Inside the Bread Business with Chad Johnson, Flowers Foods
This week on Industry Insights with Route Consultant, we sit down with Chad Johnson, VP of Franchise Services at Flowers Foods. With over 30 years in the baking industry, Chad shares his experiences from starting as a bread route operator to advancing into corporate roles. Chad discusses the independent distributor model, the evolution of Flowers Foods, and the critical role of communication in business.
Discover how Flowers Foods adapts to market changes and supports its independent distributors to build successful businesses. Don't miss Chad's personal anecdotes and insights on the value of hard work and innovation in the bread routes industry.
About Chad Johnson
Chad began his career as a bread route driver in Atlanta before climbing the ranks at Flowers Foods through roles in HR and communications. Today, he leads franchise operations and enablement, ensuring independent distributors are supported with data, training, and tools to succeed. Under his leadership, the franchise sales process has evolved to include candidate vetting, financial requirements, and business plan submissions to ensure mutual long-term success. Chad’s deep-rooted belief in entrepreneurship drives his work supporting Route Consultant and other partners in identifying strong operator-investors.
-
Josh Gregory: [00:00:00] Welcome to Industry Insights with Route Consultant, your front row seat to the fast moving world of logistics and beyond. Each week, we bring you game changing insights, real world strategies and fresh perspectives to fuel smarter investments and build stronger businesses. Join us as we sit down with expert guests to explore emerging trends and pressing topics.
Across a wide range of industries. This is industry insights. Today's guest is Chad Johnson, vice President of Franchise Services at Flower Foods. And now Chad, you've been in the bread industry for over 30 years, so. For anybody who's watching if they've had Dave's Killer Bread or if they've had a Tasty Cakes, there's a good chance that you were a part of it.
Bringing that to them, and I know you've done everything from Be a Bread contractor yourself to communications to now leading franchise services across the country. So all kinds of things to dig into and talk about. But first, just. [00:01:00] Welcome to the studio. Thanks for being here. Thank
Chad Johnson: you. Thank you. Glad to be here today and talk to people about the opportunities, uh, with our independent distributor program.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. And so, you know, like we talked about, you've been here for 30 years, you've been seeing this industry, but you know, if we, if we go back to the beginning, if you think about it, 30 years ago, was it really just the promise of free, tasty cakes that drew you in? Or if you think back on it,
Chad Johnson: no, I, I wish that's what it was.
Um, so my. My family was in the baking industry. Okay. And so I grew up doing this since, since I could walk. Mm-hmm. I was with my father on, he was, he had a bread route. Okay. And that's what he did. And then he worked his way up through the ranks and, uh, albeit for a different company. Yeah. But, uh, I, I got it in my blood.
I had a lot of friends that, uh, had family mm-hmm. That was in the services, the military services. Oh yeah. So, you know, you call them army brats and I was considered a bread brat because my father moved us around a lot. Oh, okay. [00:02:00] As a child. Um, many times I think we had a total of seven moves while I was in school, so, okay.
Yeah, very. Yeah. Just for different red routes
Josh Gregory: or like, you know, what was the,
Chad Johnson: what was the red moves? No, no. So when he was, we were based initially in Illinois. Mm-hmm. And we He moved into management. Yeah. And then he went into national accounts, uh, moved to the Atlanta area. And then for them from then on, it just springboarded for the, he had multiple bakeries.
Mm-hmm. That he was, uh, the president and general manager of.
Josh Gregory: Okay. So, so just. Moves as as he was needed. And for you, you were there the whole time and decided that that was where you wanted to stay, I guess. Yeah.
Chad Johnson: It, you, you, you get a knowledge base. Yeah. That's fair. Right. And it really helps and it, it makes you feel like you've got your sea legs
Josh Gregory: day one.
That's, and for a lot of people, that's gonna be, you know, the hardest part is even figuring out what this is and, and how to get started. So for you at least, you know, that was the easy part. Uh, so. [00:03:00] Did you immediately jump in as, as a bread rot operator? Was that kind of the first step into the industry on your own?
It actually was not.
Chad Johnson: Okay.
