“If you don’t keep the right temperature for the right product, then spoilage is going to occur. And that’s to the detriment of all those that are that are involved.”

– Ward Richmond, Executive Vice President and shareholder at Colliers International

“You hear about flexible, agile supply chains, but you have to understand that the food industry is going through the biggest quantum shift that’s probably gone on.”

– Chris Cummings, National Director of the Food Advisory Team, Colliers International

For anyone not familiar with the unique nature of a “cold” supply chain, it covers the movement of any perishable good from its point of origin to the place where the customer ultimately purchases it – and all the companies and logistics elements that are involved in that journey. Products that commonly move through a cold supply chain include raw and processed food items as well as pharmaceutical ingredients – anything that is at risk of perishing should the temperature become too hot during shipping.

Both of the guests in this podcast know the cold (or “cool”) chain well, and can speak to the big picture business trends that are driving the change being seen, including shifting consumer preferences, old companies being disrupted by innovative startups and why B2C supply chain professionals need to be familiar with “SKU proliferation”.

In this interview, Chris and Ward tell Supply Chain Now Radio co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton about:

– The challenges associated with staffing huge warehouses where employees have to work in extremely cold conditions.

– The increasing pressure to innovate while managing costs in the food and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries.

– Why the stock market may be misreading the indicators coming from the supply chain industry, especially outside of manufacturing.

[00:00:06] It’s time for Supply chain Now Radio broadcasting live from the Supply chain capital of the country, Atlanta, Georgia. Supply chain. Now radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people, the companies, the technologies, the best practices and the critical issues of the day. Now here are your hosts.

[00:00:37] Hey, good morning, Scott Luton here with you live and Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome back to the show. Like all of our series on Supply Chain Now Radio, you can find our replays on a wide variety of channels Apple podcasts, SoundCloud, YouTube, Spotify, wherever else you get your podcast from. As always, we’d love to have you subscribe so you don’t miss anything. Today we are continuing our popular Supply chain real estate series brought to you by none other than our Supplychainrealestate.com partners. Got a great show lined up today and looking forward to dove into the conversation. Let’s welcome. Before we get to the red meat, what we’re talking about here today, let’s welcome in my fearless co-host, Greg White Serial Supply chain, tech entrepreneur, trusted adviser to many, esteemed guru to some. Greg, good morning.

[00:01:23] Good morning. How you doing? I’m doing great. How are you doing, Scott? Under a fantastic two feet. People ask you how you’re doing. We had that. We had a big Triple A breakfast, unlike you. We’re going to take them a couple hours. And, you know, we needed that because we’re going to be walking through some savvy, heavy topics with two industry heavyweights.

[00:01:43] That’s like old home week because it Blue Ridge. You know, when I was running that company, we had a ton of people in the food and food service industry. So it’s interesting to talk to anyone who knows anything about that’s kind of a behind the scenes industry.

[00:01:58] A little behind the scenes is good. Yeah. And the scenes is good. We’re gonna get behind the scenes in front, the scenes and all around here today on the supply chain and seen real estate series going to get seeing this right. Let’s welcome in our feature guest. Before we talk about some of the top developments in the industry, want to welcome in Ward Richmond Executive Vise, president and shareholder at Colliers International Ward. How you doing? Great. It’s good to be back in Atlanta. Absolutely. You’re staying you stay on a plane these days, aren’t you?

[00:02:27] Yes. That’s what it seems like about ready for it. Slow down a little bit for the holidays. So I think I have three more trips between now and Thanksgiving and then a pretty slow December of travel. So that’ll be nice.

[00:02:38] Ok, good deal. Well, glad to have you back in the 80s. I’ll look forward to picking your brain here today. Chris Cummings, national director of food advisory services with Colliers International, is your cohort today. Chris, how you doing? Well, good morning. Good morning. You enjoy the warm up conversation and looking forward to hearing your insights and perspective on on coal chain and food supply chain today. But before we get there, Greg, you’re coming in hot and heavy from the Supply Chain Now Radio Industry Analysis Office. What are some of the top things, you know, in Supply chain now?

[00:03:13] Yeah. So just a couple of things here this morning. I wanted to save the best for last because that will lead us right into the conversation with with Kristen Ward. Yeah. But get this. So our friends at Black and Decker have actually found the upside to tarriffs. So they’re they’re saying that they’re in a position because of the way that they source their goods to take advantage because they don’t source their goods the way that many other companies do. So that’s an interesting purview. I posted on it about it on LinkedIn and it’s gotten some interest on on there, people. Everybody has an opinion on trade and tariffs. And our favorite guest co-host Will Hair Away is a big tarriffs fan. So this is in honor of him mentioning some tariffs. But it is interesting that there are companies that are actually making hay during during this time was an end.

[00:04:10] And let’s just say he’s a big fan of terrorist tariff reporting.

[00:04:16] Yes. Less than. Yes. Talking about tariffs, right? Yeah. Less of a fan of tariffs.

[00:04:21] I feel like we can’t avoid talking about tariffs. I never imagined when I was growing up that I’d be talking about tariffs on podcasts. But here we are. So what do they do? Do they explain like high level? What? Yeah. Or are they already doing it? Having a business plan that was not impacted or did they modify their business plan, alternate business plans?

[00:04:40] So they source from from they already source from two different regions of the country. And so they’ve just moved their sourcing. And this is a tactic that many other companies are undertaking is to move their sourcing to the non tariff portion. Sorry. Of the country. Of the world. Yeah. So that they can avoid those.

[00:04:58] So they it is an active shift in strategy based upon the trade dispute.

[00:05:04] Yeah. Yeah. It’s specific to the list for tariffs. I don’t know the details of list for, but essentially they’ve got a way around it. So teams of attorneys. Yes, yes, I’m sure that’s right. The way your EFT and teams of supply chain pros. And this is something that everyone will be interested in. And also one of Wilhite Airways favorite topics. So some new data out on the cannabis industry. So the cannabis industry is. 9.8 billion legal right now and and it’s expected to grow to 30 billion in 2024. It’s growing now about 20 percent a year. Like a weed, never. It is smoking. Yeah. And and what’s interesting about this, though, this is another topic that I’ve rendered my opinion on. You know, I can’t help myself. There was a big cannabis industry show in Chicago in the past weekend. And one of the topics was, well, one of the topics was actually the Blues Brothers because the Blues Mobile was actually at the conference. Some people were making all these industry references to that. And, you know, one of the issues that remains with this industry is that the taxes and the regulation is so incredibly onerous that that people are motivated to stay in the illicit industry.

[00:06:34] In fact, in California, there are three times as many illicit dispensaries as legal dispensaries. So people with false licenses and with a faux dispensary just essentially dealing drugs right in there. So it’s a it’s an interesting. And some companies, I understand, are kind of straddling the the legality line, if you will. So it’s it’s some it’s a lesson we should have learned during prohibition. It’s a lesson that that’s Gotland still or an issue that Scotland still has where scotch is like five times more costly in Scotland than it is in the U.S.. So interesting. My argument is that the states need to be a little bit more realistic about the regulation that they’re trying to put in place to to confront illicit illicit distribution, because now it seems like the regulations and the costs are so onerous that it’s actually motivating illicit distribution. That’s that’s an issue. And if we want the legal market to thrive, then we have to we have to really subjugate the the illicit market.

