Exploring Life & Business with Thomas Meyer of Southern Harvest Hospitality Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Meyer

Hi Thomas, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I came to Durham in 1988 as a Duke student. After being graduated in 1991, I opened Nana’s Restaurant in Durham in 1992 with Scott Howell, being named a Top 10 Restaurants in US in 1992, Esquire Magazine. Back then, Durham was definitely not a restaurant destination, but there was so much interest in the area thanks to the bio-tech and tel-com industries working in the RTP.
I left Durham in 1994 and worked in the wine industry until 2005, holding sales and marketing leadership positions with Kendall-Jackson, Fetzer Vineyards and my own wine brand, Sauvignon Republic that specialized in world-class sauvignon blanc wines.
My family and I moved back to Durham in 2003 to co-found The Q Shack BBQ restaurants, which we ran until 2019 when we closed our North Hills (Raleigh) location.
We founded Southern Harvest Hospitality Group in 2012 and opened Sprout Cafe in the NC Museum of Life and Science in Durham (still operating)and Southern Harvest Catering. In 2020, we developed a partnership in The Honeysuckle brand in Chapel Hill and Durham and opened The Honeysuckle at Lakewood restaurant in September 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were awarded Best of Durham that year in Durham Magazine and decided to sell the business to my business partner in 2021. For most of 2020, our catering business became a food charity that helped organize food deliveries for families in Durham and Chapel Hill with other local restaurants and caterers. In all, we fed over 750,000 people during the pandemic, keeping our staff employed at living wages and feeding our community.
Southern Harvest Catering now operates two kitchens- a satellite kitchen inside The Matthews House in downtown Cary and our main kitchen on Center Street in Mebane- and focuses on serving a variety of guests throughout the Triangle and Triad areas of North Carolina.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not a smooth ride.
My wife and I arrived back in NC to develop The Q Shack brand in September of 2003 with 2 children under 3 years old and two businesses we had started- The Q Shack and Sauvignon Republic Winery.
In mid 2004, my two business partners in The Q Shack decided to go their separate ways and we had to unwind debt structures, intellectual and real property and sort through all the messy details of a partnership breakup.
In 2005, our winery venture folded and we had to unwind another messy financial structure.
In 2006, our California Q Shack venture folded.
In 2008, a partner in another venture embezzled our operating cash and left town leaving unpaid vendor bills, tax bills, payroll and rent payments. This forced us to close our Hillsborough Street, Raleigh location and take out loans to pay for the losses.
2009-10 recession took all of our cash cushion and we had to borrow money to keep the business alive.
2019- closed The Q Shack at North Hills after 15 years.
2020- pandemic left our catering business at 10% of its expected revenues.

I will say that struggles are a part of every journey. I can tell you that my faith in God and his sovereignty is what made all the difference for me. Throughout every struggle, God was faithful to show ways through, provide the people and financial resources and blessed us with the ability to persevere. My wife and family’s support have been unwavering throughout our journey and having a small, local business has provided countless ways for us to life live fully in community with our employees and our guests.

As you know, we’re big fans of Southern Harvest Hospitality Group. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Southern Harvest Hospitality Group exists to love and to nourish our community by showing God’s love for the world. We do this by building relationships with and through our community of guests, employees, partners and community leaders.

Our specialty is providing world-class catering and food service solutions for our guests by listening for how we can best serve their vision for their parties. The heart of our menu centers around Southern classic food, but we have a range of offerings depending on our guests’ needs. Our services range from large scale concession services to intimate private dinners in guests’ homes.

What sets us apart is our focus on listening and delivering on our guests’ needs and expectations. We have a team of servant leaders who are dedicated to our guests’ needs. We have a diverse set of skill sets for all types of parties.

I am most proud of the many types of leaders on our team and the ways in which they are enhancing other people’s lives. We employ over 90 people and serve over 400,000 guests annually. We have the privilege of being invited to serve at some of the most important occasions in people’s lives.

Your readers should know that we care personally about the food and service we provide for their parties and occasions. We are dedicated to listening for how we can make each experience an exceptional one. Our purpose is to show God’s love by loving and nourishing our guests.

As far as services we provide:
1. We are consultants and operators for organizations looking for on-site food service operations.
2. We provide large scale catering solutions for organizations and businesses
3. We provide consultation and catering services to venues and party planners
4. We provide catering services for all types of guests in all types of party occasions
5. We provide a range of charitable services for organizations looking to raise money to help serve their communities

What are your plans for the future?
We have two big goals over the next year.

1. To build our business through relationships in the Triad area of North Carolina- Mebane to Winston-Salem.
2. To launch a new BBQ brand that we have developed…..

Pricing:

• $15 to $100 per person options

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.southernharvesthg.com
• Instagram: #southernharvesthg
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southernharvestcatering
• Twitter: southernharvest_catering

Image Credits
Logo designs by The Collins Creative Picture of Tom Meyer by LOKAL Design Company