"Together Talks" feature # 87: Mett Naturals presented by KLS, freight company
Some Background on Mett Naturals
For today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the chance to speak with Scott Schwab, Co-Founder, of Mett Naturals. Mett provides a platform that promotes economic stability for farmers and communities in the industrial hemp space. They are dedicated to a true "seed to shelf" methodology which starts with organic growing practices, intentional harvest, and C-GMPdeveloped products. Their platform includes agri-tech solutions for plant genetic tracking, established practices and processes for farmers, and developed a high quality approach to hemp products. Mett is obsessed with quality and that leads them to do things differently. That includes but is not limited to walking the fields to inspect quality daily, storing products in cooled facilities, and creating a product line free of harmful residue left from insecticides, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides.
Sustainability
Mett Naturals jumped into this space because they sought out to help with the sustainability of farming. They want to focus on what is put into the soil so humans can utilize the nutrients from the soil. They saw the opportunity to bring trust and transparency to the industry while also helping the farmers, Scott shared, "Our farmers are our family." Utilizing family farming allows them to integrate organic best practices.
Scott shared that around 90% of companies in the space resort to buying oil on the open market or buy an isolate derivative. Understanding that the plant itself has 113 different compounds means there are so many opportunities that can be cultivated. The fact that Mett farms the product themselves is a huge differentiator in the industry. This allows them to cut out the middlemen and customers can know exactly what is being put into products as it is straight from the farm.
Their tried and true approach is educating the consumer that CBD is great for the entire body. Mett Naturals seeks to find the correct dose, product type for each consumer. Not every company in the industry sees it that way. The challenge for Mett Naturals remains advertising restrictions. Not being able to advertise CBD on Meta, Amazon, or Google is a challenge to penetrate a new market. But with that, they have still found success. Scott took us through a goal they reached their initial year, "We made our projections for the first year. I built initial projections that we would do $250,000 in revenue. Everyone said we are crazy, especially being a brand new product to the market. We ended up doing $500,000 that year. We overachieved our goal so we took our entire staff to Mexico to celebrate. We felt like we accomplished the world. But even more impressive, the next year we doubled again, and the year after that. Now we are in a position of sustainability, but we really built our culture early and continue to nourish it."
Previous Experience
Scott shared that Mett Naturals wasn't his first start up. Going through the Start-up process already gave him an understanding of how processes work and everything is always moving. He also had the benefit of enduring triumphs and hardships and the importance of celebrating wins. But stay in the moment and not get stagnant. Scott elaborated, "With our first year we reached tremendous success in a volatile new market, but we didn't just ride that wave. We put the work in and doubled up the next two years."
The company is available in all 50 states plus Canada, Mexico, UK and is working on Australia. Scott said the goal is expansion, but not out of greed. Instead he explained their mission, "We feel like everybody should have a life where they don't have to deal with stress, anxiety, pain, inflammation, and a world where people get sleep." Scott explained how his first go-around with a startup he was surrounded by similar people. He learned from that situation and made sure that this time there was a better balance. Understand each other's strengths and weaknesses allows for a better flow of company operations and ultimately growth.
With a better balance it doesn't mean that a company still can't be privy to mistakes. Scott shared a story of a difficult situation they encountered. In 2019, the price of hemp oil in the market specifically for CBD was $10,000 a liter. Mett decided to go heavy and try to gain marketshare. They grew 500 acres and went all in. By the end of that year the per liter price dropped to $500 a liter. Currently it sits at $150 per liter. This proved a valuable experience for them of having a strategy and sticking to it.
Partner with KLS
KLS offers LTL and FTL for both dry and reefer transportation.
Our nationwide coverage provides companies a reliable, consistent, and dependable logistics partner to handle your trucking needs.
For more information on how we can help call our office today 708-980-0920 or reach us via our email quote request here!
Trust
Although he had previous experience starting a business, that doesn't erase the fear or anxiety associated with it. Scott credits his two other co-founders for easing those concerns as the three of them believe in each other and the company so deeply. "My first attempt at this I surrounded myself with people who thought like I thought or were a cheerleader like myself. We were all excited we were starting a business. I learned from that time and understand the grind that is starting a business.", Scott told us.
He explained how critical it is to not only love the company, but the process when starting a business, but the investment of time and energy will make you make sacrifices. Scott also shared how critical it is to understand your capabilities and be able to delegate what doesn't fall into your strengths. Bringing on additional partners and people to help them grow past their initial thought process has allowed the company to continue to build and grow. "I truly believe either you outgrow your startup or your startup outgrows you.", Scottdescribed.
Being able to now focus on the aspects of running a business he enjoys most, Scott mentioned his ability to do sales and business development. The thrill of being in the trenches and close to something he is helping build is what he admitted he gravitates towards. Being able to help people find relief is important for the company and one way to get in front of more eyes is partnership opportunities which Scott loves selling.