[00:07:44] It’ll be interesting to see here, given this Star Supply chain real estate podcast series with Water Richmond, it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out and to as these cannabis companies and as regulation loosens up a little bit and you see it proliferate how that plays out. And as demand to what’s huge already is.

[00:08:03] Yeah. Real estate. Yeah. I mean, it’s huge in real estate already. A lot of Industrial properties are being converted to indoor grow facilities.

[00:08:09] It is. I’ve sold facilities for cannabis use that used to be last mile facilities that are really great locations for them. So that was in Denver. It was a twenty thousand foot freestanding building to small fenced in truck court, secure freestanding building. And they were the last mile company I represented was leasing it for $3 a foot. So just saying on a tin cap, that would be 30 bucks a foot in value. We sold the building for close to hundred dollars of flood. So that’s like 3x the amount of what it was worth when it was be being used as last mile to converting it to cannabis use.

[00:08:49] Tip of the iceberg. Especially as as you know it’s it’s.

[00:08:53] Oh yeah, yeah. I have a friend of mine that you knew he was a lead in, you know, and at Colliers high up at Colliers. And he is now in the Cannabis Development Facility Development Industry. And we’ve been talking about land plays in markets like Dallas, where cannabis is still not legal just to be prepared for when it eventually becomes legal. We’ll be discussing that live at 4:20 today.

[00:09:20] Very good. No shortage of sell this topic.

[00:09:24] Yeah, but I mean, look, the legal the legal market, particularly for medicinal, is is going to cross all 50 state lines eventually. It’s already in over 40 states and rhythm. Yeah. And in this industry, I mean, to give you an idea of the potential scale here, the industry CBD, which is non THC cannabis. And and all of the other products, hemp and whatnot, are there. They’re poised to to disrupt a 2.6 trillion dollar consumer industry. That’s trillion with a T. Oh yeah. That includes it’s every energy drinks and and dog treats and, you know, and skin lotions and things like that. So it is this is a serious contender and it’s something you got to keep your eye on. Yep. Right. Any of that in the UPS Froome. Yeah. Come in. Yes. Yeah. This is just small news. And like I said, a great a great segway into our entire supply chain real estate. Prologis just announced Sunday that it will acquire liberty, property, trust, all stock transaction. Valued at 12.6 billion dollars. Wow. So they’ll close in the first quarter of 2020. It’s one hundred and seven million square feet of Logistics space and 5.1 million square feet in development. So I don’t even know what to say about that.

[00:10:54] So I’m gonna leave that to you guys. So you keep getting bigger. Yes, I.

[00:10:58] And I’ve I’ve been trying to get one of my good friends that’s pretty high up at Prologis to come on the podcast. So I’ll have to for him this episode and say, Hey, Mike, Curlies talking to you, buddy. And we want to get you on the podcast with us to tell us what is what’s going on with Prologis. And it’s really funny. Midway through 2019, there are all these reports that came out. Oh, Industrial sales have fallen off in twenty nineteen. And then the second half of the year, Blackstone acquired GOP for 18 billion dollars. So think about that. And then Prologis now acquiring liberty for 12 billion. Blackstone also bought Colony for six billion, I think.

[00:11:44] And then spun off another portfolio to another group, I think around five billion. So all the sudden, the second half there is has got to be the most explosive six months Industrial sales volume in the history of time.

[00:11:58] So I think what they’re but they’re but their company, their portfolio platform trades, that’s real unique.

[00:12:04] That’s true. Yeah. And especially it’s so much velocity in such a short period of time with these huge players just consolidating at all. So yeah. Then they’re I mean it’s a big bet on e-commerce at the end of the day. One hundred percent.

[00:12:19] Couple of things driving it, right. The demand for warehousing space is really high for shippers. Right now, everybody seems to be getting into the e-commerce or direct to consumer space and land in in desirable markets is relatively short in supply. So, you know, people are poaching the the products that already exist, the properties that already exist. And they’re trying to find desirable places to put properties as well.

[00:12:46] And more urban places. Right. To put some of these distributed fulfillment, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, good stuff. Appreciate that. It’s always interesting to hear some of the top things. No in Supply chain now. And with that said, we are going to dove deep into our featured guests here and we want to start before we talk shop. We want to give our listeners a chance to get to know both y’all about award eurgh. A repeat Hollywood hero hero said folks have gotten a sense of you. We really enjoyed having you here in Atlanta. So just refresh our listeners memory of who you are, though, in a nutshell. Tell us about your background, what you did. Great.

[00:13:23] It’s fantastic to be back in Atlanta. Supply chain City, as we like to call it here. Supply chain love the show.

[00:13:31] Alina is going to love that. Right.

[00:13:34] And yeah, my name’s Ward Richmond and I’m born and raised in Dallas, Texas. And I’ve been focusing in the Supply chain real estate sector for the last 13 years. And I work with the team, were based in our Dallas office and we specialize in representing occupier’s of Supply chain real estate. And by that I mean distribution facilities, manufacturing facilities, trucking facilities. Those are three really core areas of expertise in terms of facility types. A lot of our customers are third party Logistics companies or trucking companies. And then we also work with a handful of shippers from manufacturers in the cold chain like Maureen Harvest now moët and they’re a salmon manufacturer.

[00:14:22] We work with paper manufacturers and then other shippers like retailers and carpet distributors and so on. All lines, all these people are in the market hunting for Industrial real estate. And we’re working throughout North America. So U.S., Canada, Mexico, that’s the main region where we’re focused and typically representing occupier’s with fairly large facility footprints, multiple facilities and multiple markets across the country or the continent. And that’s that’s what we do. Host Yeah.

[00:14:57] And we’ve got a sense of working with you and your team and you’ve got you got the A-Team. I love the video that y’all published. What about, I guess has been lower? Um, yeah, about a month ago I think. Yeah, it helps visualize what you do and it helps visualize members of your team. And I think in y’all’s business there might be a lot of misconceptions about what you all do. And so Navidea I mean that that was such a neat, upbeat as a neat project to put together.

[00:15:25] It was, it was, it was pretty fun to do and we wanted to tell our story. We’d have a. Daily sales meeting, I think I’ve talked about the fact that we do that in one of the items we discuss every day is a reminder of what do we do. It’s really important. Everyone on the team is clear on what we do. And funny enough, lots of our actual competitors don’t really know what we do because it’s such a niche value proposition, I think, in terms of working with these multi market supply chain companies throughout North America. It’s not the traditional way of attacking commercial real estate, which is the typical approach that I’d say the bulk of the industry does as you focus locally and it’s always going to be a local business. But we’ve found that we can create massive value by marrying a partnership between the local market experts and then macro vertical experts. And that’s what. Digging into what we’re talking about today.

