00:00.45

Andy Gellert

Bye.

00:01.87

vigorbranding

Hey there, welcome to Fork Tales. I’m ah Michael Pavone, and I’m happy to really get a chance to talk to a good friend of mine. ah Today we have Andy Gellert here. He’s a good friend I’ve known for and respected for a long, long time. Andy’s the president of Gellert Global Group, one of the largest food importers in the world. ah They import more than 2,500 product lines from more than 60 countries. Andy, thank you so much for being here.

00:27.05

Andy Gellert

Mike, always a pleasure, always great seeing you, and nice seeing your smiling face, and I love hanging out with you. We’re always having a lot of fun together.

00:34.39

vigorbranding

Yeah, absolutely. You know, if they if they have music for this in the beginning, you know, I was going to, I was going to change up our, our forktails music and have a little.

00:41.11

Andy Gellert

Listen, I don’t like to brag about my my my my my my my my my beautiful voice. where You saw me on stage with Welcome Pepper a long time ago. I hung that up a long time ago.

00:52.98

Andy Gellert

I got straight into the food business, Mike. I can’t cant just think my life away, you know?

00:54.81

vigorbranding

Yeah. The little salt and pepper in the beginning of this thing i gets us off on everything and everything. The thing is, Andy, I have known you for a long time, but I love doing these interviews because I always learn more. so it’s like I might have seen you over the years at these shows and get to hang out and you know have a drink together, but you know when you’re digging a little deeper about the family business and about the food industry and and all of that, it’s just I’m always blown away. and your Your company and your family, which is the company, is absolutely amazing.

01:21.57

vigorbranding

So tell us a little bit about Gellert Global Group and know what they do.

01:24.57

Andy Gellert

but i mean like Next year we’ll celebrate our 80th birthday and we’re very excited. and As I said, you know I’m third generation and I live i live food. It’s a passion of mine. I love all aspects of the food industry. and you know like My grandfather started this in 1945.

01:46.38

Andy Gellert

importing meats from Eastern Europe and seafood. We’ve grown and got other lines of businesses in. We’re selling food service, retail, manufacturing, cruise line.

01:57.56

Andy Gellert

We’re now involved in, you know thanks to YPO, I’m i’m involved in the franchise business. By the end of the year, we’ll have 55 guys. Thanks to our good friend Dan Rowe.

02:05.09

vigorbranding

Wow. Yeah.

02:07.17

Andy Gellert

We’re introducing their first one. And you know we invest in food businesses and it’s just, ah We’re all about food. I tell everyone I hit my belly, it’s this is R and&D.

02:17.29

Andy Gellert

This is R and&D. I mean,

02:20.68

vigorbranding

That’s fantastic. Now, you know, I know family owned, super important. I know you treat everyone like family because I’ve seen you around ah customers, employees, the whole thing, but your dad, he is an older gentleman, but still very much involved in the business. Is that correct?

02:35.09

Andy Gellert

86. I went to his house to play tennis at 6 o’clock in the morning today. We play with people from our company. He loves it like he’s, my mom goes away for the summer.

02:45.63

Andy Gellert

He’s having, ah lot this summer is incredible. He’s 86. Every, twice a week, he has people from the company come over and have dinner and just different groups of people.

02:52.74

vigorbranding

That’s awesome.

02:53.86

Andy Gellert

And and he loves what he does. It’s it’s it’s really it’s really an honor to to to work with him and and watch him. he loves He loves his suppliers.

03:04.49

Andy Gellert

We love our bankers. We love our employees. It’s all about, you know, yeah he’s all, he’s all about people. And it’s really great.

03:11.81

vigorbranding

Yeah.

03:12.97

Andy Gellert

I said this summer at the fancy food show, he was honored with a lifetime achievement award. And it’s such a good honor to see him up there and enjoying all the success of the role we’ve done together.

03:22.47

vigorbranding

Well, it’s so well deserved. He deserved that honor. The company’s amazing. But you should give him a break. I mean, I think you you put sneakers on him.

03:28.24

Andy Gellert

He loves,

03:28.57

vigorbranding

i had He had sneakers on in the booth to run around. I mean, you know.

03:32.00

Andy Gellert

you know, listen, like I said, he works out before we play tennis in the morning and He’s all about the next activity and what we’re doing next. So, you know.

03:39.84

vigorbranding

That’s it’s fantastic. how many So how many members of the family are currently working in the company?

03:45.07

Andy Gellert

So today we have my sister, my brother, and my cousin in my generation. And my cousin who, my other cousin who runs the Five Guide business. And then I have my father and my uncle.

03:56.25

Andy Gellert

So there’s, you know, three, six of us, you know.

03:58.55

vigorbranding

that’s great

03:59.47

Andy Gellert

And we’re getting ready for the third generation.

03:59.41

vigorbranding

and look

04:01.81

Andy Gellert

Hopefully, you know, there are nine kids in the next generation. Hopefully one of them or two of them will come in and we’re we’re excited. It’s all about, you know, we love what we do and there’s a lot to do.

