What does the future bode for Pipestone’s Ellison Meat?
“It’s going to be more jobs,” said Alan Sheldon, Ellison Meat Co. sr. vice-president of food sales in Pipestone. “We are constantly working on bid opportunities and right now we are working on a bid with a national company to supply them with 7.6 million pounds of ground beef patties. If this happens, we are going to have to expand. An announcement on this is expected next week.”
Sheldon spoke during a presentation before the Pipestone Kiwanis Club, Tuesday, as part of a series of presentations from area industries hosted by the Pipestone Kiwanis Club.
Currently Ellison Meat Co. employs 180 people at the Pipestone facility.
The J & B Group, of which Ellison Meat Co. belongs, had $563 million worth of sales in 2008 and project sales of $601 million for 2009, according to Sheldon. The owners of J & B Group want to make it a billion dollar company by 2012.
“We are the protein leader in the upper Midwest; most of the distributors use our products,” he said. “We are home of the “No Name” brand steaks, chicken and seafood.”
He emphasized the company continues to grow despite the tough economic times. Sheldon attributed this growth to J & B Group’s diversification and strong sales to distributors across the United States.
“We also sell to restaurant chains like Country Kitchen, Jack in the Box and Qdoba Mexican Grill to name a few,” Sheldon said.
Before J & B Group purchased Ellison Meat Co. two years ago, they were very strong in the upper Midwest and the acquisition of Ellison allowed J & B Group to go nationwide.
Sheldon noted that besides food service to distributors and restaurant chains, the company does a lot of business with retail outlets.
“Coborn’s is one of our largest retail accounts,” he said. “We are in Super Targets, Super Wal-Marts and Cub Foods. Plus many more retail accounts.”
All of the product for national chain customers comes from Pipestone.