[00:16:26] Definitely. Yeah. I think the word local has changed and evolve quite a bit in the global business community, especially as as your next door to your neighbors in Brazil in ways it never was before. It never took place. So but fascinating y’all’s approach and the team and loved the video. All right. So, Chris. Chris Cummings, you know your first time on the show, so welcomed splotched Radio National director of food advisory services with Cars are National. So let’s let’s get you a little better. So list for starters. Where are you from?

[00:16:59] I’m from here in Atlanta, Georgia. OK. Yeah. Where’d you grow up? I grew up up near Cheston Park. OK. And you get a native bad family lives over in Virginia Highlands. Wow.

[00:17:10] So that’s a lifer. It is life unique. And you’ve been man to be dealing with the traffic for all 27 of your years.

[00:17:19] Well, I don’t I. I got out my mike when I picked up award this morning at the W. I’ve got a mile. I can walk to work through Piedmont Park and 1.5 miles.

[00:17:27] So it’s not me. Pretty easy. By the way, you need to go to Dallas because Dallas traffic trumps Atlanta. I’m sorry. I keep hearing about Atlanta, Travacalm. I hear about L.A. traffic light. Come to Dallas at 8:30 on a Tuesday. You’re going to want to jump off the bridge. All right.

[00:17:45] So prior to Katya’s, what would you do in industry?

[00:17:49] I was so I’ve been at Colliers for about 15, 16 years prior to that actually sold software for corporate services.

[00:17:56] So if a call yours or Trammell Crow or someone was going in to pitch a big account, we did lease administration transaction management and then decided that 16, 17 years ago that the broker drought would be better for me specifically.

[00:18:12] Industrial did that for seven or eight years and then through a mentor realized that I kind of need a differentiator from all the other guys and gals out there and started specializing in food. Mm hmm. So that took place about eight years ago. And since then, I’ve built a small team around us and we work on, you know, we’re probably working on 25 or 30 projects across the U.S.. Those can be with manufacturers, three Peel’s retailers. And we work with anything from a classic tenant rep like Ward and his team do to, you know, corporate dispositions, which I would consider, you know, a manufacturing a distribution facility that they no longer use. They need to dispose of. And lastly, you know, there’s been a lot of institutional capital since Amazon acquired Whole Foods institutional capital.

[00:18:56] You might not be interested in cold at all just because there is a high dollar per square foot. Unknown about the systems. And now all of a sudden, it’s because infrastructure funds are looking at the cold supply chain. Right? It is now a place for institutional capital to put money. So we worked with some interesting Blackstone last year doing about a 250 300 million dollar acquisition. So again, all in the food supply chain and different aspects across the country.

[00:19:24] And as Ledet coast-to-coast right through to value our services for the firm. Now, let’s talk about this kind of shift gears a little bit here, because I think many folks in Supply chain get a sense understand what what cold chain refers to. But but, you know, there’s there’s a play of the folks who might be slow like myself that may not have heard or dealt in the coaching industry. So let’s define that first. What that means. Sure.

[00:19:48] We kind of let’s be clear. I was a history major, Georgia. I didn’t go to Brown.

[00:19:53] Come on. So like this is full disclosure is all this information has been learned the hard way, rolling up this latest closure. They don’t. When I was at Brown, they did not teach cold chain F.Y.I, Georgia Tech. Now you teach in Cold Chad. Now they are at Georgia Tech.

[00:20:12] So we consider the supply chain, the cold supply chain, anything from manufacturers and processors that are actually doing, you know, making the food, let’s say, you know, bringing it in from the fields to making the food all the way to the three peoples and then the three P.l. World. You can have food service guys. You can have C-store guys convenience store. Guys, and then you can have three peoples at work with bigger food manufacturers, and then the last component of that is the grocery. Some grocers outsource them. You know, they’re supply chain to three Peel’s. Some people run it inside. Some people like sprouts do a combination. So it’s any perishable good that is taken from the field to ultimately to where the consumer purchases it and all the companies that kind of make up all those different aspects of the chain.

[00:21:04] We work with them. Malcolm, who leads our research Sheer Supply Chain Now Radio shot me that earlier today. I’ll know if it’s true. I’ve learned not to doubt Malcolm. But he mentioned that when this freight is in transit, these different items that they refer to it as cool cargo. Is that a term you’ve ever heard? Or is Malcolm pulling my leg?

[00:21:23] Yeah, I know. Cool cargo. I mean, it’s listen, the technology around here to keep these products at their optimum temperature so that when you do get it onto a you know, at a restaurant or you get it on the shelf of a grocery store, you know what’s in that? That the longevity of that product equals dollar. So if you don’t keep the right temperature for the right product, then spoilage is going to occur. And, you know, that’s to the detriment of all those that are that are involved.

[00:21:50] These are some really intricate facilities, too. I mean, so at previous in a previous life, we offered technology to the food. Food distribution. Food service industry. Birgit. Logistics. Yeah, if you’re familiar with that. John Haber sort of Maryland. Yeah, they they love to give me a tour of their facility where they would give me the big heavy coat and then take me to you know, into the cool room. Cold room, the freezer. sub-zero. Yeah. sub-zero is where I opted out.

[00:22:20] That was Trish Boehm end to end crab. Yeah. Less less than 20 seconds in the subzero freezer.

[00:22:24] But I mean those are their massive facilities. They have to be. They have to be hyper efficient. They have to be organized very well. Right. I mean, again, the internal workings are as important as the external workings. And you have to be able to move cargo in relatively easily. Yeah. So you’re right.

[00:22:42] Either way, working in these facilities, if you ever think about the labor side of this. I mentioned moët earlier, the salmon distributor, and they’ve actually let us in their warehouse and we suited up, just put on gloves and we’re going through the deboning of a salmon fillet process on the machine.

[00:23:02] And I consider myself to be a pretty tough guy, but when I’m in there for five minutes messing with freezing cold salmon and in freezing cold warehouse, yeah, I mean, it is not easy and it’s a challenge. So I can only imagine the labor side of that. And finding people in these manufacturing facilities and and distribution facilities go work in the cold all day.

[00:23:22] I think the benefit for four boroughs is if you’re if you’re in Maryland or Delaware, where their facilities are, if you work in a subzero freezer all day, Maryland feels warm when you walk.

[00:23:34] So if our listeners can’t tell, we get a lot of passion around this subject here today.

[00:23:38] And I want to kind of shift gears, because, Chris, I want to get really pick your brain and leaders that are in this space, in this cold change space, regardless of what sector that you’ve mentioned, three key sectors that maybe we’re gonna dove deeper on. But but if you were building a list of some of the top things that they need really needs to be on the radar trends that are taking place, challenges that are taking place. Other developments. You know, what would that short list of items look like?

[00:24:07] I mean, safety is obviously of the utmost importance. And you’re going to continue to see, you know, we’ve had food safety issues and that can you that can shut $100million our company down overnight.

[00:24:17] You know, both how it got into the food and subsequently it’s tracking to the ultimate retailer. So I’d say that’s across all.

