Founder of  Denver-based Krivanek Consulting, considered the top strategic planning firm for the fresh produce industry, Julie Krivanek has a concise formula for business success: Hang out in the future.

A strategist for PMA Women's Fresh Perspectives brand, Krivanek delivered that message to attendees at the second Women's Fresh Perspective Conference held April 27-29 in Phoenix in her presentation “Strategic Thinking: Secrets to Success for the Produce Industry Professional.”Julie Krivanek

While that gathering was specifically geared toward women in the industry, Krivanek's advice covers the industry top to bottom, gender to gender. She's also scheduled for the 20th year as the lead-off speaker closing speaker at the annual United Fresh Produce Leadership Program at the FMI/United Fresh  Convention in Chicago, where she'll be among the invited members of the United Fresh Industry Expert Pavilion.

The speaking engagements, including PMA Foodservice Conference & Expo in Monterey, CA, and a September 2014 PMA webinar, provide wide-audience look at her business strategy and leadership insight as it pertains to the produce industry, but it's her client list that drive her point home. Dozens of national and international clients rely on Krivanek Consulting to mentor them in strategic planning.

She comes to the table well prepared, having earned a bachelor's degree in management from Purdue and a master's from the University of Denver, summa cum laude. Krivanek is also a graduate of Columbia University Executive Development program, and before entering the produce industry she was in high tech and telecom with Oracle, HP and AT&T Broadband.

Fifteen of her professional years were as a Fortune 500 vice president on the general management track, including the merger and acquisition team, and today she is a fresh produce expert and consults at every stage of the global supply chain.

“Next year will be the 25th of this consulting firm,” she told The Produce News recently. Over the quarter-century that she's been working with produce companies to hone strategic thinking and planning skills of CEOs and industy leaders.

Strategic planning, she said, requires business leaders not only to stay current with the industry but also to think ahead.

“Staying current becomes embedded in the normal work.” And  “hanging out in the future,”  or thinking ahead, becomes a process rather than a project.

As an example, Krivanek cited a top produce company that, in answer to the shifting demographics of the nation, created new value-added products.

“Brand new categories are being built out of recognition of that shift,” she said. “Those are the people who realize the path to profitablility is not the same-old same-old.”

Packaged salads are now targeting specific demographics, with Southwestern flavors responding to cuisine trends and, for aging baby boomers and more singles living alone, smaller sized packaging more readily available.

Krivanek pointed out that thinking ahead does not preclude thinking in the here and now. “We have to work in concurrent time frames, but the focus of executives should be on the future.”

Why is it especially important to the produce industry? “Because we're constantly caught flat-footed,” she said. “Things are shifting, not just from A to B but from B to B and from C to B. Technology is happening at light speed, and new business models are different.”

She said that the produce industry is seeing an increase in technolgy-enabled business models, and she said private equity “has discovered food and beverage.”

Krivanek said, “People outside our industry are looking at it and seeing enormous profitablility.”

The upshot is that “you better know what's coming at you. Technology is forever more, and you should know the intended and unintended consequences.”

Planning ahead is not done by “cookbook,” she said. “There's no rule of thumb. It can be one or two years for the short-term, three to five for mid-term and five to seven for longer. What's important is that part of the chain you occupy. For example, Dupont does a 20-year plan. A major retailer looks at fads across the planet, and when the fad hits a tipping point and becomes a trend, then the company is in. Look at what's happened with 'eat local' and organics. Retailers watch and then develop brands.”

She went on to say successful planning comes with “creating a culture aligned with something other than here and now — you have to constantly look at what's coming.” Moreover, she noted, “You don't have to like it, but you better know what it is.”

Another component in strategic planning is “environmental scanning inside and outside — now and in the future. Leadership is collaborative and open, and we continue to evolve.”

A cautionary note was offered as well. “Don't blow your currents,” Krivanek said. “There are a lot of trends and big data, and if we don't focus relentlessly and clearly, we become overwhelmed.”

The danger is that “we swim in data that we can't synthesize, and we give up.” The answer is to know “who buys your stuff, focus relentlessly, know what you're good at.”

She said, “All things/all people is not a strategy.”