From Bankruptcy to Billions: Rowan Students Learn from J&J Snack Foods Founder

In 1971 Gerry Shreiber bought a tiny, bankrupt soft pretzel company consisting of only eight employees and a modest $400,000 in revenue. Since then, he’s built it into J&J Snack Foods, a publicly traded global food and beverage behemoth with a market cap in excess of $3 billion and a portfolio of iconic brands including ICEE, SUPERPRETZEL, LUIGI’S, and Minute Maid. J&J’s record is impressive: 48 straight years of growth, 48 straight years of profit, and 48 straight years without a single quarter of loss.

Last evening Shreiber sat down for an intimate meet and greet and dinner with twenty of Rowan’s most impressive aspiring entrepreneurs, candidly sharing his story and outlook on business and entrepreneurship. Shreiber reinforced the age-old adage that there is no replacement for hard work. He attributed much of his, and J&J’s, success to the fact he and his team show up to work each day ready to put in the time needed to reach their goals.

He talked about the importance of making time to be present and visible in the day-to-day operations of the business, sharing that he regularly visits the production floor for SUPERPRETZEL to check their quality control board (and, perhaps, to enjoy a pretzel in the process). Shreiber also talked about making sure you are surrounded by the right people; people who share your vision for where the company is going and are aligned in the process by which it will take to get there.

One Rowan student entrepreneur asked Shreiber about how he came to acquire so many companies. He responded, “It wasn’t like I was going out looking for these opportunities… I met with them because I liked their product. They were kind to me, I was impressed by them, and so we did the acquisition.” In many cases, one, or even two, generations of the original founder’s families still work actively in the business under the J&J portfolio. This is both a testament to Shreiber’s leadership and proof that the original culture and charm of each of the many acquired companies have stayed true to the roots that made them beloved by consumer and successful in the market.

When asked why J&J carries such a heavy cash position Shreiber noted, “I’ve heard of many companies going out of business because they ran out of cash, but I’ve never heard of a company going out of business because they have too much cash.” Obviously, this is an oversimplified response, but Shreiber was stressing the point that being fiscally conservative, investing smart in the right opportunities, and growing now just through acquisition but through by strategic partnerships, are all sound business decisions. He attributed much of J&J’s continued success and growth to their strong network of strategic partners, noting that J&J’s partnerships with Coca Cola, Pepsi, Kraft, Oreo, WaWa, and many more have been instrumental to their growth.

In the end, Shreiber noted he’s blessed with an amazing family consisting of three children, six grandchildren, four dogs, three horses, four burros, three pygmy goats, and a cat. He’s an avid animal lover and advocate for adoption from shelters and humane societies. Through his generosity Rowan University, Virtua Hospital, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia all now have pet therapy programs.

Thank you, Gerry, for all you do to support Rowan students (and our four-legged friends).