3 Vitals
Scott shared that he believes all humans need 3 core pillars:
Nutrition, Sleep, Sunlight
The company is putting a focus on a product line of non-CBD products as well. Part of that basis is their DNA collection kit. They want to look at what areas a body is lacking and how they can provide solutions for that specific individual. They are working on a Magnesium and Turmeric product hoping to fight chronic stress and pain. Understanding what is shorted in their body will then provide the platform courtesy of Mett Naturals to find the solutions to help their health.
Adding this product line will also allow Mett Naturals to begin advertising everywhere they cannot with their CBD products. The goal is to become the go-to for health and wellness products. Scott mentioned that many consumers don't know where their products come from, they buy from ads or a google search. Mett Naturals is seeking to educate consumers and to be a reliable, transparent, and trustworthy platform of solutions for the human body.
Curious to find out more about Mett Naturals and what they can provide to you educationally about your health, click here.
Piece of Advice
The conversation with Scott ended with him sharing his two pieces of advice.
1 - Be the CEO of your Health
"I do not feel like there's enough balance in our personal lives and what we do at home, whether that be that we have a role of a father, husband, partner.
whatever it is, I feel like so much of our time is over utilized in our work life that we're not taking care of our personal lives. No one else is going to take care of you. And quite frankly, nobody cares. So you have to care and you have to find time to prioritize that.
So that would be the number one recommendation is prioritize your health, become the CEO of your health."
2 - Work-Life Balance
"I do not feel like there's enough balance in our personal lives and what we do at home. I feel like so much of our time is over utilized in our work life that we're not taking care of our personal lives. Make sure that you have healthy relationships because if you're not communicating because you're holding it all inside your brain you're going to have an explosion at some point, somewhere, somehow, and it's not going to be good.
And so you have to find a way to communicate. But you've got to have somebody in your life that you nurture these relationships and that you're able to differentiate yourself from work life, which is great. And if you don't have that person, find that person, call them a guide. One of my favorite books of all time is Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller.
He really talks about how all of us need a guide. It's in every story that's ever been told. Every movie is you've got a hero and you've got a guide. And in entrepreneur life, we are not the heroes. We're not. We are the guides. And so if we understand that, we're guiding our customers to a solution. But in our own lives, we need to find a guide to be the hero of our own story. And being that means that you've got good communication."
Interested in being featured with "Together Talks"?
KLS is booking our upcoming schedule now!
Contact us as we would love to learn your story and share it amongst our audience.
Weekly we provide 2 companies our platform to expand their reach courtesy of our campaign. Let's collaborate!!!
In Closing
KLS wants to thank Mett Naturals and Scott Schwab, Co-Founder, for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for the Mett Naturals journey with their social handles below!
Klimson Logistics Solutions - Together Talks with Mett Naturals feature # 87
*Klimson Logistics Solutions is an Industry Leading Customer Service 3PL. Our focus and commitment to our clients has us striving to be the BEST customer service 3PL for LTL, FTL, Reefer, and Drayage in the country. KLS, freight company, is a 3PL providing nationwide logistics solutions. KLS shipping services include: LTL freight, FTL freight, Reefer LTL freight, Reefer FTL freight, and Drayage. Klimson Logistics Solutions thanks you for viewing our marketing campaign, "Together Talks". If you have any interest in being featured or questions regarding your freight operations please contact us today!
Why KLS?
Our precise and reliable effort.
We handle every shipment with the exact same process. It does not matter if you move one shipment a year or ten per day, you will receive the same level of customer service from us. When we started this company, we had one goal in mind, treat every shipment like it was our own. With our vast knowledge of the industry, we understood what a customer would want from a communication standpoint. We applied that process to be the standard here at KLS. Our reliability and being able to depend on our consistency is why we have such long-standing relationships with our clients.
Our Process?
Every shipment in our industry starts with a quote. We are firm believers that time is money, thus we strive to have quotes back in a 5-10 minute reply time for LTL and FTL, any FCL quotes are at the mercy of the carriers getting back to us. For LTL we have the flexibility to quote both off of NMFC and also Density depending on the carrier. Utilizing our services, you’re allowing us to use our expertise to class your freight accordingly to ensure we are providing the best rate we possibly can.
Once a quote has been submitted and a client chooses to proceed with KLS handling the arrangement of the shipment our full process begins. We create the BOL that will be used for the shipment. If it is a new location for our system, we will obtain all the important/special details (reference numbers, contact details, shipping hours, closed for lunch, dock/doors, etc.). We meticulously build every detail into our software for all future shipments involving that location. After we have both locations built and necessary reference numbers have been applied we will tender the shipment to the carrier. We use this method because it provides us a real time pickup number from the carrier to obtain updates prior to pickup. Our staff will either email the BOL directly to you or to the shipper (at your request) the minute after the tender has been accepted by the carrier. LTL carriers require a 2 hour window prior to close time in order to schedule it for a same-day pickup attempt.