Josh Gregory: So
Chad Johnson: when I was in college mm-hmm. So I could, so I could pay the bills. Yeah. I worked in a bakery. Okay. So I worked in manufacturing, I worked in, uh, distribution. Mm-hmm. So logistics. So I did a lot of the in-house, uh, stuff, never working in sales. And so since my father was in sales, that's what I wanted to do when I graduated from college.
And he tried to dissuade me from that, tried to get me to go a different route. Although he was successful doing it, he thought his son should do something different. And so I dabbled for a while, went to work for, uh. A, a grocery chain. Mm-hmm. And I, it just wasn't for me. Mm-hmm. So, uh, I went back, I said, I'm going into the baking industry, and like I said, my dad worked for the competitor and he said, Chad, if you're going to work [00:04:00] in the baking industry, he goes, if you want a job, you could go to the work.
For the company that I work for. But if you want a career, you need to go to work for
Josh Gregory: Flowers Foods. Okay. Wow. Yeah. And that's, you know, that's a, a pretty strong vote of confidence from your father who's seen a lot of the industry. So I guess that that meant enough where that's where you went. Yeah. And I mean, at that point in time, he had been in the business for over 30 years himself.
Yeah. Okay. So, you know, I, I think when, we'll, we'll get into it later in terms of what the, the route distribution model looks like. But when you started. What was, what was that process like when you kind of jumped into it? So, when I started,
Chad Johnson: I. Interviewed and I was what they called an extra man. Okay. So I did anything from, if you had somebody that was on, uh, vacation mm-hmm.
I would run their route for them. If you had somebody that was out sick, I'd jump on that route. Or if there was an open route, [00:05:00] I would, I would run that. So I, so there was some times that I was on the same, uh, route running it day in and day out for. You know, consistent times, maybe six, seven months. And then other times I was on a different route every single day.
Josh Gregory: Okay. So I think just quickly if you can, you know, we're talking about a bread route, you know, what does that really mean? Talk a little bit about this relationship between routes and a bakery like flowers and how it works.
Chad Johnson: Yeah. So the way, the way it works is that. The ba the bakery is going to make the product.
Mm-hmm. It's going to ship the product to a warehouse. And then at that warehouse you have any number of territories or routes that, that operate out of it. Uh, it could be as little as three, as many as. You know, upper twenties. Mm-hmm. And, uh, what happens is they all, their product gets sent there. [00:06:00] Bread products, snack cakes, tasty cakes mm-hmm.
All go there. And then the, the, the independent contractors come in. Mm-hmm. And, uh, they, they get their load. And they check it. Make sure that everything, you know, they're, they're placing their orders for, for what they think their market needs. Okay? They're going to check, make sure everything is there.
Then they're going to break down their product. And what I mean by that is they're going to go through all, every single product that's, that's stacked there. Make sure that they ha, make sure that. Everything is there and then break it out by stop and they're gonna get a certain amount of each product.
So you've got your, your Dave's killer bread, 21 whole grains and seeds. Mm-hmm. You've got your nature's own honey wheat. So how many loaves of each of those did I order for that customer? Yep. Gonna. S put it in stacks, load my truck with those products, and then I'm gonna go out on the market [00:07:00] and I'm going to sell in the product.
Josh Gregory: Okay, so you're in a lot of ways that you basically are ordering the bread based to fulfill needs at your stops. Flour bakes the bread. Yep. Takes it to, you know, a distribution center and you as the, the independent distributor, pick up that bread and take it to the stops in your territory and just deliver it each day basically.
Chad Johnson: Well, you and Yes, and, and I would, I would adjust the nomenclature just a little bit. Yeah. In that they, they're, they're not delivering it. They're selling it. Right. Okay. So, um, they're not delivery drivers. They're, they're salespeople. They own their own business. Yeah. Uh, they're gonna go in there when they, you know, they may have made an order.
And when they get to that store, maybe things have changed. Mm-hmm. Uh, maybe there was some type of party, uh, at, at a, at a business and they needed a lot of buns, and they get there and they've sold off a lot more than they usually do. Mm-hmm. So then they have to go out. Readjust maybe [00:08:00] cutting a little bit here or a little bit there, uh, from other customers and then adjusting their order later in the week to catch back up and make sure that they have ample product for all their customers.