[00:24:26] All kind of components of the supply chain. You know, one that touches all the, I think, leaders or, you know, cognizant of is just flexibility. You know, you hear about flexible, agile supply chains. But you have to understand me in the food industry is going through the biggest quantum shift that’s probably gone on. I mean, it was the same for 60 years. You know, you look at 3G buying Kraft and, you know, they thought they could do their zero based budget accounting, cut a lot of overhead, but not continually innovate. And look what’s happened to them, because what’s happening is the consumer is fleecing these old line companies that are not innovating.

[00:25:07] So they’re products that we eat as children are no longer being consumed. And so if you look at that from a manufacturer or a processor, all these guys and gals at the top talk about, you know, what the changing consumer has on their effect is flexibility. We have to have.

[00:25:23] We’ve got to be able to run lines in and out. We can’t run the same lines at the same product.

[00:25:28] You’ve got to be able to switch these lines over as we bring our new consumers. And so that’s created as significant growth in what we call co-packer, sir. All right. We all have a business, right? And we manufacture a bar. Right. And so maybe we outsource that the production of that bar to someone that’s got spare room on their line and then distribute it from there. So there’s been a significant uptick in co-packer because they might have the flexibility on the three P.l. World. On the second level. You know, there’s just there’s continuing consolidation. I mean, there’s just been massive consolidation. The cold storage business was traditionally run by mom and pops. You know, that got into it slowly and then grew it over time. And, you know, a lot of these companies have been around for a very long time. But there is infrastructure money coming into it. There’s acquisitions. And so there’s a big roll up, whether it’s a miracle old, whether it’s the lineage or just six or there’s a U.S. cold, they’re acquiring a massive amount of facilities.

[00:26:32] This seems to be ever a different reports as especially in the Logistics tech space. But but by extension, the Logistics space, there seems to be a lot more outside money coming into the space from the PE groups and other firms like that than there have been in a previous decades. Would you all agree with that? Yeah, what you’re saying.

[00:26:50] Yeah, it’s it’s a ton coming in in 2017, 2018 or to the high years, sir.

[00:26:55] Three. So we’ve we talked about manufacturing and the processors where we’re talking now about a three P.l. Before we move on to retail, anything else about 3 p.m. that you’re seeing?

[00:27:04] Well, I mean, it’s key. You know, Watson, if you go into we were talked about earlier, if you go into a grocery store today, they’re probably 60 different types of frozen pizza you can get.

[00:27:13] So think about that net effect on a three p0 or that was used to running 20, 30 thousand stock keeping units. And now all of a sudden they got to run 55 or 60 thousand in a frozen environment. And let’s be honest. You know, everybody thinks this is a sexy business and business that they want to get into. We’re not distributing iPhones. We’re just sharing food as a low, low, low margin business. So as complexities continue to increase, you know, your margins decrease ultimately. So I would say that the SKU proliferation among the three people is a continual challenge in that in that in that area.

[00:27:52] Okay. So layman’s terms, we wouldn’t talk about SKU Politicalization, which is a cup of coffee just to say it. What do you mean for lame for folks that may be new to industry? What you mean?

[00:28:04] Meaning we used to carry five brands of ice cream and now we carry 450 brands. So each one of those brands has a stock keeping unit of a specific type. And so you can imagine building a power that goes to a grocery store, maybe used to always put 100 percent Briers on there. And now you’ve got 50 different brands that you’ve got to build that pallet up to get it into the store.

[00:28:28] And even within brands, you might have multiple flavors or orientations of the product.

[00:28:33] I was thinking like tombstone pizzas and Twitter timeout frozen pizzas and I am not as drawn in order, let’s say. So there used to be DiGiorno and then there’s like DiGiorno extreme Ryder or no gluten free DiGiorno home delivery. Like there’s like, yeah, cauliflower crust. I love that. That’s great for the low carb diet.

[00:28:54] But all I mean also is this is all part of consumer demand and expectations and wanting to feel like you have a boutique product. And so there’s lots of major companies like Kellogg’s. I think I found out they’re making this healthy Sheer health. They sell it at the store that you think is like some niche company that’s selling you this really cool organic brand. And then you look at the where it’s being shipped from its Kellogg’s Jerai.

[00:29:21] Oh, yeah, they put it in a knife packaging on here to make me think that I’m buying this from a.

[00:29:26] In California? Yes. Like farm raising cereal.

[00:29:29] Yeah. Yeah. Well, it’s like the outset earlier. It’s like the craft beer business. Yeah. You know, you can now it’s 20 years ago you said.

[00:29:37] Right. Well, 20. Yeah. You know, you go the food business is probably like the craft beer business was 10 or 15 years ago. And there’s so many that the consumers demanding for it. Right. They’re actually finally speaking and they’re speaking through social media and they’re speaking through their buying pattern.

[00:29:53] And, you know, it’s interesting to then look at the M&A teams of like a Kellogg’s. You know, they’re like. You know, why are we looking at this $50 million, our X bar creator? Well, it’s because we got to buy talent because. Right. They the consumers moving so fast, they can’t innovate quick enough. So the M&A world and the private equity world, conversely, buying these these food companies at ridiculous PE valuations. Yeah.

[00:30:21] Ok, so let’s weigh anything else on that short list of things that that leaders need to know about this space.

[00:30:29] Well, if you won’t go to grocery, I would say again, it’s flexibility. You know, the last mile is the holy grail in terms of food, because it’s a recurring revenue stream. Right. And we eat every week.

[00:30:39] We eat every day, or at least I do. And I haven’t yet.

[00:30:45] Today I intend to. Chris, so you’re you know, the leaders.

[00:30:53] Of grocery businesses.

[00:30:55] It’s kind of a race to the bottom and it’s zad in some way in that if I want, you know, Scott’s business, I want him to come on line will actually make more money off Scott if he or his spouse or his children actually come in here and shop. And now I got him as the last mile and I’m actually losing money on that tote.

[00:31:18] And so, you know, Amazon is forcing all this and, you know, there’s gonna be no clear winner. I mean, you’ve got the Instacart, which is creating creating H.R. issues in the aisles.

[00:31:28] You’ve got the the click and collect, which I’ve heard is fairly popular. And then you’ve got the true last mile. And so it’s I mean, that’s a skinny margin business.

[00:31:37] You know, I think what’s interesting about it is if you’ve ever heard of Jewel, Jewel was popular in the 50s and 60s and 70s in Chicago. And guess what? They did grocery delivery. Yeah. Has any one of you heard of. No. No, of course not.

[00:31:51] Well, I could call it the return of the milkman. I mean, you know, when I was a child live in Atlanta, we got Mayfield Milk and we got Charles Chips. So we got fresh chips delivered and fresh milk. Now, you know, the world’s changing now. But it is. It is. You’re seeing me as a trillion dollar industry, the grocery industry. So. There’s a lot of runway to figure this out, but they’re gonna be plenty of mistakes along the way and we’re seeing them today.

[00:32:15] Yeah, I think the technology enables it in greater measure than it ever has in the past. I mean, look, the labor and fuel costs alone negate the profit. Right. But if we can leverage drones or or whatever, whatever alternate delivery devices there might be, then maybe there’s a way to make it economical. But you’re right, it’s gonna be a long haul. Yeah. Trying to figure out a way to make it a profitable enterprise. Right.

