Maumee Valley Group : 75 Years of Success

Avanti Operator Spotlight Interview – Maumee Valley Group

We spoke with Operations Manager Jacob Plassman, a third-generation employee of Maumee Valley Group, to find out how they have sustained company success for 75 years and what inspires them for the future.

Who they are: Maumee Valley Group is a leading food service provider focused on being the BEST

  • Founded in 1946, based in Defiance OH and celebrating its 75th year this year!
  • 2020 Avanti Operator of the Year Winner
  • A multi-generational, family-owned and operated company
  • More than 450 markets in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana
  • Double-digit year-over-year growth since 2013, and including during/since the pandemic

 

Question:  Can you tell us more about your company’s history, and its main focus?

Maumee Valley Group was initially founded in 1946 in Napoleon, Ohio, but moved to Defiance, Ohio within its first few years. My grandfather, Donald Plassman, essentially ran Maumee Valley Group from the 1940’s to the 1990’s, and eventually purchased the company. Now my father, Todd Plassman, owns the company, and he and my brother and I all work here.

It’s funny that you asked about my title, because my brother and I joke about it all the time. We don’t actually have official titles, but effectively work as operations managers, so that’s what we call ourselves. We aren’t really hung up on titles around here!

Our company provides vending services and workplace food services like cafeteria and hot food service and coffee service, but our bread and butter was mainly vending up until about 10 years ago.

Question:  How did you come to work with Avanti?

While it wasn’t my project, I came into this business right around the same time that we started working with Avanti and introduced micro markets throughout our territory, in 2012. My dad really led the initiative to explore the emerging micro market trend and chose Avanti. He knew, and we knew, that vending had been around so long without changing very much. It was old and becoming obsolete, and we knew there had to be something better.

We chose Avanti because we saw them as the micro market leader, the one with the largest market share, and the one that was the most cutting edge. They are very proactive in spotting and evaluating trends in our market – trends we need to know about. And they are fast at pioneering and adopting improvements and product enhancements. This helps us to stay on top of things and serve our customers well.

Question:  What makes Avanti a good partner for Maumee Valley Group?

They are so proactive, in so many ways! Avanti has had a hand in all the trends coming into the industry. They are never caught off guard; they seem to know which trends to run with and which to reject.

We have to stay on top of these same trends, because our customers always want things to change and improve; they are always looking for the latest and greatest. Avanti helps us stay as cutting edge as possible, which has helped us grow.

Question:  What advice would you give a new Avanti operator just starting out?

Focus on the quality of the product you’re putting out, not the quantity. If you put out a good product and quality service, customers recognize it. Your reputation will then help you brand and market yourself, earning word-of-mouth and referrals instead of needing to sink a ton of money into advertising. It creates a domino effective in helping you build your business!

We spend very little on paid advertising. We’ve been able to grow by double digits pretty much every year through referrals and word-of-mouth. Being a smaller company – or at least having a small company mindset – we pride ourselves in doing a stand-up job and earning our customers’ referrals and repeat business.

Question:  What do you love most about your company and what you do?

I love that Maumee Valley Group is forward-thinking and not closed minded. We are always willing to reinvent ourselves and change when its needed. In fact, most of our weekly meetings are mostly to brainstorm and come up with new ideas and improvements. We are always trying new things and continually improving the customer experience so we can make ourselves the best option for our customers.

As far as what I do – I love my job so much that I pretty much talk about it all the time, just ask my wife! I’m excited to do things that better the company – improving processes, getting more customers, providing more value to our customers, and moving the company forward each year. In fact, we have a saying in our company:

“If you’re not growing, you’re shrinking.”

"We always work hard to move the ball forward, we’re never complacent. Even though we’ve had amazing growth and we have been around for 75 years, we still have a startup mentality. It’s energizing to be always pushing forward as quickly as we can." 

-Maumee Valley Group

Jacob Plassman, Operations Manager

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