One Man's Journey Toward The American Dream

With revenues growing at ten percent annually, James P. ‘Pink' Logan, Jr. didn't start out to create one of the ‘hottest franchise opportunities in country.' It just happened. Neither did he set out a grand strategy to invent a spiral slicing machine; be granted a patent for it by the United States Patent and Trademark Office; invent a spiral sliced boneless meat product; be granted a patent for that invention by the Patent Office and Trademark Office; and protect it from infringement successfully. But he has. Nor did he plan to make a living providing Corporate America and thousands of consumers with some of the most popular edible gifts, Spiral Sliced Honey Glazed Hams and Spiral Sliced Turkey Breasts, both during the year and at high holiday seasons. But he does.

What has been termed ‘a journey toward the American Dream' began in the 1980s, when Pink Logan was working for a hydraulics company. "For years, I had been purchasing 50 honey baked hams to give my clients at Christmas. Until 1983, when the company I bought my hams from wouldn't allow me to pay for them with a check or credit card," said Pink Logan. "I would have gone anywhere else to buy my hams that night, I was so mad. And that's when I realized there was only one major supplier of honey glazed hams, and they had no competition." About the same time, Pink was looking for something his wife, Kim, might like to do instead of her personnel job at Neiman-Marcus. As he traveled the Central United States working his hydraulics sales job, he found a number of privately owned smokehouses and got to know something about the art of curing and smoking hams. Over time and after some investigation, he determined that there could be something here that was lucrative and fun for his wife to do. From such simple beginnings came Houston-based Logan Farms and its famous spiral sliced Honey Glazed Hams and Turkey Breasts. Today, the company has 20 franchised stores operating in seven states and one corporate-owned store in Houston, Texas. Together they provide Corporate America with thousands of hams, turkey breasts and other meats annually.

A Short History Logan Farms began operations in 1984 with a single store in Houston. Instead of selling the same product everyone else had, Pink worked with a smokehouse to develop a recipe for a ham product that offered customers far less salt than any other on the market and one that was 90% fat free. Something that was virtually unheard of in the industry. "The sodium content in Logan Farms Honey Glazed Hams� is around two percent, about one-third less that other hams," said Logan. "We've been credited with offering America's first low-salt ham, but I don't know if that's a fact." In 1985, Pink was approached by a successful restaurateur in Louisiana with the idea of licensing Logan Farms as a franchise. Although not part of the original idea for the company, Pink saw something in the venture that made sense. So the first franchise was granted that year, to open in Lafayette, Louisiana. And in 1986, Pink resigned his full-time job as sales manager with the hydraulics company to go full-time at Logan Farms. "In 1987 sales were so strong," said Pink. "I decided it was time to get out of hydraulics and go full force into hams." Other franchises followed quickly in Texas and Louisiana. In 1986 a second franchise opened in Houston. And between 1989-1990 stores opened in Webster, Humble, Sugar Land and Champions, Texas. Since then, franchised stores have opened in New Iberia, Metairie, Shreveport, Baton Rouge and Alexandria, Louisiana; Montgomery & Birmingham, Alabama; San Ramon, California; Jackson and Biloxi, Mississippi; Wichita, Kansas; McMinnville, Tennessee; and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In addition, the original meat slicing machine that Pink used did not meet his commercial needs. Its hydraulic components did not operate consistently as the machine heated up from use. In fact, the early machine caused so many problems that Kim threatened to quit unless Pink made a slicing machine that functioned consistently. As a result, Pink reengineered the internal mechanism and built a completely different system for ensuring even spiral slicing to the bone of the ham. It would also slice boneless meats, leaving a very small core at the center. So out of necessity was born the new machine for spiral slicing meats. And as with this new invention came some other, unexpected, lessons in business.

Successful Protection of the Patents Although this growth has been exciting, it has not come without some angst. In May 1986, Honey Baked Hams sued Logan Farms for using the term's ‘honey' and ‘brand' in its original name. The first effort was dismissed. In a second effort, Honey Baked Hams settled out of court four years later, in September 1991. And Logan Farms began using its trademarked name Logan Farms Honey Glazed Hams�. From that lesson, Pink learned that he would have to be consistent and successful in the protection of any proprietary technology he created. So from the outset, this has been a key business tenet: patent all inventions and protect them consistently, but keep potential business opportunities open in the process. On April 18, 1991, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Pink Logan another patent, Number 5,030,472, for his spiral slicing of boneless meats. To ensure a valid patent, Pink Logan resubmitted his spiral slicing patent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This meant Pink was risking the loss of his patent if the Patent and Trademark Office did not reissue it. In fact, it was denied. But on appeal, and with many of his competitors testifying against him, he was reissued his patent, Number RE35,374, on November 5, 1996. In the Spring of 1997, Logan Farms began notifying other companies that sold spiral sliced boneless meats, especially turkey breasts, that they were in violation of his patent. Since then, many companies have recognized the validity of the patent and agreed to cease making spiral sliced meats. Even today the company continues to protect its patent. In 1997, Logan Farms initiated patent infringement litigation against the world's number-one packaged meats company, Sara Lee, as well as HoneyBaked Ham. "It's a David and Goliath story. But we own the patent and they infringed on our patent. It's what's right. Otherwise, ‘Big Corporate' will devour us and the consumer will be all the worse off," said Pink.

New Products, Growth and Innovations Continue In 1989, Logan Farms brought to market its honey glazed spiral sliced boneless turkey breast. It quickly became one of the hottest products for corporate gift giving and holiday parties and has remained a favorite. "We oven roast and spiral cut them, then add our secret glaze. It's a taste delight and so easy to give as a thank you present to clients. It also makes an elegant presentation to guests at the serving table on special occasions," adds Pink.

Today, Logan Farms stores boast a number of delectable meats, including rib-eye roasts, boneless port lions, chicken breasts, rotisserie chicken and a Cajun fried turkey exclusively seasoned for Logan Farms. The most recent addition to their product line is stuffed and de-boned "Tur-Duc-Hen," a combination of three meats that are seasoned with Cajun or Louisiana spices and ready to cook. Other Logan Farms specialties include a line of choice steaks, gourmet sauces and mustards, frozen side dishes as well as various dried beans and soups. From the retail deli section, Logan Farms offers lunch-time crowds a wide variety of sandwiches, including ‘Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give a Ham' poorboy and the ‘Risky Brisket' sandwich. "Wherever I travel, I look for local and regional sauces that are really unusual. I bring them home to my dinner table for my family to taste test," said Pink. "Then I order the best of them and offer them to our customers, so they can have something that can't be found just anywhere," he added. In most Logan Farms store, customers can find such items as ‘Voodoo Sauce.' But in all stores they can find the Logan Farms' private label gourmet beans, mustards, bacon and baby back ribs.

Franchising Opportunities, Business Segments and Margins In the mean time, Logan Farms continues to expand its franchises. At present, the company is negotiating with several individuals interested in starting a Logan Farms store in growth markets with 200,000+ people. Entry costs to start a franchise, excluding land but including franchise fees, construction, machinery, inventory, and marketing materials from about $363,000 to $414,000. The company's business is, in large part, corporate sales where, typically, 45 percent of revenues are derived. The remaining 55 percent of revenues come from individual product sales, lunch and deli operations, catering and mail order. Several factors make this a popular franchise operation, among them: shorter hours of operation ) eight hours/day, six days/week) compared to a 24-Hour restaurant; fewer employees required (usually about 4); popular, unique, branded products; strong corporate support and operations training for franchisees; seasonal nature of business. The company is looking for responsible self-starting individuals who can successfully manage a retail food company.

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