04:12.31

Andy Gellert

And, you know, some of these family businesses, you know, the family, you hear about them and they’re fighting and they’re not getting a along.

04:18.50

vigorbranding

That’s

04:19.38

Andy Gellert

I think we’re being successful because we keep growing and there’s enough things that everyone can do and everyone brings value that no one’s stepping each other’s toes.

04:25.06

vigorbranding

great.

04:27.57

Andy Gellert

We’re all different, we but we appreciate each other’s opinion and listening to each other. We argue, but, you know, we all, we we get her off our chest and we move forward. You know?

04:36.10

vigorbranding

Would you go out and play tennis, right, and solve it over the own tennis court?

04:37.88

Andy Gellert

Exactly. We stopped it on the court. We stopped it on the court.

04:40.98

vigorbranding

So you the kids, are are they are they interested? are they old not I don’t know how old they are. Are they old enough to be getting close?

04:47.10

Andy Gellert

So I think um my daughter my daughter is a social worker therapist. I don’t think she’s going to come in, you know. But my, you know, my other two ah potentially will come in.

04:57.29

Andy Gellert

one One probably more likely than the other.

04:57.44

vigorbranding

Mm-hmm.

04:59.68

Andy Gellert

Other is in the real estate industry. And then my sister’s kids potentially were there and my brother’s kids were a little bit younger. So I definitely think at least three or four will come in for the next generation. But in the meantime, we keep growing and getting bigger and and looking at opportunities and we have fun. Why why are we doing it?

05:17.12

vigorbranding

That’s awesome. Well, so in in your situation, I mean, we’re we’re of a generation, you and I, I’ll say that, like, did you, did you have a choice or did you always know that this is what I’m going to do or I want to do it? Or did you, did dad put a little pressure on you and say, Hey, look, you know, you got to do your thing.

05:32.22

Andy Gellert

I did everything wrong in the family business. youre They all that go out and get the outside experience. And I came right in.

05:38.08

vigorbranding

yeahh Yeah.

05:38.43

Andy Gellert

And it was difficult. I’m not going to say it was a piece of cake. And my brother was a lot.

05:41.30

vigorbranding

Yeah.

05:44.06

Andy Gellert

you know He went to business school. He went to law school. He worked in private banking. And then he came in. So it it made a lot of sense. And my sister, the same thing. yeah I did everything wrong but it’s good to know, it’s good to do it because then you know you’re not going to repeat it.

05:57.78

Andy Gellert

So you know my son who who definitely looks forward to maybe joining one day says he want he wants to spend three or four years you know the outside and coming in.

05:58.16

vigorbranding

Yeah.

06:05.42

vigorbranding

yeah

06:08.26

Andy Gellert

He says he doesn’t like his boss I’m like that’s good get used to it. you Get used to it better than me you know.

06:12.52

vigorbranding

Get used to it, right?

06:17.21

vigorbranding

Well, you know, that’s I had the same rule with my girls. I mean, I don’t know that they’ll ever want to come into it. Why would anyone would go to an advertising agency or come into a marketing firm? But if they would, I said they had to work somewhere for two years and get one promotion.

06:28.93

vigorbranding

And thankfully, they’ve both been doing that.

06:29.31

Andy Gellert

Yeah.

06:31.08

vigorbranding

In fact, they’ve been doing it for a while now, so maybe they’re not interested. So ah they may have dodged the bullet or maybe I have. But I just think our generation was one of those things where, you know, yeah, go do what you want to do, but you’re coming into the company kind of thing, you know.

06:43.02

vigorbranding

I started my own business, I didn’t go to my dad’s company but I mean it was one of those things where I just think a lot of folks, it was just I guess different. ah Now I think with, I’ll say with my daughters and probably your kids like go out and do your thing and if you’re interested talk to me, don’t you know, don’t don’t not talk to me about it but you know, no pressure, that kind of thing.

07:00.05

vigorbranding

You know, it’s just a little different.

07:01.20

Andy Gellert

Yeah you want it to happen organically and you know listen he he comes around a lot of the meals and the family all gets together and a lot of time is talking about work so he’s interested and you know he spends weekends he came to the fancy food show they all came I can see what’s going on and it’s it’s a fun business so I think there’s opportunities for them in the future if they want but there’s no pressure we’re growing we we have a lot of we’ve done a great job of hiring a lot of outside ah you know ah

07:03.16

vigorbranding

Yeah.

07:19.45

vigorbranding

Yeah.

07:30.22

Andy Gellert

ah you know professionals to help us run the business and they don’t have to come. <unk>re We’re doing well and you know they’re all going to enjoy the from the fruitfuls of the business as as it as it gets bigger but there’s no obligation for them to come in. We like them to come in but we don’t want to make a rule if they have to come in.

07:48.07

vigorbranding

Yeah, but on that note, and we’ll jump in more about the business, but on the family side, you mentioned earlier that we’re both in YPO. And we both know that a lot of YPO businesses are family owned businesses. And there’s there are challenges, right, with being family owned and led. I mean, you know, what, you know, can you talk a little bit about that?

