TAMPA — From the outset, Bill Lombardo was perceived as an outlier and a rule-bender.
After graduating from business school, he landed a job at General Mills. On that first
day, Lombardo and his fellow newbies awaited their office assignments. As co-workers
shuffled to their designated teams, he was one of the last to be called.
Turns out managers perceived Lombardo as a rule-bender and therefore, assigned him
to an office across the street. He was joining a small team tasked to expand General
Mills beyond the grocery cereal and flour categories.
That boundary-pushing team assignment turned out to be the most important decision
of his professional life. It set him on a course to introduce ground-breaking expansions
and innovations in America’s grocery aisles, restaurants and the foodservice supplier
space that are still in place today.
Lombardo, who serves as CEO of Monin Americas, relayed these stories and more as the
featured guest at the Conversation with a CEO event presented by USF Credit Union. The University of South Florida Muma College
of Business held the event on April 23 in downtown Tampa.
The hour-long chat, moderated by David Blackwell, dean at the business college, touched on corporate lessons learned, advice to young
managers, and the traits everyone needs to succeed.
“Understand who you are — what your strength is,” said Lombardo. “Someone recognized
that I’m a guy who likes to bend the rules.”
During the fireside chat, Lombardo touched on some of his innovative concepts:
- At General Mills, he helped the company enter the yogurt market by partnering with Yoplait, a dairy co-op in France. He introduced the French yogurt to the market’s “yogurt rejecters” by hiring people to hand out free samples and coupons in grocery store aisles — a novel concept at the time.
- At Olive Garden, he introduced the framework of offering free refills and bottomless soups and salads to customers. The concept is still going strong today, along with his mother’s two original soup recipes — minestrone and chicken and gnocchi.
In 2022, he was named one of the most influential suppliers and vendors in the country,
according to Nation’s Restaurant News.
Lombardo said most consumers have never heard of Monin Americas, but their products
flavor 10 million drinks per day and are sold to 180 of the nation’s top 200 restaurants.
“We make beverages taste better,” he said. “We help people figure out what beverages
they should be serving and help restaurants serve unique things.”
Lombardo encouraged attendees to never stop innovating. He said he subscribes to the
blue ocean mentality — a mindset focused on creating new “blue ocean” market spaces,
rather than fighting competitors in a crowded “red ocean” market.
“Don’t necessarily look at what’s there. Look at what’s not there,” Lombardo told
a room of attendees at The Tampa Club. “You can’t assume you’re always going to be
on top. You have to continue to invest in the future and ask yourself, “Where is the
consumer going?”