Mike Shrier joined the front office of Excalibur in early May and wants to build on the company’s momentum. In Part I of our interview, we learned how Mike promised his late father-in-law, Jerry Hall, that he would keep Excalibur operating and expanding, and told us how he always knew he would someday end up running the family business. As many food production facilities face the digital transformation to automate and work smarter, Mike says he is ready to lead Excalibur into the future.

Here’s more of our conversation…

What was your professional background prior to taking the helm at Excalibur?

“I’ve been with a Fortune 50 company in various leadership positions for more than 20 years, so I’ve led a lot of teams and drove a number of big initiatives. I believe in rallying along with a common goal and driving toward results.
“I worked in many capacities, but much of my experience is in IT. When I first became an IT manager, we went from ten operating sites down to two core sites for restructuring. I was charged with being able to route files electronically rather than by mail overnight. Automation saved a lot of money and labor – thousands of mail hours each year, in fact.”

How do you think Excalibur could offer more automated processes? Any areas you might look into?

“Labor is a huge concern for us and everyone struggling to be adequately staffed. Attracting good, quality people and retaining them is an issue. Excalibur put money back into capital expenditures so there’s a lot of automation that we can do in the future. We make sure things are teed up for blending and automation – especially some of the mixing jobs – to safeguard against errors. Things like labels that print on the bag will save us time and money. In my past job, I never considered that automation caused job losses. What’s created are higher-level, high-thinking, skilled positions that are mentally and physically better for people.”

In what areas would you like to see the company grow?

“I’d like to see us expand our foothold on the protein market, but I will be staying close to our sales team to learn what they believe we should consider growth-wise. Covid hit and we could have landed on the bad side and fortunately, we did not. How do we build on that momentum and keep growing? Maybe we find other types of products or other markets? We have the infrastructure in place to put toward other efforts. Meat will always be our core business, but we should look at other opportunities that we can take advantage of and stay ahead of trends.”

In Part 1 of our conversation, you mentioned that you worked in the backroom of Excalibur during summers home from college, and you’re doing that once again. How did you gain an appreciation for work ethic?

“I tasseled corn when I was 12 years old, mowed yards, and worked three jobs while I was in college. I learn from the ground up. These days you might find me in the back room bagging product for a while. I’ve asked to be worked into some jobs for an hour or so, just to get to know the employees. I want to see how they work now as compared to the way we used to do it. I’m the type of person who arrives at work early, reads my emails, and tries to be the first one online and/or in the door each morning. I like to be up to speed at the beginning of the day.”

Of course, we have to ask…what’s your favorite Excalibur Seasoning?

“That would be Ultimate Steak & Roast Rub on chops or steaks. It’s usually on anything that we’re grilling at home. It goes with everything.”