8 Track Foods with Maggie Sadowsky feature #35 of Together Talks

"Together Talks" feature # 35: 8 Track Foods presented by KLS, freight company

Some Background on 8 Track Foods

For this edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS welcomes Maggie Sadowsky, Owner of 8 Track Foods, a certified Woman-Owned company, creates premium sustainable Organic canned beans sourced from US Organic farmers. At 8 Track Foods, they believe it’s not only their job to make good food, but their responsibility to create a positive impact in the world.

The Science behind it

Maggie, a Food Scientist and plant-protein expert, wanted to create a company that focused on sustainability at every level. With an impressive resume, Maggie has formulated hundreds of products in the natural and Organic market with an emphasis on plant-based meats for prominent and emerging CPGs. However, there needed to be more connection between what she fed her family and the foods she created for work. Five years ago, Maggie felt compelled to return to her roots with natural and whole foods like beans. She aimed to focus on local, simple, and sustainable agriculture to revolutionize the bean category. Beans naturally fix nitrogen in the soil and are one of the most underrepresented foods in the industry. If anyone could change that, it would be Maggie.

In Maggie's own words, courtesy of the company's YouTube:

Purpose

The first mission for Maggie was to focus on the eco-system of the whole product, as she told us, "Most consumers look at the benefits of the food, but don't always think about the packaging." Drawing on her chemistry background, she selected a package that infinitely recycles, a steel can. The properties of the steel cans make them magnetic, so they get recycled in most waste streams (BPA free lining).

The cans were designed to be beautiful and pop on the shelf, which has led to great feedback and brand awareness even shared by consumers on the company's Instagram!

Following up on differentiating, Maggie told us that a huge strength of the company is being "technically focused". Her knowledge, passion, and expertise have provided the foundation to build her company. "8 Track is able to communicate the benefits of each product, where it is sourced, and different ways beans can be implemented into the diet. We are working to create the proper supply chain, domestically, that creates strong value for our consumers. Transparency with us is not just a product tagline."

Partner with KLS

Commitment

The company talks the talk and walks the walk with Maggie steering course. One of the passion projects within the company is the community impact. They participate with Cleanhub which globally removes plastics from oceans and has recovered 4,400 pounds (2 tons) to date. Additionally, the company supports local food banks courtesy of donations.

One of the challenges for Maggie is the supply chain and logistics or as she told us, "how do we get these heavy can of beans into our consumer's hands?", but conversely she has learned to love logistics due to the finite and concrete nature. Hey we agree Maggie! :) But ultimately it aligns with her brain and mindset to which she told us she is an innovator at heart. "I have a pipeline a mile long running through my mind, but I'm focused currently on growing beans for our company. But we are 8 Track Foods, not 8 Track beans..." And growing is exactly what she has done. The product is now featured in nearly 500 retail locations including, Whole Foods Midwest, Meijer stores, Central Market Texas, and online via HiveBrands.com, HereHereMarket.com, marketwagon.com.

The implementation into Whole Foods was the first memory that came to mind for Maggie when we asked her about a favorite moment, "It was the biggest sense of pride because it validate the naysayers. Early days when I started in 2020, everyone said I couldn't do this, the products weren't relevant, there was no market...and here we are in every Whole Foods in the 9 midwestern states. Gratifying."

And that level of belief would maybe question if it is hard for Maggie to stay grounded, but it is the opposite. Maggie has visions for growing the company and product lines, but also the culture of the company. "I didn't do this to be a flash in the pan, we aren't chasing a trend. I believe in the long-term goal to invest in this company for all of us. I did this to create change for our health and the health of the planet."

Interested in being featured with "Together Talks"?