08:05.93

Andy Gellert

Listen, it’s hard, but thank God for YPO. To me, it’s one of the best opportunities of my life. I really enjoyed all the people like yourself and getting involved in the Food Network and my New Jersey Forum.

08:23.49

Andy Gellert

These guys are my board of directors and my own personal board of directors.

08:26.70

vigorbranding

you

08:28.15

Andy Gellert

They really helped me grow. where you know where I was i was being stubborn, they told me to relax, where I was not being aggressive enough, they pushed me. And it’s just been a great environment for me to to prosper as a leader because of YPL.

08:43.66

vigorbranding

That’s great. When I know your food and beverage form or that group and boy, you know, I can’t believe you learned anything from them. So ah you guys have a group of, you guys have ah ah a group of, uh, of, uh, cherished individuals, yeah characters.

08:49.65

Andy Gellert

Thank you.

08:56.99

Andy Gellert

We’ve got a great group and we’ve been together for over, you know, some of us back almost 16, 18 years and it’s great.

08:58.20

vigorbranding

Yes, you do.

09:03.87

Andy Gellert

I love seeing the guys and we don we try not to miss meetings and and we’re supportive of each other.

09:06.99

vigorbranding

Yeah, it’s cool. Yeah, I’ve had a couple of them one here, so it’s ah it’s been great. They’re they’re they’re like the characters, that’s for sure. So yeah and you mentioned your father got an award at Fancy Food. I was there at Fancy Food this year, and what it’s a great honor. He’s also a member of the New Jersey Business Hall of Fame.

09:24.61

Andy Gellert

Yeah, please listen, though we it’s not easy. I think we’re the 11th largest privately held business in New Jersey. We’re very proud of that. and we you know it’s We work hard and he deserves to be honored for what what what he’s accomplished.

09:39.11

vigorbranding

Yeah. i mean so As I was saying earlier, you know I get to meet folks and we get to see you know different folks at different shows. and i had i i mean I knew you ran a great, important company. I had no idea the size and scale. so you know on Your vision is to be a part of every food experience. and you know Well, I will say that sounds like a really you know audacious goal, right? But with your company, you kind of are. i mean you have you have you have You have a franchise, you have you import your frozen food, you have CPG, you have a private, I mean, it’s it’s incredible.

10:13.44

vigorbranding

Can you talk a little bit about the breadth and the different companies within your organization?

10:15.87

Andy Gellert

I mean, it’s exciting and I think we’ve grown over the years through acquisitions. I think the last 18 months we made three acquisitions. We’re probably closing on one the next month and have two on the table that we’re looking at. So growth is, you know, we’re always looking at mergers and acquisitions. And we like to say, listen, private equity, if you’re a family business, you want to stay apart, you know, how enjoy the ride, take some money off the table and join our family instead of private equity where they

10:44.81

vigorbranding

Yeah.

10:45.10

Andy Gellert

change your business up and listen if you want to cash out you can always cash out but if you want to enjoy the ride a little bit longer and take some money off the table we’ve been very successful about people wanting to join a family business and ours is that we’re like a large very large family business so we get to a lot of opportunities to look at business deals.

11:05.69

vigorbranding

Yeah, and you know, ah your your ah passion for the business and your your love of people, it sort of precedes you. Like I’ve always seen that about you, your energy and i it’s not, it’s not, it’s not artificial.

11:18.40

vigorbranding

You do that. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen you at the booth when I’m standing walking the shows and stuff. And it’s, ah it’s really kind of ah really cool. And I’m sure that’s a compliment to your father and and I’m sure your whole family’s like that. But you do treat everybody like family.

11:29.62

vigorbranding

And I think that’s ah admirable.

11:30.12

Andy Gellert

but You know, network is always um is important to my father. I learned that from him early on. And being part of YPO, I love leveraging my network and not for myself, but helping people.

11:39.05

vigorbranding

Yeah. Yeah.

11:41.20

Andy Gellert

I like investing in early stage CPGs and helping these young people and watching their passion and, you know, leading them to other opportunities. I love putting two people together and let let them prosper.

11:53.58

Andy Gellert

It’s it’s really a ah pleasure of mine, you know, watching that happen.

11:58.17

vigorbranding

Yeah, well, and that’s, that leads to success, right?

12:00.84

Andy Gellert

It’s really pure joy.

12:00.82

vigorbranding

You know, you help people out.

12:01.68

Andy Gellert

at You’re 100%.

12:01.74

vigorbranding

Yeah, absolutely. So, and I will say, ah you know, I’ve been informed with you and you were a treasure and valuables all get out. And the amount of people you know, and and the connections you have are second to none.

12:14.02

Andy Gellert

Well,

12:14.00

vigorbranding

And you know,

12:14.46

Andy Gellert

we do have a good friend in LA who like to compare.

12:16.32

vigorbranding

okay

12:17.18

Andy Gellert

My good friend, our good friend Clara, who probably knows one more than I do.

12:20.44

vigorbranding

yeah hey

12:22.30

Andy Gellert

job

12:23.31

vigorbranding

heard I would always keep score when we’d be talking, like who knew who or who knew the other person better or whatever else, but I will say, yeah I’m excited for you to be on here because I know my podcast now will be, I’ll rival the the football games, you know the upcoming football games for for for viewership because because of you.

