You might spot Greg Hale driving a big semi with a 48-foot semi-trailer on I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge between Portland and Biggs Junction, Oregon. He’s a dedicated man on a mission. He takes his job very seriously because he knows that Azure customers are eagerly waiting for what’s on his trailer.
“I couldn’t do this job with a bigger 53-foot trailer,” he explained to me. “There are some pretty tight spots in downtown Portland that I just couldn’t get into if my trailer was any longer.” Greg is what we call a “back-haul driver” meaning that he picks up products and brings them back to our warehouse in Moro.
It’s All About Relationships
“I’m picking up orders at some of the very same companies that David Stelzer picked up from 30 years ago,” Greg says. “Back then, he was just driving his little pick-up truck, but he built a lot of solid relationships with these companies, like Nancy’s, Bob’s Red Mill, and Pacific Foods and I feel like it’s my job, as the “face” of Azure, to continue to keep those relationships going. Some of these companies have Azure to thank for ordering enough volume that they were able to move production out of their garage! Sure, some of them got big and went “corporate” but, there are just so many that grew a lot, yet are still the same good people we’ve worked with for years. Dan at Red Ape Cinnamon, Ron at the vanilla place… all good people.”
It’s true Greg continues the art of building rapport that helped David start Azure in 1987. And that positive communication and interaction is perhaps one of the things that helped us make it through our financial difficulties between 2017 and 2019. As things turned out, some of the responsibility of negotiating terms and payment plans with our suppliers during those hard times fell on me. So, as Greg talked to each of our suppliers in the Portland area, if they had questions about our ability to pay for our next order, he would call me directly. He’d say, “Now, I know you’ll tell me the truth and I need to know, so I can tell the vendor what to expect. Do we have the money?” I always told him the truth and was ever so grateful for him communicating so well for Azure.
Greg remembers and says, “During those tough times I think the fact that I had built relationships with so many people at each company and was there consistently, they really trusted me, and therefore trusted Azure. They knew that if I stuck with Azure, they could too!”
A Blessing in Return
And sticking it out with Azure during the tough times really paid off for the suppliers that chose to work with us during those dark times. I specifically remember talking with the owner of Portlandia Foods and making a mental note of how kind and fair he was with us. So, when Greg mentioned him again, I was amazed…
I asked Greg how the vendors are liking to work with Azure now, after our big sales increase in Spring 2020 and our subsequent financial comeback. “Oh, they’re LOVING it!” he exclaimed. “Our orders are so much bigger and it’s giving them the business they need right now, too. We helped take their pain away. Like Portlandia Foods… they were really hurt by the coronavirus shut-downs because such a big part of their business is ketchup and mustard for restaurants. So, when those sales dropped off, they were so happy to see the much larger orders come in from Azure.” That made my heart feel good. Someone who did Azure a good turn during our hard times, was blessed by Azure during their time of need as well. (Another reason why we so enjoy supporting independently-owned businesses!)
What About the Violence in Portland?
Since Greg delivers from Eugene, Oregon and all the areas north up to Woodland, Washington, including the city of Portland, I asked him how he was affected by the riots and violence there that rocks the news nearly every night. “It’s really sad to see all the graffiti and damage and boarded up places. But, the rioters are usually only out at night, and I do all my work during the day, so I haven’t been directly affected,” he explains. “I do have one pick-up right there in downtown Portland. I do a cross-dock there for Alexandre Family Farms milk. They bring the milk up from California and I pick it up in Portland. It’s a tight squeeze for my truck, but it works. I’ve had no troubles with the violence.”
A Week in the Life of Greg Hale
Greg averages about 30 pickups in 4 days. He starts with pickups in Eugene and McMinnville, heads to our Moro warehouse with a full load on Tuesday, picks up the Seattle route load and brings it out for Scott Jones. Then, on Wednesday, he does pickups in the Woodland area, with Albany pickups on Thursdays and aims to be back at the Azure warehouse before end-of-day on Thursday so all of the customers who have their orders packed on Fridays will get the freshest stuff.
“I make all my own pick-up appointments because it’s just easier to work directly with all the people I know. It’s a real balancing act especially when I can sometimes have frozen and chill (like eggs and milk), along with other packaged dry goods. But, sometimes I have a load of fertilizer from Nutri-Rich.” There are actually a lot of products that come out of the Portland area. Some are packaged goods, but some are bulk items that go to our Mill facility for repackaging (like vanilla and hazelnuts) or to our Uncommon Carob candy making operation.
Greg says that of all the food that comes from the Portland area, he brings 90% of it back to our warehouse. The other 10% is hauled back by George Palencia, the Portland delivery driver who has a box truck that can squeeze into some of the places Greg’s semi-trailer can’t go. (Even George does backhauls… no empty trucks.)
How Have the Portland-area Vendors Fared through 2020?
“Well, not all of the vendors have been able to get what they need to make their products,” Greg explains. “When they make a product with many ingredients, they have to stop production and out-of-stock us if just one ingredient is out of stock for them. I know this happened at Pacific Foods and the folks at Sierra Nevada had a hard time getting milk for awhile. We saw this a lot this past spring at the height of the COVID shutdown. But, it could easily happen again.”
The Value of Strong Relationships
What drives Greg to work so hard? “So many of our vendors have the utmost respect for David Stelzer, and I want to keep that going for the sake of Azure. I want to maintain what David started and build on it. And sometimes that means that if a vendor only has a few of something left, they’ll save it for me to pick up for Azure, rather than sell it to our big corporate competitors. I know our customers may never know the story behind how the product got in their box, but I do, and I’m happy to help it get there.”
When I asked Greg what he would like to share with Azure’s customers, he said, “We are a family. The drivers at Azure, even the contracted ones, feel this way. We look out for the company. We want to be part of something bigger. We want to help others. This is the important thing.”
A Little About Greg
Greg Hale began driving for Azure Standard in 2012. He bought his first truck back in 1982 and has spent time delivering organic foods in the San Francisco Bay area, hauling apples from Washington to California, and even driving a log-truck for a while. He currently lives with his wife near Aumsville, Oregon where he runs his own farm (with hay and cows and the works!) And he’s not shy to tell you about the accomplishments of their 2 grown children.