Freshway Foods announced that Larry Schultz, 45-year veteran of the fresh produce industry, is retiring. Larry started his career with the Crosset Company in June, 1970, two days after his high school graduation, and will wrap up his career with Freshway Foods in early 2016.
Larry grew up in Melbourne, Kentucky on a large farm. He credits his father for teaching him the fundamentals of business at a young age. “We learned about managing a P&L at 5 or 6 years of age,” Larry says. “My father was the first CEO I worked for. He would harvest green beans in the Fall, and if the beans didn’t sell at market twice, he would disc under the crop and plant something else,” he explains. “He felt that planting another crop would bring more money, while everyone else was trying to sell beans for lower and lower prices.”
Larry learned responsibility at a young age. By age 7 he was milking three head of cows by hand every day. He had a regular route selling eggs, and in the Fall, he and his siblings picked berries, which they sold at local markets before heading off to school each morning. At the age of 16, Larry moved to a larger farm to work for his older brother, and was responsible for over 100 head of cattle. “We learned to understand responsibility and accountability,” Larry says. “If you didn’t feed the chickens, you knew there was going to be a problem. If you didn’t feed them right, then you knew they weren’t going to lay eggs,” he explains. “That’s where the money came from.”
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