[00:32:43] So Ward won’t bring you in after Chris kind of laid out some of his observations of what’s taking place. What sticks out for you?

[00:32:50] Well, like for grocery delivery, I like to you shipped. So are you familiar with a lot of Birmingham? Yeah. qua- about Target.

[00:32:57] So it’s a great app that I enjoy using, too, I wonder. I think right now the shoppers, when we order groceries from the shipped app, go to the store and I wonder when is that shifting or if it already is shifting with other companies where they’re going to a distribution center instead of going and go into a store and MSU. And having shoppers go there, then it seems like it would be way more efficient to create for these grocers to create or shift itself to create a. But probably the grocers distribution centers for shoppers to go to that are specifically doing last mile deliveries. And what do you do? What do you know about that?

[00:33:36] Well, I mean, I can give you a live example. And this is not proprietary information because it’s on their on their quarterly filings. But if you look at Kroger, Kroger is all I mean, if there’s ever gonna be a business case study in 10 years, it’s going to be what Kroger is doing over the next three years. They’re pushing all their chips to online. Right. They acquired the rights or smart technology rights of Accardo or invested in Accardo, which is a British space fully online grocery company, automated. And they’re building a kotto facility in Ohio, Atlanta and Florida. And to your point, each one of those Accardo facilities will have 10 micro fulfillment centers in a circle, 250 or 300 mile radius. So basically the order comes in, it’s automatically filled, it gets put on a 53 footer that goes to that micro fulfillment center by zip code. It gets broken down on vans and then comes into the city. So I don’t know. I it is a massive bet. Wall Street has not rewarded Kroger for doing it just because, you know, unfortunately, the Amazons of the Worlds have A.W. s and they’re used to them seeing lose money. But Kroger can’t Girgarre can’t bump up a stock because they’re spending billions of dollars in technology.

[00:34:46] I say something about Wall Street, please. I don’t think they understand supply chain and Logistics UPS not.

[00:34:52] I follow I follow stocks in this world and these it’s a great way to keep up with what’s going on in businesses. And sometimes it blows my mind when I read the actual report of what’s going on and then see Wall Street’s reaction to it because it didn’t hit some estimate made by people that don’t even know how to make estimates about a certain business and you’re missing it. And then you see stocks crashing down or being fearful because a company like Krogers investing heavily into this space in they’re being forward thinkers and they’re saying they’re just looking at, oh, they’re EBIDTA.

[00:35:24] And I mean, they don’t I mean, sorry, Wall Street, you don’t have a clue about Supply chain Logistics. And I hope we get some people in there that don’t make these stocks. They’re already pretty thinly traded stocks in the Logistics Industrial. So they’re just they’re so volatile. And I don’t think it’s that volatile of an industry. It’s just looks that way from a stock market perspective because it’s so new. People don’t know it yet.

[00:35:48] The metrics that they’ve used for decades in in the stock market are counterintuitive to what you want to have happen with supply chain when inventories are rising. That’s a good thing. That’s right. They’re seeing that as a precursor or a predictor of demand. And that’s that is possibly true in manufacturing. But in every tier below manufacturing, that is not a that’s not a predictive indicator of what’s happening in the marketplace.

[00:36:15] Well, the thing is, though, at least there’s interest that’s saying something as we see interest and we see investments, more awareness and more education and a better understanding what we’ll have to follow. Right. Because you’re going get more eventually out the investments and the opportunities.

[00:36:29] Do you agree? You guys agree with me there.

[00:36:31] And I think it’s going to take a substantial advocation effort to get these financial managers to understand the real key performance indicators of supply chain. They don’t understand it today. And they’re using old, easily disrupted old metrics to manage success in Supply chain. And they need to move to a more a more indicative predictive metric to identify what’s going on for sure.

[00:36:58] But we’re seeing and we’re talking about this as in the warm up here earlier, we’re seeing more more organizations that have outsourced certain things or have been on the sidelines and haven’t been. Solved an Indian supply chain. We’re seeing them ha supply chain talent. Supply chain professionals and that that knowledge and that better understanding of what has to happen to make food or cold chain and get it where it needs to go safely and transparently and traceable. That’s a word. There’s much greater awareness. We’re seeing that the educational and we talk a lot about how there’s now over 500 programs dedicated to Supply chain management coast-to-coast. So I hope to I don’t necessary disagree with anything it’s being said. I think there is only I think there’s a more awareness today and more interest today in the field. And eventually the people that move into the C-suites know that they’ll they’ll come from this era of this enlightened air and they’ll they’ll be there’ll be a stronger understanding of.

[00:37:59] I don’t disagree with that, but we can’t apologize for what the street is talking about. And and we can’t fail to force the change to happen, because in the absence of any sort of disruption, the status quo will rule. So I think the statement you’re making needs to be made and made repeatedly. And it and an active, not passive education process for investors needs to occur. That’s right. Right.

[00:38:26] Yeah, all agree. So let’s switch gears. Appreciate you sharing a lot of this thought. We could we could set up a show dedicated to each of the updates from each of those sectors. But let’s kind of wrap up today’s episode. We want to focus on the really important topic of specialization. And Ward is something we have talked about earlier, is innocent. And we’re not just talking about it from a real estate standpoint, although it’s important there. But Ward, you were saying earlier in the warm up how important specialization and using specialized suppliers in a broader sense is critical to being successful. Right.

[00:39:03] That’s right. Yeah. I’m sorry. Go ahead. I just I just disagree. I just have to give you this recognition. Look, I’ve been in Supply chain my entire career. And when somebody said there is a supply chain real estate expert, I said I never even thought of that as as a possibility. I mean, that that is that’s the power of what you do.

[00:39:25] So and and I think it is interesting. It’s one of those. Wow. I didn’t even know there was a business for that. Yeah. And I think it’s important for people to have that right.

[00:39:32] Well, you know, again, I appreciate that we were on a call just seven weeks ago. And when we when we took home the personal call, what we our subject matter for our podcast, what was a response was basically like. And you get people to listen.

[00:39:48] Yeah. They I think they said something like, how many people listen to that? But this is.

[00:39:54] So to tie this together, there is such a it call, a niche call that there’s so much interest in folks that understand supply chain, whether it’s from real estate expertise standpoint or whether it’s from a, you know, a content and best practices. And some of what you know, for example, what Chris was just sharing, what’s taking place, folks. There’s such a global demand for what’s going on in Indian supply chain. That is still I think the audit again, going back, the audience is still growing and we’re seeing more interest. But man, if you’re a practitioner and you’re really looking to see what’s going on, and that’s why doing these types of conversations and shows are so important. So, Ward, let’s talk about especially with all that, there’s enough of us talking about you.

[00:40:37] Let’s let you talk. Thanks so much.

