This week on the Titans of Food Service podcast, Nick Portillo speaks with Michael DiBeneditto, CEO of Golden Waffles. Michael shares insights into the evolution of his company and the unique all-inclusive waffle program they offer. Since its establishment in 1937, Golden Waffles has transformed from a traditional distributor to a pioneer in providing seamless service for waffle stations in hotels, restaurants, and more. Michael discusses his journey into the food service industry, highlighting the importance of community and personal connections that have shaped his career. He emphasizes the company’s commitment to customer experience and innovation, aiming to make fresh waffles accessible across various segments, including quick-service restaurants. 

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Intro to the Titans of Foodservice

(03:33) Michael DiBenedetto's Journey in the Food Industry

(11:26) The Golden Waffles Opportunity

(23:02) The Evolution of Golden Waffles

(26:53) Building Brands and Partnerships in Food Service

RESOURCES

Portillo Sales

CONTACT 

Nick: nick.portillo@portillosales.com

There are a million ways to make money in the food service industry.

You just have to find one.

On the Titans of Foodservice podcast.

I interview real life movers and shakers in the food game who cut through all the noise to get to the top.

My name is Nick Portillo and welcome to the Titans of Food Service podcast.

Let's jump right into it.

Welcome back to season three of Titans of Food Service.

I'm your host, Nick Portillo.

And here we are again.

So this is my across American 50 weeks tour.

So where I'm traveling to every state and I'm interviewing one titan of food service from each of those states.

And on this episode, I'm going to be highlighting the state of Pennsylvania.

And I could be more excited to welcome Michael DiBenedetto.

He is the CEO of Golden Waffles.

With over 50,000 customers across North America and over 60 countries, they're the undisputed waffle experts.

Michael's journey is also just as rich as the gold Waffles history.

So for Michael, he's armed with a food marketing degree that he earned at St.

Joseph's University.

And from there he climbed in the food service.

He climbed the food service ranks through roles at US Foods, Performance Food Service, Ferraro Foods, and even serving as an OPCO president at Performance Food Service.

So with his extensive food service distribution experience, he's bringing a fresh vision to Golden Waffles.

He took that distribution background and now is at his time in Golden Waffles.

And in our conversation we talk about, you know, growing the business, what the business looks like today, advancing the culture, some different acquisitions.

So really cool story going on with Michael and Golden Waffles.

But before I dive into my conversation with Michael, every episode, I like to give a little background on the state itself.

So highlighting a little bit here about Pennsylvania.

So when you think of Pennsylvania, you gotta think Philly cheesesteaks.

All right.

Going to Philadelphia.

And Pennsylvania is home to a food scene that blends rich history with culinary innovation.

The state boasts several legendary spots from Pat Gino's in Philly, which I have been to one time.

It's pretty cool.

They're right across the street from one another.

So Patten Gino's to Promonte Bros in Pittsburgh.

I've never been to permanent, but I have heard of it famous for sandwiches piled high with coleslaw and fries.

Pennsylvania's food industry also contributes billions of dollars annually.

With Philly and Pittsburgh emerging as major culinary destinations.

It's a pretty cool place.

Now, without further ado.

I was like saying without further ado.

Sounds fancy.

Let's go ahead and welcome Michael to the show.

All right, Michael, welcome to the Titans of Food Service podcast.

I appreciate you taking.

Taking time to come and meet with me.

No, I appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation.

Yeah.

And I know we talked a little bit off camera that you're on the road right now.

You're in Virginia, down by D.C.

getting ready for a meeting with one of our largest customers.

Very valued partner.

Been looking forward to this one for a while.

All right, very nice.

Very nice.

Well, why don't we go back to the very beginning?

How did you get into the food business?

The entry into the food business for me was really just by chance.

It was.

It actually all began with a meeting in a bar.

That's.

That.

That's how it all began.

I was a junior in college.

I met an individual who would end up being a mentor of mine.

Still to this day, I consider him to be family.

And, you know, he.

He offered me a job on the spot.

I figured, I'm a junior in college.

This sounds like something that could be cool.

Food is fun.

And from there, it all just took off.

And that's really what.

That's what got me started, and it's what got me really just kind of pulled into it, like, food is fun.

But when I got into this, the community itself, the people that are involved with it are what make it fun.

And, you know, I learned so much about not just being a professional, but being a good person in this community, and I could never see myself doing anything else.

I get it.

I totally get it.

Where'd you go to college?