Josh Gregory: Yeah, that definitely makes sense, that it's not just a purely, you know, fulfillment job. You are really running a business where you're trying to keep up with demand and adjust your orders and really applying the context in your know-how of that territory to make sure that you're keeping up with stock.
Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Okay, that makes sense. So, so that, so when you started, you were the extra man, the fill in guy. It, was it something where you immediately, you know, was, was there kind of some kind of learning process where then you graduated to running your own route? What was the process there for you?
So, yeah, so
Chad Johnson: what happened was you get paired up with somebody that's going to train you. Mm-hmm. And I was, uh, trained by, uh. Uh, independent distributor mm-hmm. Spent roughly eight week weeks with them. So, and I, you know, I had some [00:09:00] prior knowledge. Yeah. But, uh, you, there's a handheld computer where you take care of all of your, your sales mm-hmm.
To your customers. Your, your counting your carryover, you are removing the stale product. And, you know, there's, there's a bit, there was a bit of a learning curve there. Yeah. And then you're also going to watch that. Trainer and see how they interact with the customers. So you're gonna learn with, learn that as well.
You have to know how to talk to those store managers and develop that relationship. Mm-hmm. Because that's where you're gonna have your big wins when it comes time to maybe get extra space. Mm-hmm. Um, get better space for your product. Or get, uh, display space, uh, and yeah, and where those displays get, get placed.
So the better the relationships, uh, the better your business is going to perform and the more money you're gonna make. So, yeah, I, I learned a lot, uh, and it's. It's a progression. Mm-hmm. During that training [00:10:00] time, you, you know, you start off very, very slow. The first day is nothing but really watching and learning, and then, you know, slowly but surely, you're, you know, you're, you're checking the order.
You're breaking down the order by your customers and. Then you'll start using the handheld computer and you just keep moving along. And eventually, uh, the last week, you're gonna run that territory all by yourself and make sure that, that you can go through all the ruminations and. Be able to, uh, run the business mm-hmm.
On your own. And you're definitely, you're gonna have, you're still gonna have some handholding. People are gonna be checking to make sure that everything's going okay. Uh, you're not just throwing to the wolves, so to speak. Uh, but it's, uh, it, it's a process.
Josh Gregory: What was, what would you say is the hardest part about starting early on?
Chad Johnson: Uh, the hardest part and just being candid is, I mean, it's early days. Okay. Right? Yeah. I mean, you're getting up early, so I had to change my [00:11:00] habits. I had to start going to bed a little bit earlier because, well, what's, yeah.
Josh Gregory: What's the typical hours of this? Oh,
Chad Johnson: well, you know, I would say a lot of times you're getting to the warehouse around two 30 in the morning.
Josh Gregory: Yep.
Chad Johnson: And, uh, because your customers wanna make sure that they are prepared for business when those consumers start coming in, and, and the landscape has changed a lot in the last 30 years. You think about Walmart with their pickers, those pickers start picking at 5:00 AM. Mm-hmm. So if you're not in business.
At 5:00 AM you're not gonna your, your product's not gonna be picked and it may
Josh Gregory: be substituted for something else. Mm-hmm. Yeah. There's all kinds of things around digital e-commerce that I'm sure have changed the landscape quite a bit in recent years. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I'd probably have to go through each training again.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Okay, so. You know, if we think back on it, how long did you do, how long were you a route operator? How long was that your kind of, your, your role at Flowers? Four years. Okay. I did it for four years. Yeah. Once you, [00:12:00] you'd done this for four years, what made you decide to, to leave the independent model and, and take your next step with flowers?
Uh, it was just a,
Chad Johnson: a, a progression. Mm-hmm. I was offered a. Promotion to come to Thomasville and it was exciting. Mm-hmm. To go to the corporate office and I, I mean, I diverged completely from what I was doing. I went to work in hr, the woman who was in charge of the department, the, our, our department lead, who was Marta Jones Turner.
Mm-hmm. She was getting ready to retire and she came to me and she said, Chad, I really think there is a gap. In our communications with our IDPs, and, uh, I want you and I to become part of what was then distributor relations. Hmm. And, uh, I want you to just do whatever is possible to help really bolster our communications to our independent distributor partners.
