Jake Billmeyer, 38
Co-Owner & National Sales, Ben B. Schwartz, Detroit, MI
June 12, 2026 | 3 min to read
SHORT BIO
Hometown: Birmingham, MI
Hobbies: Basketball, Coaching youth sports, Golf
Family/Community: Married, 3 children, Make a Wish, American Cancer Society
Motto in life: Work hard and good things will come!
Billmeyer represents the fourth generation of a family business. Over the course of his 18-year career in produce, he has taken Ben B. Schwartz from being just a company on the Detroit Terminal Market to being considered the largest and highest velocity house in Detroit. He is responsible for merchandising the most fragile commodities carried by Ben B. and has learned to read markets better than anyone. Simultaneously, he handles relationships with several of the company’s largest national retail accounts.
Billmeyer joined Ben B. Schwartz in 2008 after graduating from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Starting in a sales role, he embodied many of the same attributes that made his father successful, including relationship building, anticipating market shifts, and a strong work ethic. Eventually, he transitioned from a sales role serving walk-in traffic at the terminal to handling the majority of the company’s largest national retail accounts.
With the addition of his brother, Drew, to Ben B. Schwartz in 2013, he was tasked to take on a more strategic role. Along with his leadership team, he worked toward an objective to expand the company’s geographic service area and scope of services offered.
He helped build the team by hiring several key employees into leadership roles, investing in technology, leveraging processes to improve the customer experience, and marketing the business through a targeted approach. Billmeyer has also been a major supporter of Ben B. Schwartz’s philanthropy, donating 3.3 million pounds of fresh produce to food banks and pantries throughout metro Detroit over the last year and a half.
Q: How did you begin working in the produce industry and why?
I am part of the fourth generation of our family to be a steward of Ben B. Schwartz. My parents met at the Detroit Produce Terminal, and it has been a major part of our family’s makeup long before I was born. I knew eventually that I wanted to put my mark on our family’s life work as well.
Q: What do you wish you knew when you first started your career?
This is a relationship business. Quality produce can get you in the door, but relationships are the differentiator.
Q: What is the one thing in produce that you are most passionate about?
Pushing boundaries. Whether it be new products, technology innovation, or making things happen that others can’t, it’s exciting to be on the leading edge of what’s possible in the produce industry. More importantly, to idea share within our team on the way there and to celebrate each other’s successes along the way.
Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of in your career?
The growth of our company, new service areas we’re now serving, and an improved customer experience that we continue to refine every day.
Q: Where do you think growth happens the most?
A combination of sales/marketing and operations. The two must work hand in hand and support each other in achieving the big goals.
Q: What advice would you give someone new to the produce industry?
Think about successful processes, products, companies, and people OUTSIDE of our industry. Why are these things or people successful? How can we apply that to the produce industry to continue reaching new heights?
NOMINEES