12:34.55

Andy Gellert

Yeah.

12:38.34

vigorbranding

So I just, I appreciate that. So, but but back when companies, though you have frozen, you have CPG. can you Can you talk a little bit about the different types of of ah products?

12:46.45

Andy Gellert

Yeah, so we’re in the frozen fruits, frozen vegetables. You know, we just actually, a few years ago, we invested in a company called Cafe Spice. I made him join YPO and they make ethnic meals. um I just, you know, we did ah the Bloomberg of Food, the Food Institute,

13:04.37

Andy Gellert

We made a minority investment in there.

13:04.43

vigorbranding

Yep.

13:06.90

Andy Gellert

were you know We do a lot of different retail, private label, manufacturing. We’re just trying to leverage all the everything on a plate. look at you know we’re We’re looking at an olive business, a rice business. There’s so many opportunities out there. We just want to add on to our great team here. We’ve got great people.

13:27.64

Andy Gellert

ah We have great sales people, great buyers, and you know, finance. And we just, we can do some more. So we’re looking for more opportunities.

13:33.69

vigorbranding

Mm hmm. That’s great. Do you need an ad agency? I’m just kidding.

13:37.95

Andy Gellert

We’ve said, a lot of us not our own brand. We do have some brands that we, that are ours.

13:43.18

vigorbranding

Yeah.

13:43.84

Andy Gellert

And we bought, we bought two brands from, from UNFI, Mountain Vicos that was owned by UNFI and Sonoma Cheese.

13:48.53

vigorbranding

Mm hmm.

13:52.16

Andy Gellert

So we do, we do work on our brand. So we, you know, we and um we have a marketing department.

13:54.60

vigorbranding

That’s awesome.

13:56.46

Andy Gellert

We got a, get you more engaged, Micah.

13:58.46

vigorbranding

There you go.

13:58.78

Andy Gellert

I’ll get to that.

13:59.35

vigorbranding

Hey, I’m always here for that. That’s awesome.

14:01.26

Andy Gellert

For even your Philly cheesesteak, we’ll have a meeting, you know, that’s all I need.

14:03.59

vigorbranding

You got it. Hey, that’s done. No no no problem there. So when you’re when you’re building and you’re always looking for these new new products or companies, ah yeah what when you want to import them, what what factors are you looking at?

14:15.50

vigorbranding

like I mean, obviously you you go to need a lot of things, there but you’re in so many different places. What what is it that you’re you’re kind of like, what’s on your checklist at the top of the checklist?

14:23.65

Andy Gellert

So we want to look at something that makes sense. so if you know We love the the old math, one plus one equals four. So we want to find efficiencies. Maybe they’re doing the same thing we are, but they have a big they have a big finance team that we don’t really need going forward.

14:38.14

Andy Gellert

Or maybe they’re in one segment of the business where we’re not in.

14:42.04

vigorbranding

Uh-huh.

14:42.16

Andy Gellert

So we try to really identify where we can do the math where one plus one equals four and five.

14:47.91

vigorbranding

Right.

14:48.70

Andy Gellert

you know we don’t want to doesn’t that A copycat doesn’t really help sometimes, but if they have a you know a big ah big staff on the some redundancy there, then it could make sense.

14:54.08

vigorbranding

Uh-huh.

14:58.10

Andy Gellert

Otherwise, it could be a whole new field that we can add to our already you know deep bench of of products that we do. So we don’t have a playlist of what we’re looking for. We just look at different opportunities and see if they make sense.

15:11.27

Andy Gellert

i mean like Just like building a network, we love looking at decks and looking at opportunities or

15:16.32

vigorbranding

Mm hmm.

15:16.75

Andy Gellert

Why are companies for sale? Why aren’t they aren’t? And a lot of times, i likeck listen, this is going to go to private equity. We’re not going to need a bit because we know we’ll be blown out of the water.

15:25.59

vigorbranding

right Yeah. Yeah. that makes That makes a lot of sense. So, I mean, obviously, and you know, I kind of had this philosophy as well in the business. It’s like, you’re opportunistic. You know, you’re not saying I’m looking for this exact thing.

15:36.91

vigorbranding

It has to be this big, that, you know, that that category doing that thing. It’s sort of like, Oh, here’s an opportunity. Hmm. This fits or no, it doesn’t fit. Or, Hey, this can enhance that.

15:43.96

Andy Gellert

Yeah.

15:44.95

vigorbranding

And if we do this, maybe we can go here. And so I’ve always looked at that. It’s kind of fun to do it that way. I kind of always.

15:50.32

Andy Gellert

It’s not a good idea. You’re looking under the rug and see what’s there and putting that puzzle together because like I said, a big company that’s competitive in mind, it’s going to go for a lot more for private equity.

15:51.60

vigorbranding

Yeah.

15:54.65

vigorbranding

Yeah.

16:03.40

Andy Gellert

I don’t even want to play in there. I don’t have private equity money where I could afford to strike out.

