NASHVILLE, N.C. — American Food Resources LLC opened its doors here last month, and ran its first commercial line of cheese last week. The company is a new cheese processing and food distribution business that is positioning itself to give customers a new, value-added source of cheese throughout the Southeast and other parts of the East Coast.

There long has been a need for a large-scale cheese shredding operation in the Southeast, says Don Marcum, co-owner and vice president of sales, American Food Resources. Cheese that already has been shredded and sliced in the Midwest lacks certain freight advantages for customers in the Southeast, namely that a truck is full of shredded cheese before its weight capacity is reached. It’s more cost-effective to ship 40-pound blocks to the Southeast and then further process them, Marcum says.

In addition, American Food Resources’ location in the midst of the Southeast gives it the advantage of being able to turn around cheese for customers in a very timely fashion. The company’s new 53,000-square-foot facility has close proximity to Interstate 95 and interstate-quality U.S. 64 and is located in the 32-acre Nashville Business Center. In addition to the proximity of the facility to major highways, company executives say the location is ideal because it is in a food processing area that has a large number of people with food-related skills.

“We can reach East Coast customers on a more efficient basis,” says Tim Carper, president and co-owner, American Food Resources. “We can cut several days off an East Coast customer’s order, cutting their lead time down and cutting their market exposure down.”

“The foodservice industry is rapidly changing and the current economic climate is driving buyers to make very different decisions than they did just two or three years ago,” adds Dan Berger of Berger Foods, Atlanta, who also is a co-owner of American Food Resources. “For example, the cost of fuel has had a tremendous impact on buying behavior. Buyers are more and more cautious and are only buying what they know is already sold. American Food Resources gives these buyers the flexibility to consolidate purchases, which reduces their costs and decreases their cycle time in getting product into the hands of their customers.”

Marcum, Carper and Berger bring years of food industry experience to the venture, with Marcum merging his American Food Group company and Carper merging his Carper Sales company into American Food Resources. Berger Foods remains its own entity but will be serving as a procurement arm for American Food Resources.

“Berger Foods still maintains its corporate identity and will continue to conduct business as it has since its inception over 15 years ago,” Berger says. “However, we will use our expertise in the dairy industry and our resources to look for the highest quality and most cost-advantageous cheese product available to bring into American Food Resources.”

Cheese also may be sourced from other companies as American Food Resources grows, Carper adds.

Initially, the company will focus primarily on Cheddar, Mozzarella and Jack in packaging sizes ranging from 8 ounces to 20 pounds that are convenient for foodservice customers. As it gets up and running, the company will be operating shred, print and wedge lines and may eventually add slicing capabilities. The company expects to be shipping about 10 truckloads a week within the next 60 days and, with a second shift added, can shred enough cheese on its first line to fill 28 trucks weekly. Over the next few months, the company expects to employ 30-33 people. Carper says he expects American Food Resources will employ 125 people in five years.

Marcum notes that the company’s facility has been designed to easily double and even quadruple its current capacity.

One of the company’s strengths, Marcum adds, is its total focus on quality and efficiency in its plant. By starting with a new facility that was only a building shell, the company hasn’t had to contend with updating old equipment or a facility with space that wasn’t configured correctly.

“We have state-of-the-art equipment. There are no inefficiencies in how this was designed,” Marcum says.

“No expense was spared,” Carper adds, noting that among the equipment suppliers the company worked with were Marchant Schmidt Inc., Hayssen Inc., Commercial Labs and Multivac Inc.

The facility has cameras throughout, and one of the perks the company can provide is the ability for customers to watch their product being made in real time on a laptop computer during a sales call.

The 53,000-square-foot facility features 48,000 square feet of warehouse/manufacturing space, 28,500 square feet of which is refrigerated, and features state-of-the-art racking and retrieval systems. Unlike at some facilities that are shrouded in secrecy, the American Food Resources executives say that they invite customers and potential cheese suppliers to visit their business. They are proud of the facility and want to showcase it.

American Food Resources is offering cheese to its customers under its own new brand, Man In The Moon, as well as under private label. The company is offering traditional cheese blends as well as custom blends to meet particular customers’ needs.

“Our primary customers will be foodservice distributors of any size. Large customers might fill a truck themselves. Smaller distributors might partner together to fill a truck. We’ll be offering a lot of flexibility for the marketplace,” Berger says.

While the focus is on foodservice, the company also has had some interest from retailers and expects retail to be a component of the business as well.

And cheese is far from the company’s only offering. Marcum’s previous experience was in handling an array of food items, including imported canned foods. American Food Resources is building on that business, serving as a distributor of a full range of items that foodservice operators use, including pineapple, mushrooms, anchovies, tomatoes and other vegetables. Because it is a refrigerated facility, meat items like pepperoni also will be available. In addition, the company will offer cross-docking of imported cheeses and will provide an array of other dairy products including cream cheese and sour cream.

“We’re a one-stop shop facility,” Carper says.

The company executives are spreading the news about all of their offerings via word of mouth and direct sales calls, and Berger notes the company also will be a presence at trade shows. American Food Resources has a website as well at www.americanfoodresources.com.

The company also is receiving local publicity. Local municipalities actively sought American Food Resources’ business. Those involved in providing incentives, including grants, for the project include the town of Nashville, Nash County, the Nash County Business Development Authority, Carolinas Gateway Partnership, the North Carolina Eastern Region Partnership, Process Energy, the North Carolina Department of Commerce and USDA’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant.

CMN