In Closing

We asked Maggie the meaning behind 8 Track Foods' name, "Our food supply is off track. I wanted a name that would convey an old school retro vibe, and the memory of 8-tracks popped into my head. It all just clicked organically." When we asked her in closing to tell us why 8 Track Foods is the right choice, she said, "Consumers think about where they get their water, coffee beans or even tomatoes, but rarely do they consider where their beans are grown. We are setting out to make real change and support local US Organic farmers and our community. By supporting local, we keep our carbon footprint low and our tracks a little lighter on the planet."

KLS wants to thank Maggie for allowing us to highlight 8 Track Foods for today's "Together Talks" feature. Continue to follow 8 Track Foods on their social channels below.

LinkedIn

Maggie's LinkedIn

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Also, Maggie and 8 Track Foods were featured in the following posts:

Nominated for top 100 finalists for Chicago Innovation, here

• Top 100 Finalists - Chicago Innovation

• Vegpreneur Post

• Female Disruptor Authority Magazine

• Hatchery Speaking Engagement

• Shelfie Awards

And Maggie was featured on the following podcasts:

• Gooder

• More than a mile - Market Wagon

• Winning at work

Klimson Logistics Solutions - 8 Track Foods with Maggie Sadowsky feature # 35 of Together Talks

*Klimson Logistics Solutions is an Industry Leading Customer Service 3PL. Our focus and commitment to our clients has us striving to be the BEST Customer Service 3PL for LTL, FTL, Reefer, and Drayage in the country. KLS thanks you for viewing our marketing campaign "Together Talks" if you have any interest in being featured or questions regarding your freight operations please contact us today!

Why KLS?

Our precise and reliable effort.

We handle every shipment with the exact same process. It does not matter if you move one shipment a year or ten per day, you will receive the same level of customer service from us. When we started this company, we had one goal in mind, treat every shipment like it was our own. With our vast knowledge of the industry, we understood what a customer would want from a communication standpoint. We applied that process to be the standard here at KLS. Our reliability and being able to depend on our consistency is why we have such long-standing relationships with our clients.

Our Process?

Every shipment in our industry starts with a quote. We are firm believers that time is money, thus we strive to have quotes back in a 5-10 minute reply time for LTL and FTL, any FCL quotes are at the mercy of the carriers getting back to us. For LTL we have the flexibility to quote both off of NMFC and also Density depending on the carrier. Utilizing our services, you’re allowing us to use our expertise to class your freight accordingly to ensure we are providing the best rate we possibly can.

Once a quote has been submitted and a client chooses to proceed with KLS handling the arrangement of the shipment our full process begins. We create the BOL that will be used for the shipment. If it is a new location for our system, we will obtain all the important/special details (reference numbers, contact details, shipping hours, closed for lunch, dock/doors, etc.). We meticulously build every detail into our software for all future shipments involving that location. After we have both locations built and necessary reference numbers have been applied we will tender the shipment to the carrier. We use this method because it provides us a real time pickup number from the carrier to obtain updates prior to pickup. Our staff will either email the BOL directly to you or to the shipper (at your request) the minute after the tender has been accepted by the carrier. LTL carriers require a 2 hour window prior to close time in order to schedule it for a same-day pickup attempt.

The following morning you’ll receive an email from us. It will either provide the reason the pickup was missed (driver’s trailer filled up, driver missed the close time, truck broke down, shipper said no freight, etc.) or if the pickup was successful you will receive the PRO (tracking) number from us, along with the eta for delivery. Our staff will track it throughout the duration of transit and advise if anything happens that will alter the estimated delivery date. The day the shipment delivers we will email you with confirmation and the POD (Proof of Delivery), should you require it.

Your shipment has been quoted, scheduled, picked up, and delivered. The next step is waiting for the carrier to invoice us and make sure the rate matches up. If it does, we close out the invoice from the carrier in our system and automatically your invoice is created and sent to the requested party at your company. In the event the carrier has an additional charge on their invoice “Variance”, we will never send you an invoice with an additional charge without first identifying you of the charge.

Let us repeat, NEVER WILL WE JUST BILL OUT AN EXTRA CHARGE WITHOUT YOU BEING NOTIFIED.