16:05.38

vigorbranding

Right.

16:10.74

Andy Gellert

I want to make sure these are successful acquisitions and they fit in them all.

16:15.96

vigorbranding

Yeah, and you make a really good point because we’ve seen, you know, I’ll say, and um I know you’ve seen for sure, but in my business with CPG and in the restaurant side, private equity will come in and they, I’m not gonna say they don’t care if they fail, but they they know it’s a numbers game.

16:31.27

vigorbranding

They know that all aren’t gonna pan out. So they make these investments and then they they do their, they they they they apply their playbook and then, you know, if it’s like baseball. if they They hit three out of, ah if they hit three out of 10, they feel like they’ve done something and and you probably have financially, but

16:40.88

Andy Gellert

yeah

16:44.73

vigorbranding

The other seven are just left to the wayside.

16:46.68

Andy Gellert

Exactly. And and they’ve, you know, they can afford to do that. We really don’t want to do that.

16:49.73

vigorbranding

Yeah. Yeah.

16:51.36

Andy Gellert

And we don’t want to, we don’t want to lose direction.

16:51.34

vigorbranding

No.

16:53.42

Andy Gellert

I mean, listen, and we like, you know, we’re very big and we’re happy wherever you are, but we’re not in a goal to rush to get to 2 billion.

17:00.89

vigorbranding

Right.

17:01.14

Andy Gellert

Wouldn’t get there smart. And if it means paring down and skew rationalization to be more profitable, all the better.

17:06.88

vigorbranding

Mm hmm. Do you find yourself doing that a lot? Do you do you have to go in there and and do skew rationalization or?

17:12.64

Andy Gellert

all the time, all the time, we really, you know, skew rash, customer rationalization, and we’ll bundle a bunch of customers and give them to a bigger customer just to make sure our warehouse is more efficient.

17:13.21

vigorbranding

Yeah.

17:16.68

vigorbranding

Yeah.

17:21.11

vigorbranding

Yeah.

17:23.25

Andy Gellert

It’s really all about efficiency. I mean, as you get bigger, you could be more efficient.

17:24.87

vigorbranding

Yeah.

17:27.21

Andy Gellert

And, but you have to be diligent and skew rationalization, customer rationalization, people rationalization, you know, rationalization as well.

17:32.84

vigorbranding

Yep.

17:35.97

Andy Gellert

You know, it’s important.

17:37.23

vigorbranding

Yeah. And that’s that’s such ah’ such an interesting point because I think, you know, and I’ll say i’ll say in my own experience, you know, i in our holding company, we have several different marketing companies and I’m always afraid to let customers go.

17:48.21

vigorbranding

Like, oh, though no, that we can do it for them. Sometimes it’s not good business, right? And sometimes you have to make those tough decisions and, you know, it’s it’s hard to let employees go, but it’s it’s hard for you to let, or I’ll say for me, to let a piece of business go, a paying customer.

17:52.67

Andy Gellert

Yeah.

18:00.83

Andy Gellert

Yeah, ah it’s, you know, you don’t like the same thing. But, but you got to look at it like, you know, you still have another 300 other employees out there that you want to do for the better the of the group.

18:07.78

vigorbranding

Right.

18:10.14

vigorbranding

Right.

18:10.45

Andy Gellert

So it makes sense to let someone go or let a customer go in order to be more efficient for everyone else.

18:10.42

vigorbranding

That’s right.

18:17.54

Andy Gellert

So it’s hard.

18:17.83

vigorbranding

yeah

18:19.55

Andy Gellert

And initially, it’s hard. But over time, you realize It’s a better decision and to be you know to be more efficient and just try.

18:27.95

vigorbranding

Absolutely. So I mean, one of the things that, you you know, we have the two agencies, we have quench, we have, ah which is CPG food and beverage, we have a vart of Vigor, which is ah ah restaurant marketing. and you you You cover them all because you’re in franchise with five guys, you’re in, you know, in the CPG world. um You know, it’s it’s sort of like, it’s hard to keep track of everything. How do you manage it all? I mean, I know you have different folks, but you’re sitting up there, are you just pulling up a different P and&L for each of these business units every two days? or

18:56.16

Andy Gellert

I mean, we’re on ah basically a lot of these Zoom calls and just listening in and we just had one a few minutes ago, you know, we do a lot of nut and dry fruit business and we’re working on getting bigger in the bakery in the in the supermarket.

19:09.09

Andy Gellert

So how could we be, you know, and and we sat down today and we talked about all of our items and they all fit in the bakery. bill We’re selling very little of the bakery. So it’s an untapped market and it gets everyone excited.

19:21.02

Andy Gellert

And we sit down and f throw things at the wall and see what sticks.

19:24.19

vigorbranding

That’s great.

19:24.58

Andy Gellert

And we’re kind of fun. like we just said hey You know, we do this item, this will be good for, and I just, I love sitting in these meetings and just, you know, throwing out ideas.

19:32.21

vigorbranding

That’s great. That’s great. Very cool. Well, I know at Quench, you know, the CPG side, we would do to learn, to understand the industry. You know, we started the agency in food and beverage.

