Wellshire Farms paleo bacon
Wellshire Farms' paleo line is one of its fastest growing categories.
 

What's next for Wellshire

Being at the forefront of the health and wellness movement has put Wellshire Farms into a good position to maintain success in its relationships. Mr. Colameco believes today’s health-conscious consumers are looking for simple ingredients. He also believes that the paleo diet offers those simple ingredients and is trending up.

“One of the biggest categories growing right now is our paleo line,” he said. “We’re the only natural meat company endorsed by
Paleo magazine, because a lot of people use celery powder as a nitrite replacement in their pork bacon. We don’t. We only use sea salt. Our pork bacon may not be as red because we don’t use celery powder, but people are looking for simple ingredients.”

Organic is another category that Mr. Colameco looks to, but like many of the new “healthy” categories, it’s still a relatively young segment.

“We do organic pork and turkey bacon, which is a growing category, but I don’t think it’s going to surpass antibiotic free,” he said. “You know they say it’s the fastest-growing category, but what’s there really to compare it to? It can only go up. It’s not established."

As for the future of Wellshire Farms, Mr. Colameco and his staff have settled in and are happy with their position in the market. While it’s always on the radar, the right offer for selling Wellshire has yet to present itself.

“We always have people reaching out, but it has to be the right thing,” Mr. Colameco said. “We want to protect our existing vendor partners, farmers and our employees.”

Wellshire’s chief financial officer. Jasmel Sidhu, was only going to stay for five years when he started; he’s now been there for 12 years. Mr. Colameco’s daughter, Jessica, is now a part of the executive staff, and they’ve hired a general manager. Mr. Colameco is working less, delegating more and has given up the extra-long work days.

“It’s not just about selling it and making a lot of money. Because how much money do you really need at the end of the day?” Mr. Colameco said. “I’m happy with where I am in life.”