Sean Zecman is the Executive Chairman of National Food Group and a second-generation food industry leader. He took over the family business in 2003 and has driven exponential growth through a bold mix of innovation, problem-solving, and customer-first thinking.
National Food Group is a specialty food distributor focused on servicing schools, correctional facilities, and other institutional markets across the U.S. With a footprint in every state—including Alaska and Hawaii—the company delivers customized food solutions that balance nutrition, safety, cost-efficiency and innovation.
Under Sean’s leadership, National Food Group has expanded from $16 million in annual revenue to over $240 million, largely through organic growth.
The company embraces a “fail first” culture, operates in-house test kitchens, and develops tailored food solutions based on direct customer feedback. Their product innovation includes everything from birthday cake applesauce for schools to health-smart halal meals for prisons.
Sean transformed a family-run company into a $240M national business by focusing exclusively on two underserved markets: schools and prisons.
National Food Group uses a “fail first” culture to stay agile and embrace experimentation—even if that means pulling out of ventures like CPG retail when they don’t fit.
The company’s approach to innovation includes solving customer pain points like labor shortages, food allergies, or packaging issues with customized food solutions.
National Food Group was ahead of the curve on food waste, creating new SKUs from cosmetically imperfect or close-dated foods long before “ugly food” trended.
They emphasize sustainability through reduced packaging, cleaner labels, and innovations like pouch packaging that reduces shipping air and cost.
Kids are key influencers in food trends, even in institutional settings—so packaging, flavor, and transparency matter more than ever.
QUOTES
“What we did yesterday doesn’t matter. It’s what we’re doing in the future that’s important.” (Sean)
“We don’t want stagnation… ‘We’ve always done it like that’—that’s not an acceptable phrase at our company.” (Sean)
“We embrace failure, identifying it, and then pivoting to something else.” (Sean)
“Innovation is about solving a customer’s problem. What are their pain points, and how can we make them better?” (Sean)
“If you’ve thought it, we’ve probably done it somewhere along the process.” (Sean)
“People care about what they’re putting in their body. That’s not going away.” (Sean)
“We were in the ugly food business before there was ugly food.” (Sean)
“We’re trying to make products easier to serve, to distribute, to the end user.” (Sean)
“Our team members… we don’t want stagnation. Let’s fail. It’s okay to fail.” (Sean)
“It’s not like I’m breaking out a book and saying, ‘Chicken nugget 92731 is your chicken nugget.’ We’re developing those products to meet our customers’ needs.” (Sean)
“We try to be industry leaders. We’re not going to wait for the rule to hit. We’re going to get in front of that.” (Sean)
“That’s the fun part of my job—getting up every morning and trying to figure out how we can solve those problems.” (Sean)