St.

Joe's University in Philadelphia.

Food marketing, actually.

So I got the bug real early.

You got a degree in food marketing?

I did.

I don't think I've ever heard.

I've heard of hospitality.

You know, obviously people go to get culinary degrees, but I've never heard of a food marketing degree.

I like that.

The hawk will never die.

It is.

It is the highest ranked food marketing program in the country.

It.

It wasn't how I started.

I.

I went into college, and I actually started off as an accounting major, and I started to talk to the kids in the food marketing industry, the food marketing program.

And it was just.

Again, it.

It just sounded fun.

It sounded like something I would enjoy.

It sounded like something that I wanted to be a part of.

Best decision I ever made in my life.

When you're getting your degree, did you have a, like a vision of what kind of job you would want to get in the food industry with that degree?

No idea.

No.

I can't even pretend, right.

And, and even to this day, I, you know, I still feel like I'm trying to figure out who I'm going to be when I completely grow up.

But it wasn't about what type of job, what type of company.

You know, for me, it was always about the people.

And the reason I chose getting into broadline food service distribution again was because of a person.

And the reason that I stayed in Broadline food service distribution was because of how just happily crazy you have to be to be a part of that and to be successful in it.

You know, I, I have conversations with people still to this day.

I mean, we were Amazon before Amazon, right?

Like, people talk about Prime 2 day delivery.

You know, we're taking orders from chefs at 6pm on a Tuesday and the expectation is we're going to show up with 250 cases, 6am on Wednesday and put it in their cooler, put it in their freezer and not have any mispicks.

You know, trying to thread that needle every single day.

It's something that I take a ton of pride in being a part of.

And there have just been so many teams that I have been able to work with, been able to learn from that are so easy to be proud of, you know, and that's extended to my time here at Golden Waffles.

You know, it is, it's all about the partnership with our customers, the partnership with our people and trying to be a part of this crazy, incredible industry.

Yeah, absolutely.

So you are going to get your degree in food marketing.

You meet a gentleman in a bar and that's how you get your, your first kind of dip in your toe into.

I guess at this point, with the food marketing background and now getting a job in the food, you're, you're dipping a whole foot in at this point.

Both feet.

Both feet.

So you're.

Did you go to a distributor?

That's where you went first.

Started with US Foods.

And you know, the first 15 years of my career, really more were all focused on broadline food service distribution.

Within, within food distribution, you have an opportunity to touch so many different areas of business.

And, and that's truly what my approach was.

You know, from day one, it was always just try and you know, lead with honesty and kindness.

So I tried everything, you know, buying, selling category, management, you know, I was in the operations side, I was in the purchasing side, I was in the sales side.

I bounced back and forth all by choice.

You know, moved from state to state.

I was a, you know, local divisions, regionals, corporate offices, you know, US Foods, PFG and also Ferraro Foods, all very large multibillion dollar food service distributors.

And you know, again, it was, it was that it was the draw of trying to get it right every single day for everyone, that, that really kept it exciting.

But yeah, it really started with US Foods Broadline and you know, moved into eventually Italian specialty with Ferrara.

It's always interesting the people that I've had on this podcast who have a distribution background, a lot of them have sales backgrounds and they kind of move up from there.

But it sounds like you have a little bit more of a holistic approach or a little bit more, you've had many different hats within the distribution world, not just in sales, which probably helps you now here in your current role, leading a company, having that well roundedness and seeing the business through a different lens.

It's very important to me as a person to never ask somebody to do something that I wouldn't be willing to do myself.

And my, I go back to an experience that I had out in Central Pennsylvania working with what is now pfg Eastern Pennsylvania division.

And I used to watch what my drivers did every single day.

And it was incredible.

I tell people that being a food service driver, delivering food in the continental US I believe is really the most difficult job that you can have.

You know, what we ask these guys, these ladies and gentlemen to do?

It's a lot.

It's physically taxing, it is emotionally taxing.

Early starts, late finishes, all within reason.

You get home every single day.

But you know, as I was watching them work through it and I found myself asking them to do more, I was like, I, I can't, I can't ask them to do this if I don't hop on a truck and do it with them.

That's right.

And some of the greatest learnings that I've had were out on a truck making deliveries in State College, Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, you know, seeing how difficult it is to try and find a parking spot even at 3:00 in the morning when you're in a 30, a 48 foot truck.

Right?

Like these are things that you can't really talk about, you can't experience.

