Interview with Tom Gundrum of Topline Foods

Ever wish for the convenience of ordering groceries online and having them delivered to your door without the hustle-and-bustle of grocery stores? In today’s world, it’s becoming a reality for many families. We recently stumbled across Topline Foods, a local food delivery company that specializes in all natural and organic products. Topline Foods offers a variety of meats, produce, gluten-free items and even convenience foods for online ordering and they’ll deliver it to your home at a time that works comfortably for you.

The company offers organic grass fed beef, wild caught seafood, organic and all natural chicken and pork, certified organic fruits and vegetables and more. You won’t find any high fructose corn syrup, hormones or steroids or artificial preservatives or additives in their foods. Each item is individually packaged in portion control sizes – with vacuum seal packaging on meats and seafood to assure that items stay fresh longer.

How does it work? Topline uses a points system – you simply choose a cart size based on the number of people you need to feed in your family (calculated for an approximate month) — with a discount as you purchase larger cart sizes. Each product you add to your cart uses a specific number of points. All pricing includes packaging and delivery charges, so there won’t be any extra fees tacked on when you checkout. They currently deliver to Phoenix Metro areas only.

Topline Foods’ Delivery Van

The company began in February of 2009 under the ownership of co-owners Tom Gundrum and Jeff Liesener. We recently had a chance to speak with Tom to find out more about the company and its creation.

PhoenixBites Interview With Tom Gundrum

Amy Martin: Other than the great business opportunity, what inspired you to create Topline?

Tom Gundrum: We have always believed in eating healthy, and after seeing so many families get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life that they turn to unhealthy fast food and quick processed meals and junk food at the stores we felt compelled to provide a healthy and convenient alternative here in the Valley.

Amy Martin: Can you tell us a little about where you source your products and produce?

Tom Gundrum: Because we offer such a wide variety of products, the supplier sources are extremely varied. Whenever possible, we try and source our products from certified organic suppliers, most of which are scattered throughout the U.S, but not exclusively. To give you a few examples, the organic beef comes from ranches in Oregon and the Midwest. Our certified organic fruits and vegetables are picked at the peak of ripeness and flash frozen. They mainly come from two suppliers, Cascadian Farms and Woodstock Farms. The seafood comes from various waters. The sea bass is Chilean. The wild caught shrimp is from Baja California and the salmon and halibut are wild caught in Alaska. The chicken is from farms in AR and NE, as well as CA with processing facilities in AZ and CO. Most of our gourmet specialty items come from AZ and CA, and many of our pasta items are imported from Italy. I hope that helps to answer the question.

Amy Martin: Which is your personal favorite Topline item?

Tom Gundrum: That’s a tough one because it’s all soooo good! I love the filet mignon, but the wild caught shrimp with our garlic olive oil runs a close second.

Amy Martin: Any ‘stand-out’ crowd favorites or best-sellers?

Tom Gundrum: Favorites vary from customer to customer … Everyone loves our chicken and many prepare it using our all natural marinades. The seafood is another favorite, especially the salmon. The steaks are always good sellers, and the kids love the all natural beef franks, pizza, chicken nuggets and deli meats and sausages.

Amy Martin: Sliced deli meats: do these arrive frozen as well?

Tom Gundrum: They are frozen, which allows us to keep them free of preservatives, and because of the packaging, they thaw very quickly.They are also 100% free of nitrates, nitrites, antibiotics, hormones, and artificial ingredients.

Amy Martin: How do portion sizes work?

Tom Gundrum: Most of the meat products are individually vacuum sealed and come in 6oz serving sizes which are ideal because it virtually eliminates wasted leftovers. The organic fruits and vegetables are flash frozen which allows customers to use only the amount they need and the rest stays frozen and doesn’t spoil like many “fresh” varieties.

Amy Martin: What’s your competitive advantage in the marketplace?

Tom Gundrum: It’s a combination of great healthy food and the personalized convenient service which includes online shopping, special packaging and home delivery.

Amy Martin: What’s next for Topline? Any plans to expand the business into other states or Northern Arizona? 

Tom Gundrum: We are still growing here in the greater Phoenix metro area and have aligned ourselves with many affiliates and referral partners to help us spread the word about eating healthy, all natural and organic foods. With the launch of our new website ToplineFoods.com, we are considering expanding into Northern AZ, Tucson and Southern CA soon.

To learn more about Topline Foods or shop their products, visit toplinefoods.com.