A food-based Tucson business more than a decade in the making is hitting the multilevel marketing industry by storm this summer.
Director of Culinary Relations Jackie Melendez said she expects thousands of consultants to join Chef Selections this month and sell products such as beer bread mixes, apple butter and Mexican corn bread pudding cake to their friends and families or as part of a fundraising effort.
  
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"People can have a home party, they can have a meeting," Melendez said. "Our consultants can bring guests. That’s how we build our business, one person at a time."
Consultants put down $100 per month to receive a food finds box with an assortment of products. They earn 40 percent commission on the sales they make and there are incentives to bring in other consultants.
"It’s a great way for someone who has never been in this type of business to learn all the techniques by watching somebody else do it," Melendez said. "The great thing about this business is that everyone eats food."
Melendez said the company is in a unique position because the number of people purchasing specialty food items is growing.
"We really don’t have any competition out there," Melendez said. "There are other companies out there with food products but they don’t compare in prep time."
The various products are designed for easy of use and speed in preparation. They each have a history, too.
"All of our products have a story, they all come from small businesses," Melendez said. "That’s the best food out there because they put their heart and passion into them be cause these are family recipes typically."
Gary Kershner founded the company and spent 14 years developing the product line by networking with small food product manufacturers.
"We contact those people and then we get samples," Kershner said. "It’s not very scientific; it’s just if it tastes good."
About five years ago, Chef Selections began in full swing as a business and they started taking on consultants one year ago. While they had 20 consultants in June, they now have 160 and expect to pick up 2,500 consultants this month.
An attorney, Kershner initially got into this business because he wanted to sell items for fundraising.
"We didn’t want to use the typical nickel candy bars that get a dollar," Kershner said.
Instead, they sold spice packets and other specialty items.
"We got a huge response with it," Kershner said.
Kershner said Chef Selections allows smaller businesses to get their products out to a national audience.
"There are thousands of little food producers who really can’t get their product to market place primarily because groceries stores charge shelving fees and the little guy gets priced out of the industry," Kershner said.
Because marketing a food product regionally typically cost $5 million, Melendez said this is a way for smaller manufacturers to get their products into consumer’s hands.
Recruiting consultants has been done in a grass-roots fashion thus far, Kershner said.
"Mostly we have a network of people and they bring their friends, and they bring their friends," Kershner said. "It’s sort of a word of mouth industry and we have the best compensation plan in the industry."
Melendez said Chef Selections is different from other multilevel marketing businesses in that consultants have the opportunity to get paid at least twice per month and they are not required to purchase inventory beyond the monthly food find box.
After the consultant receives the order, they can complete the transaction on their own website provided by the company.
"The consultant is kind of hands off," Melendez said.
For the consultants, Melendez said the food products are just the beginning.
"It really isn’t about the good, it’s a vehicle for opportunity," Melendez said.
In the future, Kershner said cooks nationwide can expect to hear about Chef Selections often. Chef Selections Address: Phone: Website: Company description:
"I see the company in five years as being a real industry leader with thousands of distributors," Kershner said.
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