And I don't, I didn't feel comfortable looking my people in the eye and giving them true direction if I didn't go out there and do it.

And it was the same thing as being a buyer and being a salesperson.

Right.

I wanted to do those things.

To carry a bag, to place an order for a truckload of lettuce that wound up spoiling on you and having to deal with getting rid of that.

It hits the dumpster.

Right.

I wanted to feel all the different types of pressure that we were going to put our teams kind of like, into and have my own experiences to draw from to help just lead the team through whatever challenges we would have.

I love that.

Hey, it's funny, I was actually in New York a couple of weeks ago, and I see the different food distributors there and those drivers, how they're weaving in and out of the city and whatnot.

And it's tight.

You see a guy with, like, with, you know, bringing in food on one side of the street and his truck is way down on the other side.

Like, how do you.

Why did.

This is.

So.

It's different.

La, you know, where I.

Near where I live, Los Angeles, it has similar, you know, has its own difficulties navigating the city and the traffic.

And every driver is trying to, you know, every just pedestrian or just, you know, regular driver going to work is trying to get around that truck and cut them off and not be behind them.

It's stressful.

Well, now imagine after you're rolling those cases, you know, a block down the street, having to take them down two flights of stairs to put them away in the basement.

Yeah, they're all downstairs.

I noticed that.

That's what we're asking our people to do.

So when you guys see your food service delivery drivers out there, whether they're in a PFG truck or a Golden Waffles truck, like, be wary of what they got going on out there.

They're working hard for you every single day.

Totally.

So talk to me about Golden Waffles.

So how did this opportunity come up for you?

And tell me a little bit about the company.

You know, I have been blessed to have never been a part of anything that wasn't just incredibly rewarding and easy to be proud of.

Every job I've had, every company I've worked for, and, you know, this.

This opportunity here at Golden Waffles, this is the first time I've ever actually left a company for an opportunity.

Any other time I've changed jobs has been because of acquisitions.

You know, Golden Waffles, we are the World's only all inclusive waffle program.

It is.

You know, you've ever gone to a hotel and you've seen the fresh waffle station, you know, you know, the waffle iron, the batter dispenser, that's who we are.

We manufacture the irons and the dispensers and everything that go with it.

We distribute the waffle mix and we go out and we service the iron and deliver all of the goods that you would need to operate that, that waffle program without even needing a customer to place an order for us.

You know, our tagline as an organization is happy made easy.

You know, if you were to go into our system today, Nick, and take a look at how many orders we have in the system for tomorrow, and being a broker in food service, you understand this, right?

Like how everything just goes into the system.

You pick, you load and you go.

You would see that we have zero orders in our system for tomorrow.

Our customers do not have to log on to their phones, pick up their phone, call us and place an order.

We show up on your scheduled delivery day.

We have the product that you need, we have all the parts that you would need to service your iron to keep you in stock and to keep you operational.

And we can get in and out of your facility without interrupting your day in any way, shape or form.

We're very cognizant of how difficult it is to be, you know, to operate a hotel, to operate a restaurant in this business.

And what we strive to do is just deliver drool worthy customer experiences as easy and seamlessly as we possibly can.

This model, I like the model.

It's almost like, I think water companies, a lot of, you know, have this type of, you know, like a Sparklets.

Like in our own office we have a Sparklets dispenser.

And those guys just come in every, you know, few weeks or month or whatever it is to get new water.

And it's like clockwork.

And I think you're kind of maybe something similar, but with a food product.

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's very similar in terms of the service model and trying to make it seamless and trying to make it easy.

I guess.

You know, where I believe we take it to the next level is, you know, you stayed in hotels in your life, right?

Have you ever, you know, you come down into the lobby and you smell the waffles being made.

Right.

It is an experience.

It's something that you remember.

It's something you take with you.

The customer experience that we provide within this program is something we are all so, so proud of.

You know, this, this is the best smelling tasting product that you can put out on your buffet, you can put on your menu.

And you know, from a customer perspective, we are able to deliver a center of the plate item, you know, full coverage, the main for your entree, regardless of the day part.

And customers can put it on their dish for less than a dollar a waffle.

Right.

Like we have just an overall value prop that I've never been able to be a part of.

And again, I keep saying this phrase over and over, but I will never let go of it.

It is so easy to be proud of.

Absolutely.

You know, I was meeting, I'm in a group of entrepreneurs and yesterday we were meeting and talking.

One of them, one of the people in the group had an idea.