19:43.65

vigorbranding

It’s like, you can’t just say you do advertising and marketing food and beverage. You have to have an expertise. We’re going to hire people from the CPG world. But then what we did was we created a food and beverage trench to learn what was going on.

19:54.01

vigorbranding

Right. And the first year we’ve done them for 15 years. You know, you’ve probably seen me speak on them at different events.

20:00.02

Andy Gellert

Yeah, are you do a great job. I love hearing your updates on the YPO conferences and you really got a pulse of what’s going on in the industry.

20:07.49

vigorbranding

Yeah. would So we we would do that. just We did it actually just for our own edification, just to learn. And then when we did it, we said, well, let’s let’s just give these away. So we do them every year. We give them away, fast companies written about them and all that. Do you use trends ah for your business to for like that next big thing?

20:21.92

vigorbranding

Or is it more of truly just looking at the pieces and moving things around on the board?

20:26.18

Andy Gellert

We look at trends, we look at pieces, you know, we lot of our a lot of our suppli customers say, we like this item, can you go out and find it for us? And we got people or, you know, and in some cases we do a lot of business, some of our our customers say, here’s an item, you know here’s the supplier, you know, you’re you’re a great importer, we want you to import it for us. So it just, because we’re a trusted supplier, we’re good at logistics, they actually given us business to to handle.

20:53.89

Andy Gellert

And it’s it’s exciting. And then we take that business and look at other opportunities as well.

20:59.70

vigorbranding

How is there anything are you doing anything in the beverage side is it mostly all just food?

21:01.22

Andy Gellert

e

21:04.27

Andy Gellert

No, I mean, we the beverage side we have, so we, Cipriani, you know, the so we we handle all their CPG items.

21:09.46

vigorbranding

Mm-hmm Okay Mm-hmm

21:13.80

Andy Gellert

So they make a the bulini mix, non-alcoholic bulini. So we’re slowly getting it. That’s our beverage and, you know, we’ll see where that takes us. but That’s new space for us.

21:24.96

Andy Gellert

And we’re doing it on the retail side. Now we’re looking to try to listen to all the beverage distributors we don’t really touch on. So we’re getting a ah handle on that business as well.

21:31.95

vigorbranding

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

21:34.96

Andy Gellert

So that’s the only part of beverage. know I’m an investor in a few CPG, like Ollie Pop and Lemon Perfect, a few others.

21:40.57

vigorbranding

Mm-hmm.

21:43.06

Andy Gellert

But but not I think that’s a tough space. But I think we’re we’re getting our feet wet with this Trippiani land.

21:48.39

vigorbranding

See, that’s interesting.

21:48.67

Andy Gellert

We’re very excited.

21:50.05

vigorbranding

You’re 11 perfect. We just took over their space in Atlanta. They’re headquartered in Atlanta, yeah.

21:53.76

Andy Gellert

Oh,

21:54.76

vigorbranding

And we just took over their space. They went ah they went all virtual, so yeah.

21:58.07

Andy Gellert

yeah. Yani went to Cornell with me.

22:00.32

vigorbranding

Yeah. Oh, is that right?

22:00.83

Andy Gellert

Yeah, yeah he’s a you should get him on your podcast.

22:03.45

vigorbranding

Well, I’ve met him, he’s a great guy.

22:05.26

Andy Gellert

I he’s Mr. Energy. It was his birthday this week.

22:06.69

vigorbranding

Oh my gosh.

22:07.72

Andy Gellert

So I just I love that guy.

22:08.28

vigorbranding

Is that right? I will reach out to him. Yeah, i we you you can you can appreciate this, Andy, you know me pretty well.

22:11.20

Andy Gellert

He

22:15.37

vigorbranding

So i’m goingnna I was gonna sublease his his office, right? So you know it’s a real estate deal. I’m gonna sublease it, we’re gonna move from one ah ah one office to this other office. So I talked to him and he was like, he was going 180 miles an hour and it was great and all that.

22:29.28

vigorbranding

And I was like, I really like this guy. And I’m like,

22:31.92

Andy Gellert

He’s an infectious personality.

22:32.86

vigorbranding

Yeah.

22:33.53

Andy Gellert

you

22:33.75

vigorbranding

And I’m like, you know, johnny i said hey if you want, I mean, I’ll, I’ll do the deal here with you, but if you want to stay, like, you know, I mean your energy and what you’re, you’re in the beverage, that’s what we do.

22:44.21

vigorbranding

I mean, you can stay, you know, like if you have meetings here and like your, if your people come in, like it’s a big enough space for all of us, I’m not asking for anything on the other side.

22:46.07

Andy Gellert

Yeah.

22:51.86

vigorbranding

ah You can stay. I mean, I just i thought energy, you know, creates more energy. So, and we talked about that, but then he was like, you know, isn’t that crazy?

22:57.60

Andy Gellert

That’s so funny to know that guy. I met him at Expo West. And he had a small little table.

23:03.20

vigorbranding

Yep.