[00:40:39] And so, yeah, specialization is just something that our team we pride ourselves on. I know Chris and his team. Same thing. And so I think initially before we got Chris to come on today, we were just going to be talking in general about specialization in real estate. I started working two zip codes in Dallas specializing in a submarket. And that is a great way to get started in real estate by your specializing. And then I shifted that focus to the vertical of really transportation and Logistics. A couple years into the business. And then I started focusing on that. So I wrote a blog called Submarket Specialization that’s really from a real estate angle. But like we’re discussing, no matter what business you’re in, whether you’re a doctor or a I said hair salon or a Europe podcast, Ryder Rylander, you better be specializing whether it’s in the in luxurious houses in a certain neighborhood in your city. If you’re a residential realtor or if you’re a podcaster like you fellows and really all of us here at the table right now, we’re focused on Supply chain right now unless you’re Joe Rogan and then you can just talk about anything, anything, right.

[00:41:54] I will listen. No matter what.

[00:41:57] I don’t care what he’s talking about, because Joe Rogan, I think Chris said it in kind of pre-show is there is I don’t know what you said exactly, but essentially there is a bigger market in a niche. Yeah. Yeah. Having an net. Actually opens up things. There you go. Take the coat.

[00:42:13] Dig into that more because I love you. I’ve talked to you about this before.

[00:42:16] Yeah. You see the world more clearly right in in your niche. Ryder 3 or 4, you’re able to connect the dots quicker. So technically I feel like there’s a lot more business to be had. I mean, you know, Warden, I’ve talked about this. I mean, when when we’re talking to our clients, I mean, it’s when we go to a pitch, it’s rarely truthfully about real estate. It’s about their their problems within their food supply chain.

[00:42:42] Trucking are three people. In my case, when I’m meeting with these companies and they’re all they all we’re talking about the problems that they all have.

[00:42:51] Sheer companies may have a little something different, but if you specialize in a vertical, they’re gonna be the same. And if you get on the geography side of things, then people are going to be facing the same problems within that geography. They’re going to be understanding the rent situation is how it’s changing that’s going to be impacting them all in a similar way. And so no matter what your specializing in, it just simplifies your life.

[00:43:17] It does. It does. It’s the hedgehog concept. So in that thing, you can be best at it.

[00:43:24] In my blog, I have five step process. You know, I like my list. And so I’ll if you want, I can walk you through. Yeah. Yeah, let’s hear.

[00:43:33] Just so our listeners, the blog you’re referring to, is it supplychainrealestate.com where you walk through specialisations? So we’ll make sure folks and we’ll we’ll include a link to that in the show notes. So go right.

[00:43:43] Have read into it. Yeah. It’s a simple five step process. This blog is written specifically about specializing in a Industrial submarket, but you can apply this to specializing in anything in the industry type and it’s pretty dumb down.

[00:43:59] But I think that’s what’s great about it because it is so simple. But it is not easy. Right? And step number one, find a mentor. So I don’t I don’t think anyone’s great. You can’t just. I think it’s always important to have some type of a mentor that can help coach you along if you’re getting involved into in a new industry. And this is just ground up. So, Chris, did you have a mentor that you know?

[00:44:25] I did. I did. The CEO of Trident Seafoods is unfortunately since passed away. But that’s what got me into the business. He took me under his wing as a result of a cold call because I heard they were looking for a East Coast manufacturing facility, took about a year, and then we became very good friends in your is chasing that one deal.

[00:44:41] One deal. And that opened up the world to me to specialize. That’s awesome. And yeah, same thing for me in Logistics. I was I’ve got one deal with dynamics at the time.

[00:44:52] They were the largest same day delivery company in North America. And that door of opportunity opened, which we’ve discussed on past episodes. And then I’m I’m working on 30 simultaneous transactions in the last mile sector and then leadership moved to the LTL sector and then I started attending Georgia Tech, taking their supply chain classes. And just you get into that. So I morph. I started as a submarket specialist and morphed into a vertical specialist in the logistics and transportation sector the same way having a mentor there. And then I had a mentor when I got started as a submarket specialist to that. And he was a submarket specialist in these two zip codes that I started out. And so. So then your next step to is identify your submarket or your target market or whatever you want to call it, whatever you’re going to specialize in. You want to be as specific as possible. So in my case today, I specialize really in logistics and transportation solutions. So I’ve got a list of every third party logistics company and LTL trucking company that that exist. And I. So then step two is to identify who who’s gonna be your target market. So how? I mean, you’ve described here’s a little bit, but what’s your target market, Chris, compared to mine?

[00:46:15] What does that look like in terms of like what size are they just companies?

[00:46:21] Does it take to make on your list? We don’t yeah.

[00:46:23] We’re kind of that 100 million to 2 billion kind of that small to mid-cap. We just we don’t want to but our heads up against the big boys just because we feel like we can be nimble and quicker with those. Those are the individuals we found.

[00:46:36] We can add the most of value and subsequent we had had the most successful relationships.

[00:46:41] Yeah. And then in after that you moved to step 3, which is you database all of this. So you want to grant Cardone who as my executive coach you you got a grant cada.

[00:46:55] I do. I do. He’s we we meet once a month so we have a once a month coaching session. He’s in Dallas too, right? He’s in Miami. Oh, okay. I’m trying to get one to our podcast. I’ve got my fingers crossed. And I think they’ll view a lot of fun. Stay tuned and hopefully we can make some magic happen, but he’s a adjusted part of business in general, you’re going to have a little bit of business anxiety at times. Yeah. Meeting with your coach, you’re always trying to dig in and think how to rid yourself of anxiety related business to the point of a coach. And he’s always like, weren’t you got your list? Who’s on your list?

[00:47:32] And you think about it like, yeah, you better know who’s on your list. And if you start and you should clearly know who’s on your list and you want it in a database and you want to be constantly reaching out to them, staying in front of them, a to find business opportunities, be to learn what’s going on in the area of your specialization. There’s nothing better than surrounding yourselves with leadership. You know, people in leadership roles within your target market to take your expertise exponentially and continually to the next level. So that’s brings me to step 4, which is contact your target audience.

[00:48:14] And that’s really good if you define it and you, the younger people have a hard time with it.

[00:48:20] Yeah, I’m on the phone or I do any bill. You you identify your target market, you make a list and then you go contact them. How how does this done? Yeah. Phone calls, emails, LinkedIn, all all avenues of social media.

[00:48:36] It’s I like to go to conferences that that’s my my secret weapon for contacting my target audience. I like no longer a secret way to go. Hey, I would. I always defy anyone to beat you. I thought I’d give it. I’d love to give everyone my log into my database.

[00:48:53] Go for it. 90 percent of people won’t do anything with it. Yeah. So the treaty of the hard work that’s required to Camille has always come find you.

[00:49:02] Very simple system work. You have to. You have to go work your butt off. Yeah. So. Yeah, but just surrounding herself. And if you’re local. Locally specialized.

[00:49:16] I know of you think all rural realtors are real commercial real estate brokers are golfers and I’m not.

[00:49:25] Are you. No, I’m not. Play. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t play at all. I gave my clubs to call on my team. I quit. I tried to play. So I thought it was like would make me a better commercial real estate broker. But now it seems like less and less executives these days are playing golf.

[00:49:42] It’s true.

