For Green Bay Press-Gazette

After providing gasoline to fuel cars, Robert Green of Hobart has transitioned to fueling stomachs with pizza.

He and his daughter, Trinity Green, purchased Jim and Lynn’s Quality Pizza a few years ago; a brand that Robert said was a favorite at his De Pere convenience store.

“We sold a lot of those pizzas and we ate a lot of them,” he explained. “When Jim (Jim Vande Hey, who owned the business with his wife, Lynn) died in 2022, Lynn kept making the pizzas, but she wasn’t able to deliver them. I would go on Fridays and pick up about 50 pizzas – they sold like hotcakes.”

When Lynn decided it was time to retire, Robert was in the process of selling his convenience store and he and his daughter were interested.

“Both businesses rely on customer service, but the pizza business is much easier to manage,” Robert said.

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Trinity had worked at a large retail business and had customer service and management experience. But the opportunity to own a business with her dad was all the draw she needed.

“I always enjoyed working with people, and in my position, met people from all over the world,” she said. “Leaving that job was initially a tough decision, but when I thought about it and the opportunity to grow our own business, I was glad to do it.”

Jim and Lynn’s was a business with an excellent track record. Started in 1995, they wholesaled pizzas all over the region. The pizzas were known for their sauce; it was a recipe that the couple had spent months perfecting.

“The secret really is in the sauce,” Robert added.

Training began before completing the sale, but Lynn held the sauce recipe close to her chest until the deal was finalized. For about six months, Robert learned the ropes, visited some of the accounts, and started doing some delivering since Lynn was unable to do so. A purchase price was negotiated and the Greens purchased the recipes, some equipment, and the customer list.

They took over the lease for her space on Packerland Drive and changed the name to Packerland Pizza.

Trinity noted, “Since we started on Packerland Drive, we tossed around ideas for a name, but that kept coming up. We thought it would be a good name, and when we did an online search, we were surprised the name wasn’t taken.”

But it wasn’t long before business growth had them considering a move. When the lease expired, they were ready to occupy a new building they built on land by Robert’s parents’ farm in Hobart. They designed it for pizza manufacturing.

He explained, “When you wholesale pizza, it comes under the classification of a meat processing plant. Because of the meat on most of the pizzas, inspectors come in every day.”

The 2,400-square-foot building includes an area for making pizzas and another for storing about 800 pizzas. The equipment is all designed for energy efficiency; that’s something that is important to the Greens. In addition to saving energy, they also feel it is important to buy local products. Meats, produce, and cheeses used on the pizzas are purchased from Wisconsin farmers.

They do all of that with an eye on costs and producing handcrafted frozen pizzas that are high in quality yet sold at competitive wholesale prices. Those standards are likely a big reason that sales have continued to grow.

Accounts are being added; they also offer walk-in sales at their location (details available at packerlandpizza.com). They have found that picking up a new account is often as easy as stopping by with a business card and pizza sample.

“We both do the sales,” Trinity said. “I’d like to move into more large grocery stores (they are currently at Festival Foods and Woodman’s locally). We reach out to corporate offices and after tasting the samples, the response is usually, ‘Yep, we want them in.’”

They are curating lists of stores that they want to call on, and offering pizza choices to attract them. They have had requests for numerous flavors – like brats and sauerkraut, Hawaiian, and chicken, but the Greens say they want to stick mostly with the basics because they know they will sell. That doesn’t mean they don’t try new things, however.

A popular entry has been their cheese curd pizza that has turned out to be one of the biggest sellers. That pizza, along with the others ordered, is made by hand for Robert to deliver with the other varieties.

As he delivers pizzas, maintains equipment, and also makes pizzas, Trinity is busy making pizzas, marketing, and posting on social media. When her dad is busy with cash cropping on their 150 acres of farm land in the spring and fall, Trinity takes on more of the day-to-day operations.

They say that they are close-knit and work well together. As the youngest of four children, the other two sons and daughter are settled in their own careers. Along with his wife, Dabney, Robert says that the rest of the family’s main activity in the business is coming over to pick up pizzas to eat.

Eventually, Trinity will likely take over the business; she has visions and goals for the future.

Robert said, “I like the family-owned business model. I don’t want to be a big manufacturer; I prefer growth to be within a 45-minute range of Green Bay. Trinity would like to grow, but not overly so. We don’t want to lose the local touch, but we do have extra help coming up in the way of our grandkids.”

Even in the highly-competitive frozen pizza market, they believe that growth will come as their pizzas find a place at more bars, restaurants, and grocery stores. Robert is convinced it will happen because of their customer service, flexible delivery schedule, fair prices, and excellent product.

“Unlike most producers, if someone calls and says they need a certain number of pizzas tomorrow, we can usually get them delivered,” Robert said.

Tiffany is learning from her dad and describes him as very dedicated, having an entrepreneurial spirit, being a hard-worker, and being an excellent mentor.

“We are working hard and having fun; I enjoy building this business with my dad,” she added.

Her dad concurred, “I wouldn’t trade working with her for the world. I am so happy she wants to move forward with this. That’s part of the reason why we did this. We are building the business for her. I don’t think I’ll ever retire, but I do see myself being here as long as I can and helping.”

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.