The Morning Star Company

Sales Rep: Regional Food Service Distribution, Food Distributors

The Company

The Morning Star Company and its affiliates operate three tomato processing facilities in Central California, processing over 1/3 of the California processing tomato crop, in addition to tomato transplanting, farming, harvesting and trucking operations.  The company employs approximately 600 year-round and 2,500 seasonal colleagues.

The Morning Star Company is the largest independent producer of bulk tomato ingredient products (tomato paste and diced tomatoes) in the world.  We also produce canned tomatoes, tomato products and specialty sauces in pouches for customers in the retail and food service markets.  The company is known worldwide for its innovation and integrity.

We are organizationally structured through a system we term Mission Focused Self-Management™.  Our company is operated by Colleagues without titles or an appointed hierarchy of authority.  Authority relative to other Colleagues’ activities is lateral, with our Mission as our guiding principle of action, and respect, influence and success built based on each Colleague’s integrity, competency, effort, persistence and straightforward persuasiveness.  Although we have grown significantly, we intend to maintain a culture of individual responsibility and Mission Focused Self-Management™.

The Mission and Position

The Morning Star Food Service Sales Mission is “To build relationships which result in ‘at-will’ sales opportunities” - To establish a relationship with and attract offers from every customer and negotiate mutually sustainable agreements with select customers. Introduction and conversion of our #10 pouch from a #10 can is the key focus. We desire to increase Morning Star’s product supply penetration with the goal of being each customer’s, “Supplier of Choice.” When conditions warrant, we should drive to be their sole supplier.

The ideal candidate will have an entrepreneurial spirit. They should be an independently driven, relationship-oriented professional that contributes a positive outlook to our unique, collaborative environment. They will be able to multitask effectively, adapt to change quickly, work well under pressure, and manage their time appropriately. The candidate should be a strong communicator and an efficient organizer.

• Develop and maintain an enthusiastic presence for Morning Star in the marketplace with the objective of securing an offer to purchase product from each and every customer relationship one is responsible for.
• Demonstrate strong product and technical expertise (over time if from outside our industry) and sound market knowledge of domestic and international markets. Understand competition and the lay of the land amongst players.
• Develop a customer-specific business plan (updated quarterly), which details activities to execute that plan to maintain or grow existing business.
• Conduct new business development efforts with prospective accounts including but not limited to new product opportunities and strategic initiatives that bring further value such as ideation sessions, freight analysis, etc. Work with Morning Star technical support colleagues to develop new sales opportunities and to address customer issues or concerns.
• Administrative duties to include: update our customer database software to track sales activities, forecasting and movement analysis and other administrative duties as required. Utilize reports that track sales, prices and inventories to monitor actual shipments versus commitments and take action to maintain customer shipment commitments.
• Coordinate with other Sales Colleagues, and other Colleagues within the enterprise, to enhance the effectiveness of the entire organization.

Knowledge and Experience Requirements 

• Strong history working with and selling to Regional Food Service Distributors. 
• Knowledge of general sales processes and tactics is required, with specific experience in prospecting and consultative selling. Background in food ingredient sales to distributors is preferred. An understanding of the processed tomato market is a huge plus.

• Excellent results in significant sales/marketing role(s) in a commodity-oriented business.
• Demonstrated ability to handle major accounts and work effectively with brokers (a small element of our sales efforts).
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to connect with people.
• Formal education in a related field is appreciated, but not required.
• Travel requirement of 15% to 20% or as needed to drive the business.
• Additionally, the ideal candidate should be proficient with Microsoft applications, specifically Excel and PowerPoint. 

The Morning Star Company, and its affiliates, operate three tomato processing facilities in Central California, processing 25% to 30% of the California crop, plus tomato transplanting, farming, harvesting and trucking operations, with employment of approximately 350 year-round and 2,000 seasonal colleagues and annual sales of approximately $900 million.

The Morning Star Company is the largest independent producer of bulk tomato ingredient products (tomato paste and diced tomatoes) in the world. We also produce pouch tomatoes, canned tomatoes, tomato products and specialty sauces in pouches for customers in the retail and food service markets. The company is known worldwide for its innovation and integrity.

We are organizationally structured through a system we term Mission Focused Self-Management. Our company is operated by colleagues without titles or an appointed hierarchy of authority. Each Colleague is expected to be the manager of their mission. Authority relative to other colleagues’ activities is lateral and based on their independent agreements. Each colleague’s Mission is their guiding principle of action, and respect, influence and success having to be built based on each colleague’s competency, integrity, effort, persistence and straight-forward persuasiveness. As we continue to grow, and while we communicate this position in commonly used terms, we intend to maintain a culture of individual responsibility and mission-focused management.

Salary expected to be between $85,000 to $105,000, DOE.