He has his own business that does, you know, he has this core business.

And he said, I have this other idea that I want to go and chase.

And so we started to talk about, you know, kind of the evolution of different businesses.

It's absolutely evolved.

So, you know, one of my favorite fun facts about what was Golden Malted at the time, we have recently rebranded into Golden Waffles just, you know, over the course of the last few months.

But one of my favorite facts was this was the first ever organization to, to be granted a patent on a product that was flour blended with malt, sugar and flavorings.

Right.

We were the first ever patented pancake and waffle mix in the world.

And you know, we are also, you know, the, the second oldest exhibitor at nra.

Like think about that for a second.

The largest food service forum in the world.

We're the second oldest exhibitor that is on the floor.

The original model was very much centered around the pancake mix, which is still very, very similar to the original formulation.

The same delicious, the same easy to make product.

But we were operating primarily through distributors, third party companies that were going out and running the service program and platform in their own individual way and doing a great job.

It really wasn't until it depends on how you look at the model itself.

I would actually say as recently as coming out of COVID that we fully centralized our service platform and standardized what every single one of our employees would be doing out domestically, still working through some contractors and some distributors internationally.

And we did have to integrate, you know, one organization that we had acquired, you know, years ago in Heartland.

But you know, by the end of this year, all of our reps on the street will actually be Golden Waffles employees following that same standardized service and delivery platform.

And that's really what the evolution has been.

It went from, you know, providing the highest quality, most delicious fresh waffle that you can, that you can buy, that you can get to now being that full, all inclusive waffle program.

You know, the service, the iron itself, you know, we don't charge for service, we don't charge for irons.

And you know, when you take a look at the iron itself, any appliance that you put in your kitchen, it doesn't matter if you're commercial or you're residential, it has planned obsolescence, right?

Like it's got to, it's got to, they got to drive repurchases somehow, they have to drive service fees somehow.

You know, we do all of that work for free.

And again, this has been developed over time because we have absolutely no income coming back from our service or from the replacement of irons.

And every iron is going out to your customers.

If you buy a mix from us, you get the iron free of charge.

There's no planned obsolescence in this iron.

It is the most reliable appliance that you can put in your kitchen.

Made in the US Primarily in South Bend, Indiana at our main manufacturing facility.

You know, we have focused in on being the best that we could possibly be from an equipment, service and food standpoint.

Wow.

Right.

And then you mentioned during COVID you, since then you've acquired a company and the business has pivoted towards, you know, this all include all inclusive program.

What was that like on the company and the culture, you know, kind of pivoting it towards, towards what it is today.

You know, sometimes people, you know, you could be doing business one way and then, hey, we see an opportunity over here.

Let's, let's drive the business to the right or to the left and let's see where it goes.

How I wonder how that was taken, you know, within your, within your company.

Speaks to the quality of the people that are on this team.

You know, the desire to be the best at what they all can be from an individual standpoint, you know, pulling all of that together and giving everyone something to really just like lean into and to be a part of it had value, but it wasn't a huge transition.

And, you know, I can't claim responsibility for it.

I look at some of the incredible people that have been running this company for years, you know, there, who have created this opportunity for me to sit here and speak about this, you know, but the people that came with us through all of the acquisitions of those distributors and the team that really jumped in to embrace that centralized model for service and for distribution, it was really quite seamless, right?

This is what they wanted to do.

This is what these people, this is who they want to be.

They want to be the best.

And when I keep, you know, that repetitive statement, so easy to be proud of, you know, that is a feeling that is a genuine emotion that we as leaders in this team have for everybody out there in the front line that actually makes this company, you know, what we are who we are.

It was.

We don't have to light a fire under very many people out there on the street.

Sometimes we have to pull up the reins a little bit to, you know, to have them focus on one thing at a time.

But team embraced it and the culture of the organization is continuing to grow into being like that all inclusive waffle supplier, but also that all inclusive employer, making sure that, you know, we are not.

We not only have a team that we are so proud of, but we have a team that is so proud to be a part of who we are.

Yeah, absolutely.

What areas do you cover?

We are domestically, we're.

We're the entire country.

And then we actually ship into over 30 countries international.

With the, with the waffle program that you had, the all inclusive waffle program, does that cover.

Is that just kind of the Pennsylvania area or what.

Or someone like in California or Washington, Florida, could they also.

You're also servicing those other areas as well.

Everywhere in the country, if you want a fresh waffle and you want an iron, we are there for you.