[00:49:44] Maybe. Maybe in our sector and supply chain, I don’t know. But I know people do that a lot of times because you’re surrounding yourself with if you’re in Dallas and your member of an exclusive country club, typically other high level people, influencers within Dallas are gonna be there. So it’s good to go into an area like that and surround yourself with these high level decision makers because then you get to know them and you know what problems are facing their pain points and you build a personal relationship. So for me, my country club. Like it or not, is going to three people. And and they’re fun and new, especially at first. It’s weird. And they’re like, who’s this guy? You’re not even part of our club. You’re real estate broker. You’re a vendor. You keep going. And I’ve gone to IWD L.A. and taken classes like the essentials of warehousing, gone to Georgia Tech. And it’s at a point in time, if you dedicate yourself to it and you enjoy it, you’re you’re going to just be there to talk about Supply chain. And then and I know Chris is like this, too. If a deal happens, a deal happens. But we were passionate about what we do for a living and we can in the sectors that we specialize in. So I going to sit there and talk about that and just be perfectly content.

[00:50:59] And if deal comes along, fantastic, you just can’t wait to talk to Dave or whoever about that thing you discovered in the last couple of weeks, right? Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. Yeah. Organic Congress or Gregg and Scott right on a microphone. Yes, that’s right.

[00:51:14] And then sort of wrapped up the step five is basically the repeat step for. Right. Boom.

[00:51:19] Action, action, action, action, action, action. Keep contacting them. Evolve your list. Grant Cardone tells me that, too. He’s constantly like if they don’t make sense anymore. Remove them if there’s someone new that needs to be on there. Add them constant and never ending improvement. But you got to know what your list is and you got to get in front of everybody that’s on your list. And then you know what? A lot of that business anxiety will go away. And if you’re feeling you wake up in the morning and feel lost and confused, just make sure you have a list and go call the people on the list and feel that that’ll go away. What’s this?

[00:51:51] I just thought about this and everyone said this out loud. But my God, fish and I go for a fish and a lot. And he’s always like, you can’t catch a fish with your fly in the air. Yeah, yeah. I guess people just keep on keeping.

[00:52:03] That’s like, yeah, you got to put Ty in the water lever to have a shot. That’s a good point. That’s right. You gotta. Got to make the effort.

[00:52:09] Well, all right. So you mentioned some industry events. IBL, a great organization. They’ve got a big event coming up in the spring out in California, I believe. San Diego. San Diego. That’s right. I love it when anyone does an event and Sandeep getting booed beyond attending. I know you both serve on panels and work. You know, I’ve talked about some of your previous keynotes. What are your what events on your calendar? Let’s say through the end of the year, first part of 2020 and anything that kind of man, I’m doing it really.

[00:52:40] I’m doing an event I’m looking forward to. And a couple weeks in Los Angeles and it’s called Summit L.A. and summit isn’t. It’s my first time to attend this.

[00:52:49] And you should Google it to really understand. But it’s kind of one third business entrepreneurship and one third wellness. And so that’s everything from yoga and things like that that I’m really into to meditation and nutrition and different speakers. And then one third music. So it is it’s a weekend event. I view it as a little bit personal, a little bit business. I believe Jeff Bezos spoken at last year. This year, the CEO of Uber will be there.

[00:53:24] Lots of CEOs from these major companies that are shifting our world attended.

[00:53:32] So from that standpoint, I’m really excited then, although, you know, I love music and I love finding news, new ways to go work out. And so I’m excited by that. That’s in two weeks in L.A..

[00:53:44] And then I love to attend Debbie GSA Supply chain every year in January. And Ben Gordon puts that on. He is an investor and investment banker, Supply chain Guru Overalls by Ginger. And I’m also working to get Ben here to be on our podcast. You can meet him. I’ll start and then puts on this great, great conference in West Palm Beach that happens to be the Breakers Hotel January. So all three all three of those things come to gather pretty nicely and make it one of my favorite events the year and a great, great time of year to be in a great place. Jenny. Right. You get the conference discount on the room. Yeah, although you’ve got to pay for the conference cancels.

[00:54:30] We will add both home urinals for those conferences on the shinners as well so folks can check those out. Yeah. Tis the season, you know, the vent heavy and we’ve got a calendar that’s filling up continues to fill up which got back from Charleston and New Orleans, although that was the highlight that had nothing to do with.

[00:54:50] All the deals with good food and family that. So let’s make sure folks can read. Hold on.

[00:54:56] I wanted to know from Chris if there’s food conferences that no, they’re not quite as exciting as some of those conferences you should eat. I just make them sound exciting. Yeah.

[00:55:07] Turner and Sam Turner was hard at Sam Campbell to my partners or my team are actually down right now at the FDA, which is the Fire Service Distribution Association. They’re down there in Orlando. Yep, they’re in Orlando right now. Started yesterday. And then I’m going to exciting one in November, probably Piel in May, which is Private Label Manufacturers Association. But again, we’re the only brokers there. And, you know. It’s just as much for education for me to take back to the team than it is to be meeting people. I mean, the content of these are just as good for me to be calling on. So that’s an important trend to be at the front of. The auto companies are going private label because the margins are so much better. They are. So it’s again, that one’s up in Chicago. But those are those will be the two before the end of the year. Cool. I’d like to go down to the breakers.

[00:55:58] You should. Yeah, you should form a cheap room. Yeah. Yeah. You sleep on a cot. That that hotel. They call it the breakers because it breaks breaks you. Yeah. All right.

[00:56:12] Well let’s make sure our listeners know how to get in touch with both of y’all. Casey, on a follow up, compare notes. You name it. So, Crystal, start with you.

[00:56:21] You know, we’ve got callers, food advisory services, dot com.

[00:56:24] You can find her stuff on there on LinkedIn. Just spotting, I think. And I think we have a Twitter Twitter feed. I’m not good with this, but I think I gave you the information. Yep, I am. Yeah. Social media is not my forte. So this is clearly I’m on the spectrum here.

[00:56:40] You’re you’re a natural here. Podcast, game show. I don’t know. You might win this link, but anyway. Yeah.

[00:56:47] They they can find us just about on LinkedIn or collieries food advisory services dot com.

[00:56:51] Perfect. And we’ll add those links as well. Well, about yourself.

[00:56:55] Best way to find me is our Web site, supply chain real estate dot com. That’s my blog and I’m constantly posting on there. And then my cell phone numbers on there. And I always just say, text me and let’s start up conversation. I just wanted to add in. I mean, Chris is here because we’ve worked together. I’ve been at Colliers for about a year. And if there’s anything food related, I call I’m calling Chris.

[00:57:21] And we had a very specialized marketplace. Yeah, right.

[00:57:25] We had requite I run into people out there at these conferences and knowing a lot of three peoples a transfer. I like to go meet with shippers, too, as you know, and we’ll go to these conferences. Were there a lot of shippers there? And if someone needs something cold storage and they’ll ask, hey, we might need a cold storage. This just happened with a real life company. Ward, can you find us all existing cold storage buildings in the western United States?