23:03.40

Andy Gellert

And I’m like, wow, this guy’s this guy has a firecracker.

23:07.14

vigorbranding

Yeah.

23:07.31

Andy Gellert

And I’m like, um’m I’m supporting you.

23:09.42

vigorbranding

That’s awesome.

23:09.51

Andy Gellert

And it’s a great story.

23:11.92

vigorbranding

That’s very cool. That’s the end goes to show you know everybody that’s amazing to me amazing. That’s funny.

23:17.14

Andy Gellert

Take that, Clara.

23:21.03

vigorbranding

I’ll make sure we tell her that.

23:22.87

Andy Gellert

but

23:22.95

vigorbranding

So, all right, now I’m gonna bring up something, I guess negative or whatever, but inflation. Inflation is, ah you know, is it affects every industry, especially food.

23:28.56

Andy Gellert

It’s tough. its you know

23:30.55

vigorbranding

Yeah. how How much of an impact has that had on you guys?

23:32.99

Andy Gellert

That’s a very important product.

23:33.03

vigorbranding

and

23:34.29

Andy Gellert

So our product are expensive already. And so it’s tough. We have to find you know so you know find other opportunities. That’s why we invested in this cafe spice that makes meals.

23:44.93

Andy Gellert

So maybe we make things more efficient for more of our customers and look at other opportunities. Maybe so source something that’s coming from Europe, getting it from South America. And and we’re always looking for ways to skin.

23:59.19

Andy Gellert

We started importing French fries from Belgium. to the East Coast because it’s it’s more effective and looking at opportunities like that. and Now we’re looking at opportunities in India. You always have to turn over rocks, look for more opportunities. It’s scary.

24:14.30

Andy Gellert

and it’s it’s you know the It’s all the news, the the price inflation. So we’re always looking for newer opportunities to try to make things better for our customers.

24:25.43

vigorbranding

And being a global you know accessing globally with conflict and things like that, I mean obviously that’s affecting everything. i mean are you having are you ah is there um Is there ever a chance where one area of the business is sort of shut down or hey we can’t get this from there?

24:40.46

Andy Gellert

Yeah, things happen all the time. I mean, you know, when the Ukraine war first started, you know, it was it was a big factor because happened old Europe was tough.

24:42.39

vigorbranding

It’s crazy.

24:51.28

Andy Gellert

And then when there was a ah big problem of freight from the from from Asia, supply chain issues from COVID. I mean, we’ve we’ve seen them all, Mike.

25:00.35

vigorbranding

crazy

25:01.71

Andy Gellert

And now ah there’s an impending dock strike that’s going to come. So that’s going to affect from Maine all the way to Texas.

25:07.59

vigorbranding

hear about that?

25:09.05

Andy Gellert

and

25:09.51

vigorbranding

Yeah.

25:09.86

Andy Gellert

That’s really making us very nervous and our customers nervous.

25:11.55

vigorbranding

Oh yeah.

25:12.86

Andy Gellert

So, but we, you know, we do the best we can and we keep fighting every day, you know, get up, get up and play some tennis, you know.

25:13.80

vigorbranding

Wow.

25:18.34

vigorbranding

Yes, I was gonna say, you get played tennis and smile and have a positive attitude and that’s the secret sauce.

25:23.15

Andy Gellert

You just got to, you know.

25:25.04

vigorbranding

You know, and I do love because every time I’m talking, I think, I think you always say, yeah, I played tennis with my dad this morning and you know, family businesses, there’s so many family businesses that end up like not talking to each other and you hear all the the generational strife or the the falling apart.

25:37.72

vigorbranding

The fact that you you still hang with your dad, my dad was my best friend. So that’s just so near and dear to me. It’s incredible. I think that’s so awesome.

25:43.18

Andy Gellert

Well, today is a little, today is a little flat with him. I showed up at his house at 10 to 6, pouring rain, and the the match was canceled. So I had to wake up for nothing, and I’m a little annoyed.

25:50.67

vigorbranding

ah Oh boy.

25:53.10

Andy Gellert

But that doesn’t matter at all.

25:55.76

vigorbranding

I hope you don’t ever let him win.

25:57.56

Andy Gellert

Well, i I’m his partner. He doesn’t move very well, and people, no one was allowed to drop shot him, you know?

25:59.16

vigorbranding

Okay.

26:04.11

Andy Gellert

get Everyone starts booing, whoever dropped off him.

26:06.88

vigorbranding

That’s awesome.

26:07.02

Andy Gellert

But it was an accident. They’re like, no, you know? He’s got a bunch of rules, you know?

26:11.16

vigorbranding

That’s awesome. It’s his own tennis game, right? It’s his own.

26:13.99

Andy Gellert

theel game is his ze tennis game

26:16.17

vigorbranding

That’s fantastic. So, if I if i may ask, and I know if there’s something you can’t say, that’s fine, but what’s what’s next for Gellert Global? I mean, what is anything new on the horizon, anything exciting you could talk about?

26:23.54

Andy Gellert

i We’re looking at more opportunities. you know we will be like We have such a great team. We have such great suppliers, such great employees, such great customers. We just want to keep doing what we’re doing and look for more opportunities. And if it makes sense to to make an acquisition, we’re going to do it.

