colleagues at JPG Assets acknowledge what number of former Kellogg’s and Submit workers have stayed within the space and do consulting or contracting work within the meals enterprise.
 
Pappalardo and Pelyhes are amongst greater than 25 workers primarily based in Michigan and one other 12 to fifteen who work remotely.
 
David Pelyhes, left, and Glenn Pappalardo are each former Kellogg Firm workers who now work for JPG Assets.Now they and their group are positioning themselves to additional cement town’s place as an business chief in meals innovation. JPG Assets together with BCU, Michigan State College, Kellogg Group Faculty, Kellogg Company, the W.Ok. Kellogg Basis, and native stakeholders have entered right into a collaboration designed to facilitate improvement, acceleration, and know-how switch throughout the area’s meals innovation ecosystem. 

This work is being paid for by means of a pool of funds that features $375,000 from the U.S. Financial Growth Administration together with an area match value $416,571.
 
“WKKF has been concerned with this initiative because it began round September of 2019,” says Jamie Schriner, Program Officer with WKKF’s Battle Creek Group. “We introduced the U.S. Financial Growth Administration (EDA) to Battle Creek to take a tour after which began to work on the Battle Creek Meals Reimagined initiative. WKKF has supported the hassle the whole time by convening individuals, in addition to offering assets to help an outdoor guide to facilitate the EDA grant software course of. Our funding, transferring ahead, will assist to rent the employees for the accelerator and fund.”
 
The collaboration shaped in the identical natural manner that decisions have been made by former Kellogg Co. workers to stay in Battle Creek, Sobieralski says.
 
“These people bought collectively and mentioned, ‘Now we have one thing right here and have to formalize it.’ We have been on the desk with these of us speaking about it and we mentioned, ‘Sure, it is sensible. Let’s do it.’”
 
These conversations resulted within the improvement of a meals start-up program referred to as the Future Meals Accelerator and a enterprise capital fund referred to as the Meals and Beverage Traders Community, each of that are being financed by the EDA funds and matching funds. 

David Pelyhes, left, and Glenn Pappalardo are each former Kellogg Firm workers who now work for JPG Assets.The Future Meals Accelerator – previously Battle Creek Meals Reimagined – is designed as a digital accelerator that hyperlinks modern analysis and improvement amenities, college know-how innovation packages, entrepreneurship help packages, business/market consultants, and area consultants to help high-growth, high-potential meals and beverage firms situated in or relocating to Southcentral Michigan.
 
“We all know that Battle Creek is a meals city and all of those people engaged on this know that,” Sobieralski says. “JPG is a validation of that. They’ve all of this institutional meals data and experience and so they know methods to take that to the subsequent stage. These two EDA awards will assist take it to the subsequent stage. With this funding, we may have devoted staffing and assets to develop this entrepreneurial meals system in Battle Creek. It’s in its infancy and we’ll be taught alongside the best way. It’s the beginning of one thing bigger.”
 
BCU is the fiduciary for the funds and is serving as a convener by advantage of its position as an financial improvement group.
 
“This initiative is focused to serving to small to medium food-based companies develop by using the help of the various property we have now within the area in Battle Creek,” Schriner says. “Whereas we hope the companies that exist already in Battle Creek companies are using these property, we’re additionally hoping to draw further companies to town. Extra companies imply extra jobs, extra of us dwelling in the neighborhood, paying taxes, and supporting our current companies. We see this as a win for everybody.”
 
A significant focus of the initiative will embrace a recruitment marketing campaign centered on the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Individuals of Coloration) and underserved communities, Sobieralski says.
 
“These might be startups surrounded across the meals business,” he says. “These are of us who’re already doing stuff who have to be accelerated to the subsequent stage. The concept is that we wish to seize as a lot as we will and develop it right here to contribute to the economic system right here. We are going to recruit members of the BIPOC and underserved communities first.”
 
Pappalardo says, “If you concentrate on what it means to hit a wall or barrier, a part of that’s entry to individuals and to know-how. Individuals of shade have traditionally not been capable of entry that experience.
 
Native expertise, Native experience
 
The meals innovation that started in 1876 in Battle Creek with the invention of cornflakes has contributed to a legacy that has continued to develop and embrace former Kellogg workers like Pappalardo and Pelyhes.
 
“There’s clearly a legacy of meals in southwest Michigan and a legacy of expertise created at Kellogg and Submit continues to be right here,” Pappalardo says. “Western Michigan has an unbelievable abundance of farming and meals creation. On high of that we’ve bought plenty of universities inside an hour or so away and so they have quite a lot of expertise to drag from if we wish to develop the meals and beverage companies in southwest Michigan. Now we have farms and orchards and plenty of nice bakeries, breweries, and wineries. There’s a large swath of individuals crafting meals and drinks of various sorts.”
 
He, Pelyhes, and their colleagues will use their experience to help purchasers of the Future Meals Accelerator who’re able to take their companies to the subsequent stage.
 
Pappalardo says the EDA grants are “actually making it actual and getting it into detailed planning and arrange. In a nutshell, it’s the genesis of an thought inside American packaged meals and beverage firms which are making an attempt to do distinctive and novel issues and have success at that after which type of hit a wall. In some unspecified time in the future, they need to have the flexibility to hunt further provide, or packaging and know-how. There’s solely a lot of ingredient or manufacturing know-how obtainable to them. Can we create a program that brings in these firms and transfer them from $5 or $10 million and past and make no matter they’re doing extra accessible across the nation and possibly past?”
 
Pelyhes says that is the kind of work JPG Assets is already doing. He says they’re creating area to make connections between those that have been displaced from their jobs and “these main CPG (Client Packaged Items) firms and rising manufacturers. $10 million to $100 million firms are approaching us and asking, ‘Are you able to present me a top quality result in help my enterprise?’ The businesses we work with want about one-half individual or fractional help.”
 
The requests have are available for meals merchandise together with Junkless granola bars created by Erni Pang, who lives in Portage, and Ok-pods that include a combination of espresso and distilled spirits created by Cask & Kettle whose founders are one-time Kellogg workers or have affiliations with JPG Assets.

Pappalardo describes the Future Meals Accelerator initiative as a “little bit of an academy and accelerator and help.” The near-term help piece will embrace varied assets and other people obtainable to him and his group by means of connections cast with JPG Assets.
 
“On the finish, they may have a pathway to maneuver ahead and preserve working with us to execute a plan or exit on their very own and proceed on with out the additional help we’re offering,” he says. “They’ve bought to have the need and skill to fund themselves.”
 
Sobieralski says there is also a give attention to holding these firms within the Battle Creek space. “Ideally, we would like them to develop right here and keep right here and contribute to our general economic system and create extra gravity for meals entrepreneurs to come back right here.” 
 
These facilities of gravity that embrace packaged meals and beverage infrastructure have been built-up and originated in Battle Creek, Pappalardo says.
 
“This program will help people who find themselves making an attempt to develop novel substances and even individuals making an attempt to create extra product capability with novel objects,” he says. “On the agrarian aspect of issues we have now tons of farmland and farm data and we have now nice packaging experience by means of MSU. Now we have the flexibility to assist anyone.”
 
Throughout the subsequent three months, Sobieralski says the collaborators might be specializing in hiring somebody to be the purpose individual for the Future Meals Accelerator program. He says the initiative will kick into excessive gear after that and additional set up Battle Creek’s place within the meals innovation sector on a nationwide and world scale.
 
“I believe it will shed a lightweight on the truth that a few of that is already occurring right here,” Sobieralski says, “and it’s actually going to amplify the meals innovation that has already taken place right here and that would develop right here.”

Pictures by John Grap. See extra of his work right here.