How a 125-Year-Old Milling Company Impacts Customer Behavior With Pete Levangie, President and CEO of Bay State Milling Company

From Persona To Personal

Pete Levangie is the President and CEO of Bay State Milling Company, a business that provides access to healthy, delicious, and responsibly sourced and produced food ingredients. The company is 125 years old, spanning five generations of family ownership, with nearly $1 billion in sales.

Over the last 30 years, Pete has accumulated a deep background in the ag food industry. Joining Bay State Milling in 2004, he started as the Vice President of Strategic Planning before being promoted to his current role five years ago, where he’s responsible for all functional areas of the company and its daily operating activities. He is also Chairman of the Board at Project Bread and a board member for Basic American Foods.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

With all the talk about the evils of gluten and carbohydrates, how can companies successfully market products like wheat flour, rye, oats, seeds, or spices? Brands must innovate and take initiatives that impact customer behavior to maintain a thriving business. So how has a 125-year-old milling company survived in this environment?

What can a milling company focus on to attract customers to its products? With nearly three decades in the food space, Pete Levangie has zeroed in on solutions that people rely on to simplify their shopping experience by making food less processed and connecting with them in an authentic way. Pete explains how Bay State Milling scales the company by minimizing food processing practices to appeal to food-conscious people who value sustainable products and methods, including plant-based foods.

On this episode of From Persona to Personal, Roger Hurni welcomes Pete Levangie, President and CEO of Bay State Milling Company, to talk about ways to effectively market products like wheat flour, rye, and oats, which have been consumed for over a century but, in many cases, have fallen out of favor with customers. Pete discusses what Bay State Milling does to ensure its products are healthy and desirable, the company's marketing opportunities, and lessons learned from the pandemic. Don’t miss it!