You are our customer, we represent you. Should the carrier provide an extra charge on an invoice, “Lift gate, additional weight, reclass, detention, etc.) We notify you of the charge via email first. Second, within that email we identify what is required should you choose to dispute the charge. Again our goal is to honor your request, if you want to dispute, we will dispute. During a dispute we will provide you updates every step along the way. Once a dispute is closed out, whether it is approved or rejected, then we will invoice you as the invoice has been resolved.

For reference, our company only had 6.2% of all shipments go to dispute in 2022 and we successfully won 91% of those disputes on behalf of our customers.

This is our process for every single shipment you move with us. We don’t cut corners, we don’t hide from difficult situations. We believe in being available, honest, and transparent. We don’t ever want to tell you that a shipment is lost, damaged, misrouted, but it is our duty to notify you the second we find out something has gone wrong. We hate to present bad news, but it is part of the job. What you can guarantee is that we will work a shipment all the way through and turn over every stone until we get a resolution for our clients.

Services offered?

Our core business is LTL and FTL. Within these options we have options for both dry and refrigerated/frozen. We also offer FCL/Drayage options. Our company as a 3PL has nationwide options and services clients across the US.

Let’s breakdown our services more in-depth

LTL: Standard and Guaranteed CFS (Imports & Exports) Tradeshows Hazmat Anything that is on a pallet can be moved LTL. Typically LTL is up to 10 pallets, but the sweet spot for a carrier is 6-8 pallets at most for an individual shipment. LTL quotes are good between 5-30 days depending on the carrier. LTL can be quoted either via NMFC or density to determine the class (we do this for you).

Volume: Anything over 10-12’ of space in the truck is the technical rule for a volume shipment. When we run a quote for you we will determine if it qualifies for volume and provide you a rate if available. Volume moves allow you to get a reduced rate for larger shipments. The caveat to volume shipments it the quotes are only valid for 3-7 days and they move on capacity between terminals. If a terminal is backed up they will move their LTL freight first before the volume freight, which can lead to longer transit times for volume moves.

FTL/Dedicated/Expedited: 53’ Dry and Reefer 26’ Box trucks with lift gate Sprinter Van The main difference for FTL vs LTL is space and transit time. For standard pallets you can fit either 26 or 30 pallets in a 53’ dry van. The other main difference is transit time, for FTL each day counts in the transit time, whereas LTL does not count the day of pickup, weekends, or holidays in their transit time.

Reefer/Frozen: LTL and FTL We specialize working in the CPG space with food manufacturers. We regularly deliver to the following locations: Kehe UNFI Core Mark DPI Wegmans Cugini H.T. Hackney Netrition HEB ALDI Chambers and Owens EBY Brown Nassau Candy Harris Teeter Wakefern NU INC Long Distribution

What makes KLS different?

There are thousands for freight brokers and 3PL in our industry. Barrier to entry is rather easy and agents or owners will often hire sales people without any intention of properly training them. It results in high turnover for many freight companies and a forgettable experience for the client. We choose to operate differently through our consistency. We truly care about doing right by our clients and prospects too. While we would love to help provide our services to every company we speak with, that just isn’t realistic. We won’t always be the right fit for every company that moves freight and that is ok. Our authenticity as a shipping company sets us apart from the competition and that is backed up by our testimonials. We also run a marketing campaign bi-weekly called “Together Talks”. We interview, highlight, and promote two businesses every week. Our goal is to grow our network, make new connections, and learn something new with each collaboration. Check it out on our website and if you’re interested in being featured reach out.

Our company also runs a year long charity promotion. Book your first shipment through KLS and we donate to the charity of your choice in your name. Our way of thanking you for giving us an opportunity to show you the KLS way and what makes us one of a kind. This entire package is what we offer to every prospect and every client. Our goal is to help provide answers that customers may have when it comes to shipping. We want to always be available as a resource and will always offer a lending hand whenever we can.