With no agriculture degree or background with produce, Larry McIntosh landed a job against the odds with Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Peak of the Market in 1994.
The hire was a resounding success for both company and employee. McIntosh, longtime president and CEO of Peak of the Market, retired in June. The company has announced Pamela Kolochuk will succeed him as CEO.
McIntosh, who is The Packer’s 2021 Canadian Produce Person of the Year, visited with Tom Karst on July 13 about his 27-year journey in the fresh produce business.
Q: Larry, tell a little bit about how you got started in the fresh produce business. What was that like?
A: I used to work for a company called Bi-Way Stores, which was a discount retailer that’s not around anymore. We didn’t sell fresh produce. I started with (Bi-Way) as a stock person. It had 13 stores when I started. When I left, there were 286 stores. So, I kind of grew up with the company, went through the training program and eventually became the vice president of western Canada.
When I left there, I applied for jobs all over Canada. I really wanted to get back to Winnipeg, Manitoba. I was out here three times (for Bi-Way) as we opened up the stores across Canada. I loved Manitoba. And when I saw a newspaper job listing with Peak of the Market, I saw they were looking for a general manager, someone in Winnipeg to head up the group. The job requirement was that you had to have a university degree in agriculture, or agriculture experience, or both. And no phone calls or faxes, please.
The day I received the newspaper in Toronto was the last day they were taking applications, of course, so I immediately I made a phone call, and faxed my resume. I never went to university, and I grew up in Toronto, so I didn’t know much about agriculture.
Much to my surprise, I got an interview. I went to Winnipeg and had a meeting with the executive search company and the chair at the time. They interviewed me and after 30 minutes, it was done. I thought, OK that is never going to happen. I guess I’m not going to be in the produce industry. But then I got a call back and had a couple of more interviews and was hired.
The funniest part of it is that I came to know later that the executive search person had put me in the “no” file, because I had no agriculture experience. And our chair went through the “no” file and said, why wouldn’t we (consider) this person? So, the consultant didn’t think I was qualified, but the chair saw something in my resume that led to a 27-year career.
Q: Having no experience with produce, what was it like during the first couple of years at Peak of the Market? What were your impressions of the industry?
A: The initial thought was that these were fantastic people, great growers. I had a lot to learn about the industry and the abbreviations that we use. It took me a while to find out that when (they) were talking about grass, they weren’t talking about sod — they were actually talking about asparagus. Little things like that. I had the base of knowing how to read the financial statements, and how people need to be treated properly and taken care of, coming from a sales background. But I would say in the first couple of years, produce got into my blood, the excitement of it. Of course, it was a great business, it is healthy for people; fruits and vegetables is a great business to be in.
The biggest thing that struck me is that in my old business, we would have been competing against Kmarts of the world, the Woolcos. We simply didn’t talk to our competitors. Then you come into the produce (industry) and go to CPMA, and everybody is talking to everybody, sharing ideas about how to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, which helps the entire industry, not to mention people’s health.
So, it was a very different atmosphere where people were working together for the betterment of the industry. Everybody’s competitors and customers; they all realize that working together, we all benefit.
Q: What are some of the ways Peak of the Market has changed and evolved since you started with the company? How have you put your mark on the company?
A: When I joined the company all those years ago, we did about $23 million in annual sales. We were fairly small. Last year, we did over $130 million in sales. It has grown by leaps and bounds. But every year we (work) with growers that grow the product, we sell it, and they are confident enough to grow some more. It has grown to be a very large company.
Back in the ’90s, we started to say, let’s advertise vegetable brand names. That was fairly uncommon at that point. We wanted to get our brand name out there, so people would recognize that Peak of the Market was Manitoba-grown, and they could know what they were buying.
So, we did a fairly large campaign on radio and TV, and I was the spokesperson for the commercials. I think that was pretty exciting.
Our brand name recognition, in its heyday, if people were asked for a brand name for fresh vegetables in Manitoba, 78% of people could say Peak of the Market without being aided. They knew our brand name. So that was pretty positive. Certainly, other milestones were when we reopened our second distribution center. Along with the one in Winnipeg, we opened one in Calgary. That was a big move for us to service customers in the West.
Q: When you did those ads and commercials, I suppose you got some recognition from people in the streets, right?
A: Absolutely. That was a surprising part of it. In our original TV commercials, I used a carrot as a microphone. It was silly I guess, but that really caught people’s attention.
And I was stopped by kids who saw the commercial sometimes, and they thought it was great. I was stopped in grocery stores, and I loved it. It was great being recognized, and we lived the brand; our license plate was Peak. We were we happy to be able to represent the company and our growers. To this day, I still get stopped in the grocery store, and people say, “You are the vegetable guy.” They remember the commercials and that we are Manitoba-grown.
Q: You have been closely involved with CMPA. What has been meaningful about your volunteer roles with CPMA? Have you enjoyed that part of your career?
A: I have enjoyed every moment of CPMA. I have been to every CPMA convention that’s happened. I have been on the marketing committee; I am on the North American Trade Task Force.
Obviously, I was chair for a year. There is no better learning experience. Certainly, my passion is marketing in increasing consumption for the industry, but CPMA deals with a lot of government issues and all those other issues that benefit the entire industry. Even if you’re not a member of CPMA, you’re benefitting by a lot of the things that CPMA does.
Q: In terms of COVID-19, is Canada getting closer to normal?
A: I think we’re getting closer normal. Most provinces have pretty much gone back to normal; Manitoba is still not quite there yet, but we will be in the next couple of months. I’m looking forward to CPMA next year; I have no doubt that that’s going to happen. I’m looking forward to being in person, and I’m honestly looking forward to being out and going to restaurants, some other things that we have obviously taken for granted over the years. (My wife) Shelley and I would take 56 flights a year on average (for business) and for the last 14 months it has been zero.
Q: What are you going to do in retirement?
A: Retirement so far feels like an extra-long holiday. I don’t know if I’ve totally adjusted that I’m retired. But it’s been good. I am doing a little bit of consulting work on some projects and am certainly in keeping in touch with the industry. That, to me, is important.
With CPMA, I’m hoping to volunteer even more wherever I can be of service because I don’t want to lose contact with the people or the industry. There are too many relationships there that have been built over the years, and they are close friends.
Larry McIntosh to receive Canadian Produce Person of the Year
