The pandemic has forced all businesses to adapt to new and uncertain conditions. The executives who are open to change are the ones seeing success. That’s been the case for Jamie Schweid ’97. He is the president and CEO of Schweid & Sons, Inc., a family-owned business that has been a leading purveyor of premium ground beef products for restaurants and retail for four generations.
Because a large percentage of the business resided in the hardest hit market—restaurants—the company couldn’t rely on the old business model that had ensured success over the decades. Jamie and his team dug deep into the data of where consumers were shifting their food dollars. What they realized was that consumer behavior has never in the history of industrialized society changed this fast. Consumers of all ages have turned to alternative channels to purchase food. “The thought was how to deliver our burgers safely to customers who either prefer not to leave their homes or perhaps are underserved in their market,” says Jamie. So Schweid & Sons pivoted. Joining the online shopping boom, the company now sells restaurant-quality burgers directly to consumers at home via their website.
Growing up, Jamie never thought that he would get into the family business. His plan, after earning a bachelor’s degree in finance from the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington, was to get a job with Bear Stearns. Then 9/11 happened, causing Jamie to rethink where he wanted to be. After a few job interviews, he decided to try and work with his father at Schweid & Sons’ Carlstadt, NJ-based headquarters. During the first year and a-half of shadowing his dad, Jamie developed a true passion for the business, which brings gourmet burgers to the level of an artform.
Over the past 18 years, Jamie has worked in all facets of the business from supply chain and operations to sales and marketing. He has helped push Schweid & Sons into new strategic growth while diversifying the company’s product offerings. Jamie also spearheaded the company’s expansion out of the Northeast in 2017, with a new state-of-the-art facility in Atlanta, GA. Today that facility now serves the Southeast, South-Central markets, which make up about 40% of the business.
A businessman with brains, Jamie also has a big heart. Looking for ways to support frontline workers during the pandemic, Schweid & Sons recently partnered with the Hard Times Sundae Food Truck on a week-long tour visiting hospitals. Serving comfort food—in the form of the company’s renowned “very best burgers”—was a way to show solidarity and support for those who risk their lives for the greater good.
Jamie credits his experiences and friendships at D-E with helping to shape the person he is today. D-E opened his mind to new experiences and cultures he would have never been exposed to otherwise at such an early age. The exposure created a curiosity that has served him both in business and in life. His best friends today are fellow alums from diverse backgrounds with unique points of view who share a lifelong bond held together by their experiences at D-E.
