What happens at Edlong?
At Edlong, we work with food manufacturers around the globe to create and renovate all types of food products that nourish the world and create community around the table. There is no flavor category that can impact the taste and likeability of a food like dairy- and dairy-type flavors, which is why we focus on that category. We are a small ingredient in the scheme of things yet the most important. We help every customer deliver superior taste. Without this, a product will not last the test of time with consumers.
As a company, this idea of “nourishing the world and creating community around the
table” is as important to us as helping our customers succeed in the market. We have a strong culture of giving back and we’re working to play a role in influencing others in our industry to contribute together and solve some of the big food-related problems in the world.
Tell us about your desire to become CEO of Edlong and your journey along the way.
My dad is the person who sparked my love for this industry. I started going to company and industry events when I was very young, and I knew early on that I wanted to be the CEO of Edlong. But as the youngest daughter of seven children, it was a long shot that I would be given the chance to live
that dream.
My brother, who is 10 years older than I am, was the heir apparent. His path was clearly defined. He would go to Kansas State University, get a degree in biochemistry, and follow in my dad’s footsteps.
My brother decided pretty quickly Edlong was not his passion. He wanted to become a teacher. I was in 8th grade when he moved on from the family business. My path became clearer, though in no way as defined as it was for my brother.
My dad struggled with the idea of having a daughter at the reins. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in my ability as much as he didn’t know how I could run the business and be a mom. This was the late 80s and early 90s. The model for a professional working woman had not yet fully developed yet.
After graduating from Purdue with a Food Science degree, I landed a job at Ball Corporation working in their consumer affairs department. I was living in Muncie, Indiana, developing recipes for the Ball Blue Book, the Bible for home canning, when I got the call I had been waiting for: my dad on the other end of the line saying it was time for me to join the family business. I was elated!
Little did I know I was walking into a perfect storm. Edlong had just installed two huge spray driers and the business was leveraged for the first time. At the same time, we lost a major customer. The bank called the loan. It was frightening.
My dad’s best friend flew into Chicago Ohare airport with $1 million in a briefcase. We paid off the bank and bought the company. My dad found another bank that would back him, but only if he “personally guaranteed” the loan. This meant if we weren’t successful, my dad would be living with me, my new husband, and baby boy. Clearly, I was motivated to make it work!
We did a lot of soul searching. We read the book Good to Great by Jim Collins and took the leap of faith to follow his hedgehog concept. It asks you to define your passion—your economic driver and the attribute you can claim you are the best at in the world. THIS is when we knew that the greatest gift we could offer our industry was the taste of dairy. We had been dabbling in other flavors, but dairy was our roots. Our passion. The one thing we genuinely did better than anybody.
This decision saved our business. It allowed us to focus and hone our expertise even more. We remain focused on the taste of dairy. It allows us to find solutions our competitors simply can’t.
Within 18 months of the day the bank threatened to close Edlong, the personal guarantees were lifted from my dad and we had fully recovered as a business. It was a proud moment. We learned so much during that trying time. Lessons I still reflect on to this day.