Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/102355
Amina Harris and Ishai Zeldner with children Shoshana and Joshua Joe Moskowitz and son Adam The Next Generation Passing a food business on to the children is not always a sure thing—for both the parents and the kids. We speak with three specialty food companies to learn how they've navigated the often difficult world of family business dynamics. BY ROBYN PFORR RYAN F amilies watch each other's backs, but they also push each other's buttons—which makes working together complicated, let alone giving control of a business to the next generation. We speak with family businesses to learn how the transition came to be, what's changed and how the younger generation is handling their new responsibilities (hint: well). LARKIN INTERNATIONAL, COLUMBIA CHEESE AND EUROLARKIN G rowing up in south central New Jersey, Adam Moskowitz had no interest in the international specialty food and cheese transport and warehouse services company his father, Joe Moskowitz, founded in 1978. As an adult, Moskowitz moved to New York and made a fortune working in sales and business on the internet. But when the dot-com bubble burst, he lost that fortune. In 2006, he was preparing to move to Los Angeles to focus on a new career—the music business—when his father called and asked him to come home and join the business. Joe was in the middle of selling the business so that he could retire, and he wasn't happy about it. His hope was that Adam would run it. Signing on. "I saw it as an unbelievable opportunity. I was 32, with no money and going nowhere," says the younger Moskowitz. "The idea of coming home, settling down, appealed to me." 76 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com PHOTOS: COURTESY OF RESPECTIVE COMPANIES Benny Curl (rear) and daughter Stephanie Lindley