The following morning you’ll receive an email from us. It will either provide the reason the pickup was missed (driver’s trailer filled up, driver missed the close time, truck broke down, shipper said no freight, etc.) or if the pickup was successful you will receive the PRO (tracking) number from us, along with the eta for delivery. Our staff will track it throughout the duration of transit and advise if anything happens that will alter the estimated delivery date. The day the shipment delivers we will email you with confirmation and the POD (Proof of Delivery), should you require it.
Your shipment has been quoted, scheduled, picked up, and delivered. The next step is waiting for the carrier to invoice us and make sure the rate matches up. If it does, we close out the invoice from the carrier in our system and automatically your invoice is created and sent to the requested party at your company. In the event the carrier has an additional charge on their invoice “Variance”, we will never send you an invoice with an additional charge without first identifying you of the charge.
Let us repeat, NEVER WILL WE JUST BILL OUT AN EXTRA CHARGE WITHOUT YOU BEING NOTIFIED.
You are our customer, we represent you. Should the carrier provide an extra charge on an invoice, “Lift gate, additional weight, reclass, detention, etc.) We notify you of the charge via email first. Second, within that email we identify what is required should you choose to dispute the charge. Again our goal is to honor your request, if you want to dispute, we will dispute. During a dispute we will provide you updates every step along the way. Once a dispute is closed out, whether it is approved or rejected, then we will invoice you as the invoice has been resolved.
For reference, our company only had 6.2% of all shipments go to dispute in 2022 and we successfully won 91% of those disputes on behalf of our customers.
This is our process for every single shipment you move with us. We don’t cut corners, we don’t hide from difficult situations. We believe in being available, honest, and transparent. We don’t ever want to tell you that a shipment is lost, damaged, misrouted, but it is our duty to notify you the second we find out something has gone wrong. We hate to present bad news, but it is part of the job. What you can guarantee is that we will work a shipment all the way through and turn over every stone until we get a resolution for our clients.
Services offered?
Our core business is LTL and FTL. Within these options we have options for both dry and refrigerated/frozen. We also offer FCL/Drayage options. Our company as a 3PL has nationwide options and services clients across the US.
Let’s breakdown our services more in-depth
LTL:
Standard and Guaranteed
CFS (Imports & Exports)
Tradeshows
Hazmat
Anything that is on a pallet can be moved LTL. Typically LTL is up to 10 pallets, but the sweet spot for a carrier is 6-8 pallets at most for an individual shipment. LTL quotes are good between 5-30 days depending on the carrier. LTL can be quoted either via NMFC or density to determine the class (we do this for you).
Volume:
Anything over 10-12’ of space in the truck is the technical rule for a volume shipment. When we run a quote for you we will determine if it qualifies for volume and provide you a rate if available. Volume moves allow you to get a reduced rate for larger shipments. The caveat to volume shipments it the quotes are only valid for 3-7 days and they move on capacity between terminals. If a terminal is backed up they will move their LTL freight first before the volume freight, which can lead to longer transit times for volume moves.
FTL/Dedicated/Expedited: 53’ Dry and Reefer 26’ Box trucks with lift gate Sprinter Van The main difference for FTL vs LTL is space and transit time. For standard pallets you can fit either 26 or 30 pallets in a 53’ dry van. The other main difference is transit time, for FTL each day counts in the transit time, whereas LTL does not count the day of pickup, weekends, or holidays in their transit time.
Reefer/Frozen:
LTL and FTL
We specialize working in the CPG space with food manufacturers. We regularly deliver to
the following locations:
Kehe
UNFI
Core Mark
DPI
Wegmans
Cugini
H.T. Hackney
Netrition
HEB
ALDI
Chambers and Owens
EBY Brown
Nassau Candy
Harris Teeter
Wakefern
NU INC
Long Distribution
What makes KLS different?
There are thousands of freight brokers and 3PL in our industry. Barrier to entry is rather easy and agents or owners will often hire sales people without any intention of properly training them. It results in high turnover for many freight companies and a forgettable experience for the client. We choose to operate differently through our consistency. We truly care about doing right by our clients and prospects too. While we would love to help provide our services to every company we speak with, that just isn’t realistic. We won’t always be the right fit for every company that moves freight and that is ok. Our authenticity as a shipping company sets us apart from the competition and that is backed up by our testimonials. We also run a marketing campaign bi-weekly called “Together Talks”. We interview, highlight, and promote two businesses every week. Our goal is to grow our network, make new connections, and learn something new with each collaboration. Check it out on our website and if you’re interested in being featured reach out.
Our company also runs a year long charity promotion. Book your first shipment through KLS and we donate to the charity of your choice in your name. Our way of thanking you for giving us an opportunity to show you the KLS way and what makes us one of a kind. This entire package is what we offer to every prospect and every client. Our goal is to help provide answers that customers may have when it comes to shipping. We want to always be available as a resource and will always offer a lending hand whenever we can.
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