Blount Fine Foods started as an oyster-packing company in 1880. By the 1950s, Blount Seafood was one of the largest suppliers to Campbell Soup Co. for its chowder. Soup, especially bisques and chowders brimming with Rhode Island quahogs, clams and mussels, was Todd Blount’s vision of his company’s future. As president of Blount Fine Foods, he moved the company headquarters to Fall River and set a course of success in making high-quality food products.
Is Rhode Island a good place to grow jobs? Why? In general, Rhode Island is not a good place to grow jobs, however, since job creation is slow, there is less demand on the labor pool. … For that reason, slow and steady job growth in the state has some value. Employees tend to stay in their jobs longer here because there are fewer opportunities to leave for. [A] higher level of employees [has] higher job growth because Rhode Island is a great place to live and once people move here, they want to stay.
If government could do one thing to help businesses grow jobs, what would it be and why? Reduce or remove the estate tax. ... If a business becomes successful, it is to the owner’s advantage to move business assets and even residence to avoid [the high estate tax liability].
JOBS
2016: 542
2017: 638
What’s the most important attribute a business leader needs to grow their business/add jobs? Our goal is not to grow jobs, but to grow profit. With today’s low unemployment, we actually want to reduce jobs with automation. With impending legislation – mandatory leave, increasing health care, lack of immigration reform and increase of opioid addiction, we need to lower our reliance on manual labor. That being said, we want an increase of professional help in the area of machine operators, culinary and technical support. To attract these individuals, we are creating a culture that is fun, as well as growth-oriented. Unfortunately, when employee benefits are mandated, we lose our ability to implement them creatively and lose an opportunity to stand out from other companies offering fewer benefits.
In which industry do you see the greatest potential for job growth in Rhode Island and why? Service – people want to live here, and they will need many service jobs to serve them.
How has the increase in knowledge and sophistication about food in our society affected your business practices? Our customers continue to evolve toward two extremes: healthy and “clean label” [no artificial ingredients], and indulgent and “clean label.” We have always had very clean ingredient statements, so this was easy to meet, however, as food-safety requirements increase, [the challenge is] to make things look and taste the same and still meet regulatory requirements.
What types of questions are customers asking now that they did not ask five years ago? Was there a learning curve internally to develop best practices of transparency with customers? Transparency is critical. I think we have always had that on our side. [Today, so many people] have some sort of exclusion in their diet, gluten-free, etc. Luckily, soup has endless variety and possibilities!
Blount Fine Foods supplies some of the leading food-service companies in the country and has from the beginning. What is the creative process? We originally only made recipes as instructed by our customers and partners.
However, over the last five years we have developed a deep innovation process starting with future trends and ideas, and resulting in new products.
Gov. [Gina M.] Raimondo brought Blount chowder to a Governors Association meeting in Iowa to pitch them on bringing their conference to Rhode Island in 2017, which they did. What does being a heritage Rhode Island company mean to you? Any plans to expand operations in the state? While our volume is primarily produced in Massachusetts (80 percent) and Texas (over 10 percent), R.I. still makes up 5 percent to 10 percent of our volume. Most of our executives and owners live in R.I., and our company is incorporated in the state, which it always has been. Our Blount Clam Shacks represent our Rhode Island and seafood heritage. The short answer is: We still consider ourselves a Rhode Island company.
Is free soup still the most popular benefit among the staff? How long has this been a tradition? Most popular soup? I think, overall, people stay [with us] because of the culture and mission. However, they like our great standard benefits with the fun of free soup, and lots of other giveaways [such as] turkeys for Thanksgiving and hams for Christmas. … Portuguese kale and lobster bisque are always popular.
