Steve Schaefer

Current

Owner at Food & Craft Marketing & Consulting

Past

Purchasing at Crystal Food Import Co.
Cheese & Charcuterie Manager at Dean & Deluca
Deli Manager at Woodlands Market

Assistant Store Manager at A.G. Ferrari Foods
Director of Operations at Viking Foods
Consultant at V. Sattui Winery
Operations Manager at Ulysses Foods
Owner at Terra Amata Specialty Food Management
Operations Manager at Gourm-e-co Imports
Cheese & Perishables Buyer at Cheese and Bottle, Inc.

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7 more...

Education

New York University
New York University
Stella Adler Conservatory

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Recommended

4 people have recommended Steve

Connections

124 connections

Industry

Food & Beverages

Websites

Steve Schaefer’s Summary

I have worked many sides of food business, not all, but give me time. I am interested in the intersection of sustenance, sustainability and craft. That would roughly be the opposite of commodification, homogenization and standard bottom line driven manufacturing. I am looking to take my 25 years of experience in food, distribution, import and marketing and put it to use in the service of traditional and hand crafted foods and the people who make them.
By way of analogy, my conviction is that if on a journey all the stops look the same, you really have not gone any where. Or to quote Gertrude Stein " There's no there, there."

Steve Schaefer’s Specialties:

Very strong knowledge of high end specialty cheese & other perishable & nonperishable artisan food products.

Purchasing
Marketing
Product Development in the specialty food environment
Retail management
Operations Management
Shipping & Transportation

Steve Schaefer’s Experience

Owner

Food & Craft Marketing & Consulting

(Privately Held; Myself Only; Food & Beverages industry)

December 2007 — Present (10 months)
Purchasing

Crystal Food Import Co.

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Wholesale industry)

November 2005 — September 2007 (1 year 11 months)

Managed & upgraded purchasing procedures in this high end family run importer/distributor. Purchasing from 250 vendors both domestic and international. Developed expertise in import regulations, cheese license & sales in transit. Trained 2 other employees in cheese licensing. Worked extensively on inventory issues. Initiated a swiss air program, and initiated a domestic pre-order program for highly perishable small producer cheeses.
Cheese & Charcuterie Manager

Dean & Deluca

(Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Wholesale industry)

2003 — 2005 (2 years)

Department Manager of this high end destination market in the heart of Napa wine country
Responsible for purchasing, merchandising & management of this key department in one of the premier upscale food retailers in the US.
Produced a consistent 15% growth in dept. sales & reduced labor cost over previous periods.
Expanded product selection, vastly improved signage & employee training.
Developed innovative Salt Bar concept.
Deli Manager

Woodlands Market

(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Supermarkets industry)

March 2001 — August 2003 (2 years 6 months)

Independent Supermarket in Marin County, with one of the highest sales per square foot in the country.
Created new expanded deli menu.
Upgraded product selection, expanded SKU's and improved product sourcing
Developed and instituted an organized training program for this department of a very successful independent grocer.
Labor costs were reduced, and sales increased steadily in a weak economy.
Assistant Store Manager

A.G. Ferrari Foods

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Food & Beverages industry)

June 2000 — February 2001 (9 months)

This is a SF Bay based 13 store Italian food chain, of 2 to 4 thousand square feet each, that direct imports and manufactures most of the products it sells.
Responsible for managing profit/loss issues, including; hiring, training and scheduling staff, product presentation, inventory control, purchasing, budgeting, and store merchandising.
Director of Operations

Viking Foods

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Wholesale industry)

June 1998 — February 2000 (1 year 9 months)

Mid sized Specialty food distributor in the SF Bay area.
The company more than doubled in size in one and a half years, due to an aggressive growth plan and purchase of a high-end cheese importer.
Instituted new purchasing and inventory controls
Redesigned product coding for clarity, and improved product sales reporting
Improved driver and warehouse training & performance
Instituted HACCP program.
Expanded warehouse space and coordinated build-out of new freezer, cooler and office space to accommodate additional business
Established delivery minimums & lowered delivery costs
Helped broaden and focus selection of organic, artisinal, & local products
Company sold to larger competitor.
Consultant

V. Sattui Winery

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Wine and Spirits industry)

October 1997 — June 1998 (9 months)

Developed strategies for this successful retail-driven operation to move to the next level Implemented new signage in deli area, stronger display techniques Started company down road toward an affinage program Instituted weekend multi vendor outdoor marketplace program
Operations Manager

Ulysses Foods

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Wholesale industry)

October 1996 — September 1997 (1 year)

Moved to Bay Area to help set up this new distributor. The company closed due to owner’s legal problems. Established purchasing, warehousing, and inventory management systems Managed a sales territory for a short period.
Owner

Terra Amata Specialty Food Management

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Food & Beverages industry)

June 1995 — September 1996 (1 year 4 months)

Broker for specialty food products in the Mid-Atlantic area, working with supermarket, specialty, health & food service trades. Representing 17 lines including, Tholstrup Cheese, Grafton Village Cheese, Tazo Tea, Teacino & Sid Wainer & Son.
Operations Manager

Gourm-e-co Imports

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Import and Export industry)

July 1987 — February 1995 (7 years 8 months)

Purchasing - Expanded product line beyond cheese into frozen, pates, dry. Purchased from 35 food vendors, & dozens of equipment vendors. Improved purchasing & receiving controls.
Systems Management - Spearheaded installation of RISC based UNIX server, providing on-line order entry & inventory control, improved purchasing & accounting based on Gordon Graham principles, expanded reporting. Redesigned general ledger,
Human Resources - Hired & trained a staff of up to 45.
Sales - tripled business w/ Safeway East Coast, broadened market to w/ natural & food service accounts.
Equipment, Delivery & Fulfillment - Tripled fleet size, upgraded driver training & equipment & maintenance, reduced per truck repair costs 35%, increased drops per driver hour 25% & doubled average order size, & implemented frozen delivery capability.
Result - Company tripled in size in 7.5 years, expanded territory, broadened customer base, & deepened market penetration.
Cheese & Perishables Buyer

Cheese and Bottle, Inc.

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Retail industry)

December 1985 — July 1987 (1 year 8 months)

Upgraded merchandising, greatly improved quality controls
Expanded product lines, installed purchasing procedures at this three store chain
Improved employee product & performance training, created formal training manual for Deli, Cheese and Coffee & Tea Departments
Participated in planning, design, & opening of 2 new stores

Steve Schaefer’s Education

New York University

BFA, 1975 — 1979
New York University

Theater 1975 — 1979

This was a program in conjunction with the Stella Adler Conservatory, a professional training institute for actors.
Stella Adler Conservatory

Acting 1975 — 1979

Additional Information

Steve Schaefer’s Websites:

Steve Schaefer’s Interests:

Artisanal Foods, Classical Theater, Blues Music, Social Justice Issues

Steve Schaefer’s Groups:

Slow Food
American Cheese Society
Bioneers
Oldways
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