We handle the distribution, we handle the service.

And again, you know, if there are some, you know, so areas outside of the United States of America, we have distributor partners that offer the same program, I would imagine.

So the further away you get from your, you know, your hub right there in your area, that there might be challenges to it, you know, let's say someone here in Los Angeles, you know, how can you ensure the same level of service to someone here versus, you know, back in Your backyard.

It's all about that culture.

It's all about just putting together.

I am a big fan of checklists.

Okay.

Checklists, A very simple thing.

But when you establish this is what the best practice is for, you know, for our customers, for our partners, in order to keep them up and running and keep them, you know, a happy golden waffles customer.

A happy golden waffles partner.

These are the things that you need to do, and the team embraces it.

Yeah, we really don't struggle with consistency in L.

A versus Miami versus Philadelphia.

Right.

I mean, we do have multiple hubs throughout the country where we distribute out of our reps, have some individual field warehouses, managed warehouses, self managed warehouses that they.

That they.

They really maintain themselves.

We ask a lot of our people.

Right.

Like, that is.

That is something that I need to acknowledge.

These guys and gals, they're out there, they're working hard, and they're really taking ownership, thinking and acting like owners and all that they do.

But the culture of the organization was such that, you know, that was prevalent across every.

Every level of the organization.

And no, I don't.

You know, we take a lot of pride in a customer in Portland, Oregon, getting the exact same experience as the customer here, you know, right outside of Philadelphia is getting.

I like that.

As you've continued to build this out and scale it out, where do you want to take this?

Like, what does, you know, true success look like on the next level for you?

We continue to invest in innovation, both from an equipment standpoint and from a product standpoint.

And so, yeah, when we.

When we got started as a team, we were heavily focused on hospitality, free breakfasts.

Right.

Like, that's what you think of when you think of a fresh waffle.

But we have found that this product and this program applies in all segments of our business.

QSR is a real opportunity for us, and in order to truly get out there and make it easy for our customers, we will never let go of that.

That mindset.

Right.

Like, happy made easy.

That isn't a statement.

Like, that is a way of actually living your life, of running your business.

And so as we continue to evolve, we're looking to launch some quick bake mixes and dual waffle bakers where you can use that same footprint in your kitchen, but make more waffles at a faster clip.

And being able to get our fresh, delicious, fresh waffles in front of a customer faster and more efficiently is ultimately where we're working and where I envision this going.

The QSR segment having Fresh waffles on every menu in the United States of America is how we approach every single day.

That's who we want to be.

We provide value not only for the customer, but for the consumer as well.

The consumers walk away from eating a fresh waffle feeling great about what they just did.

You know, the overall experience, the memories with kids, with family, we want to expand that experience out to as many different end users as we possibly.

So you have a food marketing background?

I do.

You know, there's brands are always looking to, you know, how do I build my brand?

How do I get my name out there?

How do I get more traction?

You know, what are some tactics that you use or your company uses to acquire new customers?

You know, we have built such an amazing team.

And one of the funnier aspects of Golden Waffles was, I would actually say leading up to our recent transition to our sponsors with Arbor Investments, was that the majority of customers that joined us came through just leads, calling us, calling in and saying, we would like to have your program.

This is such a unique value prop that just taking our people and putting them in front of the stakeholders and the decision makers and restaurants and hotels and colleges and universities, you know, it's a pretty quick conversation.

Do you want the best fresh waffle in the world and on your menu and, you know, would you like the opportunity to start tomorrow?

Right?

Like, you know, speed and efficiency and ease of use are so critical here.

It's, it's not just adding a product to your menu, right?

It's.

It's adding a piece of equipment to your kitchen.

It's adding a service schedule to your day to day.

And when our team can walk into those interactions and say that we can do this all for you, we can have you set up tomorrow.

It will be tomorrow.

24 hour lead time is all we require to get you what you need.

And you can have that waffle on your menu.

You can have it on your buffet.

The self serve station can be fully operational.

We'll get the heat guard up to protect everybody.

Put the instruction sticker on the outside and you can go.

And it's that focus on ease and speed and efficiency that allows our salesforce to go out there and acquire customers.

But there's so much more that we can do, right?

And it starts with this, right?

I'm so, I'm so honored to be a part of this conversation, a part of this podcast, even have an opportunity to talk about this great company, you know, getting ourselves out there in all different forms of media, social, Media, print media, you know, these are the things that come next because we have a product that we are that proud of, we have a company that we are that proud to be a part of.

