vol. XX no. 3
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Ask Eric Joiner about his major business concerns –
the things that keep him up at night – and you may be surprised. Yes,
the co-founder and vice chairman of Atlanta-based AJC International
worries about profit, growth, customer loyalty, new technology, and all
the other “routine” issues that concern the head of a major
corporation. But for Joiner, there’s plenty more.
A world
leader in the trading and distribution of frozen and refrigerated food
products as well as in logistics and logistics services, AJC
International has suppliers and customers located in more than 140
countries spanning six continents. Therein lies the opportunity and the
challenge.
“When you’re transporting perishable cargo over
long distances to countries with differing political, economic, and
cultural standards, there are a lot of variables,” says Joiner, who
calls managing risk one of AJC’s core competencies.
And just
what are some of these not-so-common concerns? Joiner ticks off a list
that includes floods, hurricanes, drought, animal diseases, the price
of grain, fuel surcharges, currency devaluation, and, yes, even bird
flu.
Although AJC has not yet dealt with a pandemic, there have been many
harrowing incidents that have made life “interesting” at AJC
International’s corporate headquarters.
For instance, a
Longshoremen’s strike once crippled ship traffic into Puerto Rico.
While similar companies tried to wait out the labor stoppage, Joiner
and his partner Gerald Allison (now chairman and CEO) chartered
aircraft to deliver AJC’s cargo of poultry products to San Juan. AJC
found a way to continue to serve the customer and was innovative in not
accepting the status quo. And, although ships are usually far more
economical than air, this one-time measure netted the company its
best-ever earnings month.
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