26:40.44

Andy Gellert

and uh, it’s, it’s fun. You know, I mean, you know, just look at my cousin and the five guys, we were like 12, five guys. Now this year, by the end of the year, we’ll have a hundred. I mean, it’s just, uh, opportunistic and good people and growth to move forward.

26:50.43

vigorbranding

That’s awesome.

26:57.42

vigorbranding

Yeah. And, and Dan Rowe, as you mentioned, he’s a king of a guy and he, he was actually on the podcast and he, he’s, he’s fantastic.

27:00.10

Andy Gellert

Yeah.

27:03.17

vigorbranding

So that’s good company right there.

27:05.70

Andy Gellert

Yeah. Yeah. We were at a YPL event and he’s like, and we’ we’re looking My cousin at the time had a bunch of cinnabons and we’re looking for our second concept and we’re at a YPO in DC.

27:11.89

vigorbranding

Uh-huh.

27:15.43

Andy Gellert

He’s like, Andy, come try this concept. And I took a bite of the five guy burger. I’m like, this is like a, like the, when you taste a cinnabon for the first time, it’s wow factor.

27:23.93

vigorbranding

Right. Yeah.

27:25.78

Andy Gellert

I called my cousin and the next thing we know, we you know we’re down there signing the deal. So it was, it’s been a great journey.

27:30.70

vigorbranding

That’s awesome. Yeah. Fantastic. Very cool. All right. So now I asked this question. I have one last question, right? And this probably, well, I don’t know if it’ll be easy for you, but it’s not like you have to say, you can’t say five guys.

27:41.96

vigorbranding

So I have to fill it out there. So, but if you have one final meal, what would you eat and why, and I’m going to say this too.

27:48.70

Andy Gellert

Like, that’s the hardest thing because I love.

27:48.90

vigorbranding

And and and who with, I want to know who with.

27:52.53

Andy Gellert

That’s like the hardest question anyone can ever ask me. I love like, it’s like, we I think I told you was before we started out that you was open with my son and my wife and there’s so much food options.

28:00.19

vigorbranding

Yeah.

28:04.26

Andy Gellert

I had a headache. I couldn’t find what to get. Would I get to the Korean bowl or the palette for the steak sandwich? or or the fancy chicken with truffles, the dumplings.

28:15.10

Andy Gellert

you know i’m like I almost get a headache, I can’t even decide.

28:15.19

vigorbranding

yeah

28:19.04

Andy Gellert

so back It’s impossible. I just i love eating, I love food experiences, I love being surprised. I like going to a chef and say, just surprise me.

28:29.38

Andy Gellert

only even Just give me what you you you do best and let me try it.

28:29.31

vigorbranding

Yeah.

28:33.30

Andy Gellert

and and you know it’s really i can’t i There’s not one meal that I have to have. i

28:39.23

vigorbranding

Yeah.

28:40.25

Andy Gellert

I love a good sandwich. I love a good burger. I got a good steak. I like Italian, French, Spanish food, everything.

28:45.72

vigorbranding

Yep. ah You know, it’s funny. i I’m the same way. I’m lucky. I can eat anything. Like I don’t get nothing. I don’t have any allergies. I don’t get sicker. But you know, if I have a go to at a certain thing at a certain place, i will I’ll have a go at my go to.

28:56.26

vigorbranding

But nine out of 10 times when I go to a restaurant, like whatever the chef wants to make, because I figured he’s gonna put his heart and soul on it.

28:56.44

Andy Gellert

e

29:00.90

Andy Gellert

Yeah.

29:02.21

vigorbranding

Right. If it’s, if I’m asking him his opinion.

29:02.59

Andy Gellert

but i agree yeah if if if If they put it on the menu and then they’re behind it, I would take their recognition and set something I really want.

29:05.89

vigorbranding

Yeah.

29:09.81

Andy Gellert

so My father, yeah.

29:10.21

vigorbranding

Right. That’s right. That’s right. You nailed it. And I love the fact that you mentioned the U.S. Open and there was somebody there at the U.S. Open that had better seats than you, which was your. Of course, yeah.

29:21.87

vigorbranding

Andy, you know, I love being with you. I love talking to you and I appreciate your time. ah Just thank you so much for being on Fork Tales.

29:28.25

Andy Gellert

ah mike First of all, congratulations to you and the organization you built and you’ve always been You’re always smiling, too. i mean actually That’s why we like each other so much.

29:36.16

vigorbranding

Yeah.

29:36.89

Andy Gellert

We’re always smiling. Have a good time. And your trends are amazing. And I really enjoyed seeing you and doing this with yourself.

29:43.81

vigorbranding

fantastic well thank you so much

29:45.78

Andy Gellert

All right?

29:46.39

vigorbranding

take care

29:46.78

Andy Gellert

Take care. Bye.

29:47.78

vigorbranding

right

30:07.41

vigorbranding

Fantastic.

30:11.01

vigorbranding

Well, thank you so much. Take care.