We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sam Henselijn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sam below.

Hi Sam, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve taken a lot of risks in my life, but the first real one that shaped everything for me was when I was 17 years old.

I left Amsterdam, my family, my friends, everything I knew, and moved to the United States to play Division 1 tennis at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. At the time, I didn’t speak any English. I was basically thrown into a completely new world overnight. New country, new culture, new language, and I had to figure it out fast.

There were a lot of moments early on where it would have been easier to go back home. Simple things like communicating, school, even just daily life were a challenge. But that experience forced me to grow up quickly. It taught me how to adapt, how to stay uncomfortable, and how to keep pushing forward even when things aren’t easy.

That mindset carried into the next big risk I took, which was starting my business from zero.

There was no safety net. No guaranteed income. Just a vision and a willingness to work through whatever came with it. In the early days, it was far from what it is today. We faced a lot of hurdles, mistakes, long hours, and moments where things could have gone either way. It wasn’t smooth, and it definitely wasn’t overnight.

Over time, through consistency and learning from those challenges, we were able to build it into a fully automated operation. But even now, it’s still a work in progress. There’s always another level to get to.

Looking back, those risks were uncomfortable at the time, but they’re the reason I am where I am today. They taught me that growth usually sits on the other side of uncertainty, and if you’re willing to step into it, it can change your entire path.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in the Netherlands, and before I ever got into business, my life revolved around tennis. I traveled the world playing on the junior tour, which exposed me to different cultures, people, and ways of thinking at a young age. That experience shaped me more than I realized at the time.

At 17, I moved to the United States on a Division 1 tennis scholarship to Texas A&M Corpus Christi. That was really the start of my journey here. From there, I eventually transitioned into business and built what we have today.

I’m the CEO of L’Orenta Nuts, and we primarily focus on co-packing and private label manufacturing. In simple terms, we help brands and large retailers bring products to life and get them onto shelves. We work across a wide range of categories including nuts, candy, chocolates, dried fruits, snack mixes and more. We have over 500 products in our assortment, which translates into thousands of SKUs and packaging configurations.

What we really provide is a full A to Z solution. A customer can come to us with an idea, or even just a concept, and we can help with everything from formulation and sourcing to packaging, production, and distribution. A lot of people think it’s just putting product into a bag, but there are a lot of layers behind doing it right at scale.

What sets us apart is a combination of flexibility, experience, and our level of automation. We operate out of a fully climate controlled, SQF certified facility, and we’ve invested heavily in automated assembly lines. That includes multi head weighers, check weighers, metal detectors with automatic rejection systems, robotic arms, robotic palletizers, and more. All of that allows us to produce at a high level while maintaining consistency and quality.

At the same time, we’re still very hands on with our customers. We understand that every project is different, and we pride ourselves on being able to adapt and find solutions rather than forcing a one size fits all approach.

What I’m most proud of isn’t just the equipment or the scale, it’s the people, the culture, and the processes we’ve built. None of this works without a strong team that takes pride in what they’re doing every day. We’ve created an environment where people care about the details, and in this business, the details matter.

For anyone looking at working with us or following what we’re building, I’d want them to know that we take what we do seriously. We’re built for scale, but we’re also built on relationships, trust, and doing things the right way.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One moment that really sticks with me was early on when we were trying to land a large private label customer.

We were going up against companies that had been in the industry for decades. Big names, massive facilities, long track records. On paper, we weren’t the obvious choice. We didn’t have the same size, the same recognition, or the same resources at the time.

I remember thinking, we’re not going to win this by trying to look like them. We have to beat them a different way.

So instead of just sending over a standard quote and capabilities deck, we went deeper. We studied what the customer actually cared about. We looked at where the big players tend to fall short, things like flexibility, speed, communication, and willingness to customize.

We came in with a solution that was more tailored, more responsive, and honestly just more thoughtful. We were faster on revisions, more transparent on pricing, and willing to adjust where others wouldn’t.

Even then, it wasn’t smooth. There were multiple rounds, constant pressure, and moments where it felt like we were the underdog the whole time, because we were. There were also internal challenges, making sure we could actually deliver at the level we were promising, tightening up processes, making improvements on the fly.

In the end, we won the business.

But what stuck with me wasn’t just winning that account. It was the realization that in our industry, we’re always going to be in that position to some degree. There are always going to be bigger companies, more established names, competitors who can rely on their reputation alone.

We don’t have that luxury.

We have to earn it every time. Through better service, better quality, sharper pricing, and thinking outside the box. We have to be more dialed in, more responsive, and more accountable, because we don’t get the same margin for error.

That experience really shaped how we operate today. It reinforced the mindset that resilience isn’t just about getting through hard moments, it’s about consistently showing up at a higher level, especially when the odds aren’t in your favor.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the biggest pivots we’ve had to make happened around 2018 into 2020.

At that time, we were really starting to grow our wholesale side of the business. We were shifting more of our focus there and slowly moving away from e commerce. And those two sides of the business are completely different. Different operations, different systems, different ways of training people, even a different mindset in how you run the company.

We were making good progress on wholesale, building relationships, scaling it up, and then COVID hit.

Almost overnight, a lot of our wholesale customers shut down or slowed down drastically. Orders stopped. Demand dropped. And we found ourselves in a position where a big part of our business just disappeared. There was a real moment where it felt like the company might not make it if things didn’t change quickly.

At the same time, e commerce started picking up fast. Demand was there, but the problem was we weren’t set up for it anymore. We had spent the past couple of years shifting away from that side, so our systems, our team, and our processes weren’t aligned for that type of volume.

To make things even more challenging, I got COVID and ended up in the hospital. I was out for almost a month during one of the most critical times the business had ever faced. I couldn’t be there to help lead the transition in person, which was tough.

So the team had to step up, and we had to pivot quickly. We essentially had to relearn parts of the business that we had just moved away from. We had to adjust operations, retrain people, rethink how we were fulfilling orders, and do it all under pressure.

It wasn’t clean and it wasn’t easy, but we figured it out.

That experience really reinforced something for me. In our business, you can’t get too comfortable in one direction. You have to stay flexible and be ready to adapt at any time. Markets change, customer needs change, and sometimes things happen that you just can’t control.

What matters is how quickly you respond and how willing you are to adjust.

Since then, we’ve built the business in a way where we’re constantly thinking ahead and staying proactive. We know that pivoting isn’t a one time thing, it’s part of the process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lorentanuts.com
• Instagram: lorentanuts
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/lorentanuts
• Linkedin: lorentanuts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lorentanuts4586

Image Credits

L’Orenta Nuts