Legacy Fort Worth business Standard Meat Co. has announced two key changes within its leadership ranks.
Tom Allen, an eight-year veteran of the family-owned meat processing and packaging company, has been named Standard Meat’s new chief operating officer.
Also, Zach Calkins, has been hired as the company’s executive chef. Calkins will oversee Standard Meat’s culinary product development program and innovations.
Calkins joins the leadership team, helping to develop and refine the company’s short- and long-term strategies, according to company leaders Ashli Rosenthal Blumenfeld, co-president, and Ben Rosenthal, president and CEO.
The management changes follow Standard Meat’s recent acquistion of Syracuse Sausage, long-time producer of authentic Italian sausage and meatballs.
Through Penrose, the Rosenthal family investment firm, Standard Meat had been an investor in Syracuse Sausage for the past decade and was able to acquire the 40-year-old Ponder company as its native New York owners, Anthony and Bobby Musacchio, were eyeing retirement.
The sausage-maker was the first acquisition for Standard Meat, founded in 1935 by Russian Jewish immigrant Ben H. Rosenthal as a meat supplier for local hotels and restaurants.
Standard Meat is is a global supplier of packaged meat products for major restaurant chains, including casual and fast food operators, as well as supermarkets, e-commerce retailers and the exploding meal-kit industry. It operates processing plants in Dallas, Fort Worth, Saginaw, and Ponder in Denton County.
As the chief operating officer, Allen will oversee all company operations.
And, as part of senior leadership, Allen will lead the development of Standard Meat’s five-year strategic growth plan and will guide the company toward achieving its strateic goals.
“Tom has done an incredible job with our Saginaw facility,” said Rosenthal. “Beginning in 2014, he served as the vice president and general manager of the facility, during which sales have almost quadrupled. His experience led us to tremendous growth in Saginaw.”
“His insight and vision will focus on our entire operation and not a single facility,” Rosenthal added.
Prior to joining Standard Meat, Allen worked for Cargill Meat Solutions, where he supervised thousands of employees and oversaw harvesting as many as 6,000-head of cattle per day in a pair of plants. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Oklahoma State University.
Calkins has been a consultant to Standard Meat for the past seven years. In that role, he supported product development, performed trend research, and validated recipes for accuracy.
“Having Zach on board as our full-time executive chef will give him an even greater ability to keep Standard Meat as an industry leader, continuing to keep us on the forefront of culinary innovation,” said Blumenfeld. “We are very lucky to have such a talented culinary leader dedicated to our company and team.”
Prior to serving as a culinary consultant, Calkins worked for sandwich chain Quiznos, first as executive chef and then as senior vice president of global product innovation.
“Zach fell in love with food as a child, helping his mother in the kitchen,” Ben Rosenthal said. “He carried this love of food forward into an incredible career. His passion paired with his strategic mind will enable us to provide even greater options to our customers, helping them to continue to excite and delight their patrons,” Rosenthal said.
Calkins attended the acclaimed New England Culinary Institute and then became sous chef at the world-famous Coyote Café in Santa Fe, N.M. He then worked as executive chef at the renowned Strings Restaurant in Denver, Colo.