And so, uh, we moved, uh, moved over to that group [00:13:00] and right about that time, Josh Flowers was getting ready to celebrate. Its a hundred year anniversary. Wow. And we had a big project, it was called Project Centennial, and it was to say, Hey, you know what, uh, flowers is made it 100 years. We need flowers to be around.
Another a hundred years. Right? So what do we need to do to move this ship to make sure that it's sailing the waters and able to just ride the tide for another a hundred years? Yeah. And one of those things was we really need to reshape and redefine the distributor relations department. Mm-hmm. So we changed the, the name, the name became a distributor enablement.
Okay. And we got a new leader, Kelly Hernandez, who came in in 2017. And we took the department and really took a hard look at it and what we could do to make sure that we had, uh, the proper people and, uh, the proper, uh. Sub [00:14:00] departments mm-hmm. So to speak, in place to, to support our independent distributor partners.
So we added, uh, a communications department. We added, uh, data analytics. We added operations coordinators, uh, at all the bakeries. Um. And, uh, that worked well, it worked, it, it worked well. Uh, but Kelly's motto is that this is, uh, his, his org chart is always, uh, sh being reshaped. Mm-hmm. Redefined to make sure that we're staying current.
Got it. And, uh. That's just both from, uh, a market environment and a data environment. He makes data, different driven decisions. Mm-hmm. And 2023. Mm-hmm. We became sales enablement because we realized that we were not just supporting and enabling our independent distributor partners, we were also there to support our sales department.
Mm. Matter of fact, we got our skates out in front of us sometimes where we were communicating to our independent distributor [00:15:00] partners. And giving them information that our sales department didn't have. Yeah. Which isn't a good thing, right? Yeah. Yeah. 'cause when you have an independent distributor that comes up, starts talking to the sales department and knows something that they don't, it's not a good look.
Yeah. Never a good look. Yeah. No. So, uh, we became the sales enablement department and uh, that's what what we are now. Okay. And it's.
Josh Gregory: It works really well. Yeah, so kind of creating one cohesive unit. I mean, it's, yes, some are independent contractors, independent distributors. Some are, you know, internal flower sales.
But the more you can create unity in both the people who are selling to brands and the the distributors that are selling, like you said, to stores and create that unity of vision. And cohesiveness of, you know, what makes the product work. I think, I think that makes sense as a, as an overall organization, uh, kind of goal and role.
Chad Johnson: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You have to make sure that you're giving the people the tools and the information to be successful because [00:16:00] at the end of the day, um. One of the biggest tools is, is communications. Mm-hmm. Because without communications, it, you know, people feel a lack of respect. Mm-hmm. When they're not communicated with, and.
When there's also, when there's a lack of communication. I like to say that, uh, no communication. People make up their own. Yes. And 95% of the time it's negative.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. It's when all the problems fester. It's when you know, you just assume the worst of everything. Yeah. Yeah.
Chad Johnson: Exactly. The sky is falling, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Always. I mean, we do it. Oh, I haven't heard from this. This person's supposed to show up in my house and they're not here.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. Five minutes late. They're not coming. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But they didn't call me. If you call ahead, then it's fine. Yeah. It's all, all it takes, right. Just a little. Yeah.
So how would you say kind of the, what's the view of the independent distributors today? You know, are you, you call 'em salespeople. If you were to kind of, uh, encapsulate how flowers thinks of those today, what would you say? Well, flowers thinks
Chad Johnson: of the
Josh Gregory: independent [00:17:00] distributors. Yeah.
Chad Johnson: Yeah. They, I mean, at the end of the day, uh, our independent.
Distributors, our truly our number one customer, they account for 83, roughly 83% of our sales. Mm-hmm. So they are buying the product from us, and then they take it to market and sell it to the customers. Okay. And so you have to be there to support those independent distributors. Uh, it's, it's. Ultra important.
