2011 Standout SMBs

Alliston Ackerman
4/8/2011

You don’t have a big budget because you are not quite a billion-dollar company, but your success relies on making the same if not more meaningful consumer connections as industry heavyweights, like P&G and PepsiCo. How do small to mid-sized businesses do it? On the pages that follow, CGT connects you to a crop of consumer goods companies (each with revenue equal to or less than $1 billion) that are hitting it off with consumers despite a shaky economy and steep market competition. Some names you’ll recognize, others you won’t. But they have several things in common that enable growth: consumer insights, true product innovation, must-have technologies and nontraditional marketing strategies.  

KOR Water 
Type of Company: Private
Annual Growth: 125%
No. of Employees: 6
Founded: 2005
Headquarters: Fountain Valley, CA

Company at a Glance: KOR Water is making a name for itself with stylish and functional BPA free water bottles to promote sustainable hydration. Through its “Thirst for Giving” program, the company donates a percentage of sales to a select group of non-profits that are focused on water-related causes. 
 
Biggest Win in 2010/11: KOR introduced three new product lines — KOR Vida, KOR Delta, KOR Aura — increasing its SKU count from eight to 31. Plus, in 2010, its first product, KOR One, was featured in the box-office smash “Iron Man 2”.
 
What Next? In just over two years, KOR’s retail footprint grew to 600 U.S. stores and 20 countries around the globe. “We will continue our evolution from a boutique to a mass-market brand by partnering with national retailers who are in sync with our ‘Better me, Better World’ vision,” says Paul Shustak, co-founder and president, KOR Water.
 
 
Oberweis Dairy, Inc. 
Type of Company: Private
No. of Employees: 800
Founded: 1927
Headquarters: North Aurora, IL
 
Company at a Glance: Oberweis Dairy began as a home delivery service of farm fresh milk and dairy products from a horse-drawn wagon. In 1951, it opened its first store. Since then, Oberweis has grown to 47 stores across the Midwest. 
 
Biggest Win in 2010/11: It was a landmark year for Oberweis from a business intelligence perspective. “We implanted a robust SAS data integration and analytics system that has allowed us a far deeper understanding of our customers and their buying behaviors,” says Bruce Bedford, vice president, Marketing Analytics and Consumer Insights, Oberweis Dairy. “The text and data analytics horsepower resulted in substantially improved sales and marketing campaign performance, process improvement and cost savings, and we’re just getting started!”
 
What’s Next? Oberweis is in the planning stages of a project that will incorporate SAS-based predictive models with a ShoreTel contact center solution to optimize customer retention and up-sell/cross-sell performance in its customer care department. 
 
 
K’NEX Brands, LP 
Type of Company: Private
No. of Employees: 80
Founded: 1992
Headquarters: Hatfield, PA
 
Company at a Glance: K’NEX is an innovative and fast-growing construction toy company that encourages youngsters to “imagine, build and play”. Its products are distributed in more than 30 countries, including the distribution of Lincoln Logs in North America.
 
Biggest Win in 2010/11: To better meet consumer and retailer needs, K’NEX recently implemented a drop ship program, providing open access to more inventory for consumers while allowing retailers to stock less inventory and take on less risk. Using the new program, order rates during its busiest season increased by 56,000 in 2010. That amounts to a 171 percent increase in revenue.
 
What’s Next? “We will continue to evolve our business practices so that retailers and consumers find working with K’NEX effortless and trouble-free,” says Barbara Rentschler, chief marketing officer, K’NEX Brands.
 
Website: www.knex.com
 
Zotos International 
Type of Company: Private
No. of Employees: 539
Founded: 1929
Headquarters: Darien, CT
 
Company at a Glance: Zotos International is a trendsetter in the development, manufacture and distribution of hair care beauty products for salon and consumer use.
 
Biggest Win in 2010/11: Ron Krassin, president and chief executive officer, says Zotos’ largest win was “the meteoric launch of the Diamond Shine product line, which boosted growth to new heights, coupled with state-of-the-art, eco-friendly manufacturing processes.” The company is at the forefront of green, supply chain technology, having gone live with RedPrairie’s Parcel and Warehouse Management solutions earlier this year.
 
What’s Next? Zotos is implementing one of the largest private industrial sustainability programs in the nation, through which it enhanced its treatment process to clean 99.9 percent of impurities out of its wastewater, and invests heavily in alternative energy. 
 
Website: www.zotos.com
 
Vanns Spices, Ltd. 
Type of Company: Private
No. of Employees: 38
Founded: 1981
Headquarters: Baltimore, MD
 
Company at a Glance: Vanns Spices provides high quality, all natural seasoning blends and spices for the professional chef and cooking enthusiast. Fans of its products include high profile TV chefs and cookbook authors, like Martha Stewart, who have come to Vanns to develop seasoning recipes.
 
Biggest Win in 2010/11: The implementation of an ERP system from SYSPRO enables Vanns Spices to properly control costs, streamline its manufacturing process and grow the business. Vanns Spices was also named a winner of a Progressive Manufacturing 100 Award in the category of “Data & Integration Mastery”.
 
What’s Next? Vanns Spices is committed to quality products and food safety. “The only way to avoid recalls is to have an excellent quality control system and proper food safety procedures before the products get to the retailer or the consumer,” says Mick Whitlock, president, Vanns Spices.  Thus, the company is pursuing SQF 2000 certification from the Safe Quality Foods Institute, which is well recognized as the highest standard in food quality control. 
 
