The Sargento Story

Could a funeral director do a 180 and create one of this country's leading cheese companies? Most would say no but it's actually a yes/A new book, traces the story of Sargento Cheese and the man behind it, Leonard Gentine.It's an interesting study in American entrepreneurship.

Treated Like Family (Center Street Publishers 2018) was written by  Tom Faley, a thirty year old employee, himself, of the Sargento Company. He was also involved in expanding the food company , developing many departments including marketing,consumer research, consumer promotions and new product development. He knows the company inside out, even acquiring most of the book's material from the founder himself. Sargento's is an unlikely tale , full of old fashioned dedication and hard work. The books starts off with Leonard's grandparents, Josephine and Joseph Gentine leaving the war ravaged area of Alsace-Lorraine,Chavannes-les- Grands for Wisconsin and ends with their great-great- grandson, Louie becoming the heir apparent to a multi-million dollar industry. It is Leonard, though, who is the star of the book. Mr. Faley writes this valentine for him. It all started out with an accident with a funeral director and Leonard paying off the cost of repairs by working for him. He worked hard on the journey from funeral director to mink farmer to finally a cheese company. What is inspiring is that he took the work ethic and humanitas of his first employer, Hobsen Brigsen. He applied that to Sargento, creating a home away from home for his employees.

The book is a long one, and at times, picayune There are dozens of factoids such as Leonard's kids childhood pastimes, pages on his courtship with his wife Dolores, and details of sales meetings from almost every year. Do we really care about who went on a sales trip in Chicago consumer research, Alsace-Lorraine,o in 1960 or who bought Leonard's funeral home? It would have been better if Mr. Faley has streamlined some of this. You do have to admire Mr. Gentine's tenacity and passion to create the perfect cheese company with partner Joe Sartori. (hence the name SAR  from Sartori, GENT from Gentine and the O to make it sound more Italian).What impressed me was the company's  drive for innovation. Sargento was the first cheese company to sell shredded cheese and that section was riveting about creating the first bag of it (a godsend to home chefs) and the first to mix different varieties in one package. They were also the first company to offer shredded cheese for tacos in 1969, years before Mexican food became trendy. Sargento was also a pioneer in reclosable cheese packages -again a boon for home chefs who used to have tot hrow out moldy , badly packaged fromage. Another important takeaway is how employees were always treated like family. This is a must read for any manager or future entrepreneur because it's a detailed guide on how to hire and treat employees.

Treated Like Family is an interesting lesson in American marketing and creativity.It is also a valuable one in boss/employee relations,For those thinking about starting their own companies, the bookis a definite must read.