In the snack industry, Barry Levin is king
By Daily News | |
PUBLISHED: June 10, 2011 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: August 28, 2017 at 9:38 a.m.
Barry Levin
TITLE: CEO
COMPANY: Snak King
ADDRESS: 16150 E. Stephens St, Industry
ON THE WEB: www.snakking.com
SECRET TO SUCCESS: Ability to keep moving forward no matter the obstacle.
INDUSTRY – The roof had caved in on Barry Levin's business and debris crashed down onto $13 million worth of equipment one rainy night in 2004.
His friends urged him to take the insurance money and walk away. But Levin was resolved to rebuild the company he had led since 1979.
"I'm a typical entrepreneur, and that means I'm a fighter, so I wasn't going to just give up," the Snak King CEO said. "There were a lot of people depending on me and the company for their living. I wasn't going to let them down."
Levin and his employees worked 24-hour days to get the Industry plant back into operation. Three years and more than $30 million later, Snak King has the largest single-oven tortilla chip line in the snack food industry, and its production capacity has doubled.
On Tuesday, Levin was honored by the Small Business Administration as Small Business Person of the Year.
"It is very rewarding for me and all of our Snak King employees to be recognized for the success of our company and our ability to provide good products for our customers and good jobs for our people," Levin said.
Levin was able to create plenty of jobs through his business. He currently oversees 440 employees, a big difference from Snak King's humble beginnings.
Just out of college, Levin joined Snak King in 1979, when it was a struggling snack company producing pork rinds in a cramped facility with two employees in downtown L.A.
He jumped right in, making sales calls, running the fryer, operating forklifts and keeping the books. He was constantly on the lookout for more efficient ways to run the small plant.
Four years later, the company expanded into a 50,000-square-foot plant in Pico Rivera, but the business was still growing. By 1994, Snak King purchased its current 177,000-square-foot facility in Industry.
Levin said he believes Snak King's success in a market dominated by larger companies is due to its superior products.
Snak King's creative approach to manufacturing and marketing unique products has made it one of the largest independent snack food companies in the United States, with a national footprint and the capability to serve most segments of the market.
Snak King specializes in organic, kosher, Hispanic and traditional snacks, selling branded (The Whole Earth, El Sabroso, Granny Goose, Jensen's Orchard) products as well as private label.
Last month, Levin was one of 18 small business "Champions of Change" who met with representatives from President Barack Obama's office while being honored at the White House.
"It was amazing," Levin said. "They wanted to know what types of problems small business were facing and also individually what each of us has faced."
erick.galindo@sgvn.com