So the more people that know who we are and that understand how easy it can be to get started with us, the more we'll be able to grow.

Absolutely.

And I think you're doing it right.

And when it comes to, especially in food service, where it's an industry on the marketing side, where, if I look at, let me take a step back.

When I look at the brands that it represent, if, if there was a hundred dollars that a company would spend on marketing, I would say probably more than 90, 90 of that 100 would probably go towards retail and grocery trying to, you know, build the brand on that side, you know, have a nice looking box and you have ads and everything else.

And then food service gets, was ever left, like it's kind of the scraps.

And so building a brand and food service, it's always how do I, you know, the question I always get from, or the question I get a lot from my brands is how do I build my brand?

How do I get the message out?

And things like that.

And I think it really comes down to you probably have like a core customer, I know you've mentioned hotels a couple times and you know, finding that core customer and essentially replicating that story across, you know, from east to west, right?

Or globally, trying to get that message out.

How do I get it out?

Via media or social media or your own sales reps, you know, places, you know, doing it that way, trying to get the word out as fast as possible.

I.

Finding a place in the mind of the consumer is a sweet spot that in our industry so few people have actually figured out because our customers are not the consumer.

Our customers are the preparers.

Right?

Like it's the chefs, it's the F and B managers, it's the people that are mixing the batter and putting it into the batter dispenser.

It's not necessarily the people that are consuming the product that are eating the product on your behalf.

And how do you find that space in the mind of the person that's going to sit down in a restaurant where they find value in saying, oh look, this, this restaurant serves Golden Waffles product.

Right?

That's, that's what I believe we can do.

But what I won't lose sight of and what we, you know, this organization will not lose sight of is that it's just as important for us to Feature our customers, our partners, as it is to push our brand.

You know, our largest partnership right now is with Hilton.

And you know, I don't know if you've seen the launch that they just did on the Paris Hilton waffle, the pink waffle, the pink glitter waffle.

It is such an incredible product.

So great people can buy it online and order it for their homes right now on the Hilton at home site.

And, you know, we have an opportunity to build up those partnerships with these just valued, valued, valued partners and to market them along with us.

And that's really where the next few steps for us will be focused.

We do have some direct to home business.

We do have that desire to become a household name.

And that has to go hand in hand with providing the additional value to our commercial partners and giving customers a reason to go in their doors to participate in all of the wonderful things that they're doing on site.

Yeah, I love that.

What about for you, you personally, what do you, you know, if you look at your career, you know, in the Runway that you have, what are the things that you want to accomplish, be a good person?

You know, it's really, it really is as simple as that.

I have two wonderful babies at home.

Aliana Mikey, 4 and 3 years old.

There's nothing in the world greater than being a father and a husband.

And you know, I give this advice to new people start to young people coming out of college and joining this industry, joining any industry.

And it's also similar to how I will speak to my kids as they age.

You know, the two things that I really ask of everybody is just to, to try and never lie.

You know, like just try everything.

Try.

Try hop on a truck and make deliveries, hop in the warehouse and select cases overnight, get in marketing, get in sales.

You know, try all of the new and different things that you could potentially love.

You know, if you can break down that barrier of fear that you may have of giving it a try.

And along the way, don't be afraid to share how you feel about that experience.

You know, what, what you felt about it, what you think about it.

You may find that there are so many other people out there that feel that same way.

And for me, the next steps in my career are just to continue doing those two things.

I want to try everything.

And I have just been so fortunate to be.

I've had the greatest leaders to learn from.

I've had the greatest teammates to learn from and to work with, you know, again, that community within the food service industry.

So my goal is to be a good person and.

And, you know, to impact as many people in a positive way as I, as I possibly can along the way.

Because, I mean, I need to pay it back.

I've just been so blessed up to this point.

I feel I'm the most fortunate person in the world.

So.

Amazing.

Well, Michael, I just want to say thank you.

Thanks for coming on the show and sharing your story and sharing more about your company and what you're building and have built.

It sounds like a truly impressive company and what great history, too.

I think that there's not very many companies out there that can say that.

So congratulations and again, thank you for joining me.

It was a privilege to have the conversation.

It's privileged to be a part of this great company.

And, you know, I think you have a lot to be proud of, to do what you're doing and to exist in the industry running a brokerage the way that you do.

Very impressive.

Very impressive.

So I appreciate you and your talk.

Thanks, man.

I appreciate it.