[00:57:51] And then I say, yep, in an email, Chris, and say, would you please send me a survey of this? And then he goes, Yep. And like literally like an hour from my conversation, I Chris tracks every cold storage building in the United States. So I already know he knows the answers on his list. So I’m not gonna go try to pretend I’m an expert. I’m going to call Chris. And so due to, you know, us both being passionate for specializing in things in our industry and we’ve become good friends. And so I and he lives in Atlanta. So we had breakfast before the last one. I’m like, dude, you’ve got to be on this podcast. And so I hope you get to come back and tell us more about you’ve added him to the ground crew already. So he’s in. That’s good. That’s the last mile. Is Ryder into your belly Farson conversation.

[00:58:40] I really appreciate it. Kindred spirits. Clearly, there’s there’s a rapport between the two of you and I can see as opportunities. I love how specialists had their own specialists, Hollywood specialists. That’s important. It’s important. Well, big thanks once again, Ward Richmond, executive V.P. and shareholder at Kaiser National. His colleague Chris Cummings, national director, food advisory services at Collieries Wards, based in Dallas based coast-to-coast Chris, based here in L.A., but also coast-to-coast are our continent. The whole Kahn idea of North America helping businesses solve challenges and more importantly, grow profitably. Great to have you both own. Looking forward to our next installment of the Supply chain Real Estate series here on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks, Warden Chris. Thanks, Scott. Greg, thanks, guys. All right. We’re just so wrap up really quickly here and at the end of the episode. One of Sheer a couple events we’re gonna be at starting with Austin next next week. CFT CIO Logistics Summit sneaked up quick. Well, yeah, the November 7th and 8th there in Austin is put on by EAF T, which is now a Reuters organization. Wrote right for them. Yeah, that’s right, Nick. And also, if they continue to grow, looking forward to a great event in Austin.

[00:59:52] We’ve got a number of interviews already set up. Right. And a couple more that we’re. It’s gonna be some exciting stuff. These CEOs are gonna get together and share a bunch of ideas with one another. Well, that was fascinating to watch that.

[01:00:05] It is. And, you know, as we alluded to earlier, there is exciting things going on in the Logistics space, both what’s already here, what’s coming in and the investment coming in. But but more importantly is supply chain is technology these days. Logistics is technology, right? So I’m looking forward to being around a lot people lot smarter than me and kind of seeing what some is leading companies are doing. And right from a leadership standpoint, from a technology standpoint, from a challenge solution standpoint. So we look forward to those conversations. In fact, that’s where we met Ward. That’s right. I served on a panel or sponsor the ATI event here in June here in Atlanta. Three P.l. Event. Yeah. Okay. And then we’ll get to the holidays. CSC, MPE Atlanta roundtable here in January. We’re gonna be covering one of their lunch events where narced track executive. They’re one of the leadership team members and come out in time about how transportation regulations are impacting a variety of businesses. The reverse Logistics Association Conference and Expo out in Las Vegas in February. Looking forward to our friend Tony Shroder. If you’re interested in Yoba, as you’ll both know, reverse Logistics. That sounds cool. It is up to me and I sure will. So if any of our listeners are looking for best practices in that space, which a lot of companies are. Yeah, that’s what’s fueling the global growth of this organization. RLA dawg. Tony SCHREUDER is doing some great things with a heavy hitting board.

[01:01:34] I mean, they’ve got to love what his perspective is. It’s not just a deal with returns. He even has the perspective of trying to limit or eliminate. Yet, Ernes, that comes from a lot of history in the industry. He’s a great leader for that.

[01:01:46] Absolutely. r.l a dot org. And then one final note in terms of upcoming events. mutex. You know, X is going to be here in March. mutex 2020. We’re gonna be broadcasting throughout all four days and they are hosting our 2020 Atlanta Supply chain Awards, which we nail down a great keynote. Great. Emcee Registration, nominations and sponsorships are all open today. First executive committee meeting. That’s right. Yesterday. Yeah, we sure do. We’re getting kicked off all 47 members of our executive committee. Now, I’m kidding. Very passionate. And then give very good committee folks who are used to, you know, serving and leading in the business community here in metro Atlanta. Christian Fisher, president CEO of Georgia-Pacific, is our keynote for that event, Shimoda. Right. Sheer Cooper is going to be our emcee. Right. Shane was a former. Lots of things, but chief transformation officer at West Rock and senior executive leader at Lockheed’s manufacturing facility here, Atlanta. So she’s got more manufacturing and supply chain Dan Solla here.

[01:02:52] Go ahead. Yeah. So I have it. All right. Speaker 2 W drugs that Collier’s client. Oh, fantastic. Fantastic. They’re great company. They’re right up the street. You know what’s what’s also really neat is Moto X is free to attend 34000 people as what they’re expecting at Mode X, 30, 40. Had you ever been to this thing before? I’m too much of an introvert to go somewhere.

[01:03:12] Thirty five. Well, for a while they feel a little anxious. I’ll tell you. You can learn a lot about Supply chain.

[01:03:20] Just they build miniature factories and miniature warehouses with conveyors.

[01:03:24] Really? It is that so? It’s like. I’m sure you’ve talked about that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’d love to check it out.

[01:03:33] Yeah. OTEC Very cool show IMO. ADX show dot com free to attend join up and also the Vetlanta Supply chain Awards. You can find more information there at the aptly named Atlanta Supply chain Awards dot com. How did we think of that?

[01:03:47] No, that’s cool. You’re doing that. Maybe we could open up the Dallas Supply chain awards. Sherkin. Expand it. Yes. Right. Yeah. We’ll call it the Cotton Bowl. Yeah, I love that idea.

[01:03:59] Well, we’re good. If we talk. Yeah. Once we stop this episode. Big thanks to our guests. They had a great, great conversation. I learn. Always on a lot. You sit down. I am everything but real estate experts. I sit down with two mavens. It is very educational orients and big thinks that word. Richman and Chris Cummings, both with Colliers International. On this episode of the Supply chain Real Estate Podcast series on Supply Chain Now Radio to our audience and big thanks to Greg. Really enjoyed it today. Yeah, we’ve got a big scheduled this week, as a matter of fact, right?

[01:04:32] Yeah. So, yeah, very good to be back in studio tomorrow and Thursday. Right. Right.

[01:04:39] So where’s the Neymar talking all about the Vetlanta buddy. He’s going to talk reasonably about a I can’t wait for Paul Knobel to come in.

[01:04:46] Vetlanta voice Tomar. And then we’re interviewing the senior leaders of MHR, speaking of Moto X up in Charlotte. It was weeks of lost. Lots to come to our audience. Be sure to check out our upcoming event. Replays of her interviews, other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com. You can fant find us an Apple podcast, SoundCloud, Spotify, our heart radio, you name it, YouTube, Greg. Don’t break my legs. Get that out there. All the other leading sites were podcasts can be found. Be sure to subscribe to your Mesi thing on behalf of the entire Supply Chain Now Radio team and Ward Richman and the Supply chain Real Estate Podcast series. This is Scott Luton. Wish you a wonderful week ahead and we’ll see you next time on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks, everybody.