You have to, you know, give them the proper respect and the proper support so that they're successful.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. Yeah. And I think there's. A lot to be said just in the fact that that's a, a realization on, on flowers part. So Chad, you've, you've seen, you know, every phase of flowers over these last 30 years, and you've been there from literally, you, you've seen the bakery level and you've seen routes, you've seen communications, and, and now at the franchise level, if you're to think back on.
Your career and, and what keeps you [00:18:00] at Flowers today? You know, what, what's the, the motivating factor every day that, that still keeps you excited for Tasty Cakes? Oh my gosh.
Chad Johnson: It's, it's the people. Mm-hmm. You know, that's, that's the first thing. The people that I get to work with day in and day out. We have such a great team on our sales enablement, uh, department.
It's, it's just, it's a comradery. Mm-hmm. Uh, our overarching. Uh, motto is, we're gonna work hard, but we're gonna have some fun while we're doing it. Yeah. And then it's also dealing with our independent distributors and there's no greater feeling than being able to help somebody be successful. Mm-hmm. And, uh, that's, that's what our team is there to do.
Yeah. Is to support them, whether it's from communications or data or developing new products, uh, to meet market demands. It's. And it gives you a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day. Uh, you know, when, when I walk away from my desk, no matter what time it is, I, I feel fulfilled. And [00:19:00] it, it's just, it's a good feeling to know that you're helping people.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. I, I think in a lot of ways, that's always what I come back to as well, is when you help someone enter the, the space or be successful as an entrepreneur, which is. One of the hardest things you can do in, in this economy or in in this life is start a small business and be successful. But when you really help them and you see the journey they're on and the general generational wealth that they can build, I think there's, there's almost nothing like it.
And, and really seeing that success.
Chad Johnson: Yeah.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. It's, it's, it's truly awesome. Yeah. Perfect. Well, Chad, it was a pleasure to kind of hear your whole journey and hear how Flowers is. Changed over time and how you've grown with it. Uh, the, the last question I have often for my guests here is, I'll, I'll give you a choice or you can answer both.
Um, what is your favorite movie TV show or book? I'll give you three options that you're reading or watching right now. Oh.
Chad Johnson: Uh, so my [00:20:00] favorite show would have to be 1923. Okay. Is that the
Josh Gregory: Stephen King one, or is No, this is the Yellowstone prequel.
Chad Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. That's the Yellowstone prequel. Yeah. Um, but funny you should bring, bring up, you brought up Stephen King.
Yeah, that's my, that's one of my favorite. Okay. Uh, authors and I have a cadre of his books. Yeah. On my bookshelf. Uh, I do too. Stephen
Josh Gregory: King's. My, my grandfather like has like every Stephen King book ever. He, and so he put them in front of me from an early age, which is a funny author to put in front of a, a small child with some of those, some of the, the themes that he writes on.
But he's always been a favorite of mine as well. Yeah. I, I
Chad Johnson: really enjoyed, uh, the Dark Tower series. I love the dark tower. Yeah, it, it takes, it takes a while to really get that one going. I wanted to put it down so bad and stop. It's the only one. But my cousin was like, just a huge proponent and said, you've.
Got to keep going. Do not [00:21:00] stop. You can't stop. I know, because once you get about a quarter of the way through the first book, you've got it and you're hooked and Yeah. The first one's a weird one. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. 'cause you've got, you've got a whole, it's like you got, you're learning a different language.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. Yeah. You are. But the second, the second, the second time you read it. Is, if you haven't read it, gone back and read the first book I have. Okay, good. Yeah. Yes, yes. But I'm, I
Chad Johnson: did see the other day that the Long Walk Oh, is being made into a movie and it looks at least from the
Josh Gregory: trailer. It looked very, yeah.
I got burned on that Dark Tower movie, so I don't know if you ever ended up watching that. I didn't. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it didn't, it didn't click for me. Yeah, it was, it wasn't, wasn't great, but, uh. The books. Yeah. I'm, I'm still in progress on making my wife read them. She's, she's gotten like the second one and, and hit a wall again, but I'm, I'm pushing her through it, so she'll get there one day.
Keep working on it. Yeah. Perfect. All right. Well, Chad, it was a pleasure. Thank you so much for being here and sharing all your insights. Yeah.
Chad Johnson: Thank you so much, [00:22:00] Josh.