 
Sportcraft, Ltd. 
2010 sales:<$200 Million
Annual Growth: 13%
No. of Employees: 200
Founded: 1926
Headquarters: Budd Lake, NJ
 
Company at a Glance: More than 13 million customers a year choose Sportcraft family recreational gaming products, from billiards and foosball tables to bocce ball and more.
 
Biggest Win in 2010/11: John Erlandson, vice president - Marketing and Product Development, says innovation allowed Sportcraft to attain a 60 percent market share in its indoor and outdoor recreational categories. New additions to its product family include Anywhere Table Tennis, which turns any table into a table tennis table, and Fire Catch, a new way to play Jia Alia in the dark. 
 
What’s Next? 2011 will mark Sportcraft’s entry into the categories of sports training and toy sports, supported by the rapid expansion of online distribution and marketing. Look for products like the Elastiball training device, which allows the user to kick a soccer ball and see its trajectory for up to 20 yards before returning it.
 
 
Nuestro Queso, LLC 
Type of Company: Private
Annual Growth: 250%
No. of Employees: 121
Founded: 2009
Headquarters: Elk Grove Village, IL
 
Company at a Glance: Nuestro Queso, LLC is a manufacturer, distributor and marketer of authentic, premium, quality Hispanic-style cheeses. All of Nuestro Queso’s employees participate in ownership of the company and take great pride in producing and providing their home cheese recipes to fellow Hispanics in the United States.
 
Biggest win in 2010/11: In addition to tripling sales in 2010, the company solidified its product offerings and positioned itself as a future leader in the industry. To help manage the challenges associated with a fast-growth start up, Nuestro Queso selected the SAP Business All-in-One for Consumer Products solution, specialized for food and beverage companies, as the backbone for its IT infrastructure.
 
What’s Next? “We will continue to grow sales to reach a cash flow break even point while further investing in our plant, distribution and brand,” says Nuestro Queso President Guy Paproski.
 
 
Laura’s Lean Beef 
Type of Company: Private
No. of Employees: 75
Founded: 1985 
Headquarters: Lexington, KY
 
Company at a Glance: Started in 1985 by Laura Freeman, a seventh generation Kentucky cattle farmer, Laura’s Lean Beef (LLB) is a successful national retail brand with a product line that addresses the needs of health and diet-conscious consumers. 
 
Biggest win in 2010/11: LLB improved sales force communication and sales channel data collection by deploying Flowfinity Actions for Retail Audits on Blackberry smartphones to all 40 sales representatives who visit the 7,000 stores that carry its products. “The new technology enabled reps to record inventory levels, report quality issues, and enabled a unified solution with e-mail, voice and data capabilities through a single device,” says Jeff Tanner, director of Information Technologies, Meyer Natural Foods (parent company to LLB).  
 
What’s Next? “Natural products and wellness lifestyles have evolved from niche to mainstream,” says Tanner. “Our goal is to position Laura’s Lean Beef in a way that broadly appeals to a growing percentage of the population.” 
 
Dacor, Inc. 
Type of Company: Private
Founded: 1965
Headquarters: Cosa Mesa, CA
 
Company at a Glance: Dacor is an innovator of stylish, American-made, premium kitchen appliances that provide a luxury culinary experience for those who are passionate about cooking.
 
Biggest win in 2010/11: Dacor replaced an on-premise enterprise solution with QAD On Demand, an ERP suite delivered as a software-as-a-service. Subsequent efficiencies and cost savings enabled Dacor to become more nimble and responsive to the desires of “aspiring consumers”, a previously untapped market segment, and launch a new line of products — the Distinctive Series — to meet their needs. “Not only did we launch our new Distinctive line, we found a distinctive solution to help us get there,” says Brett Hunt, director of marketing, Dacor. 
 
What’s Next? Dacor will continue to innovate stylish, American-made kitchen appliances in an environmentally sustainable way and make them the right choice for more homes. 
 
Web Site: www.dacor.com
 
American Licorice Co.
Type of Company: Private
No. of Employees: ~500
Founded: 1914
Headquarters: Bend, OR
 
Company at a Glance: American Licorice is an industry leader in the manufacturing and marketing of candy products.
 
Biggest win in 2010/11: American Licorice launched a new premium product offering, Natural Vines, with significant distribution. It was extremely well-received by consumers in the Natural Foods channel, who can now find the product at retailers across the country, like Whole Foods and Von’s. 
 
What’s Next? “Our major goal is to be ‘Better Tomorrow Than We Are Today,’ which is our system for ongoing improvement across all aspects of our organization,” says Michael Kelly, consumer communications manager, American Licorice. For example, the company uses MEI’s Trade Promotion Management system to allow for better sales team buy-in and usage, easier reporting and better time efficiencies across the company. 
 
 
Silver Jeans Co.
Type of Company: Private
Founded: 1991
Headquarters: Winnipeg, Canada
 
Company at a Glance: In the denim world, there is premium and there is moderate, but where is the middle ground? Enter Silver Jeans Co., a Canadian denim brand that has been making jeans at a mid-luxury price point for the past 20 years. Silver Jeans Co. is manufactured by Western Glove Works, a family-owned company that has produced quality denim products since 1921.
 
Biggest win in 2010/11: According to Mark Lamont, vice president of Apparel Services at Silver Jeans, the company’s biggest wins last year were the creation of a unified brand identity and the establishment of a brand bible. The company also deployed a PLM solution from Centric Software to accelerate product line expansion plans despite a shaky economy.
 
What’s Next? “Our major goal as a company is to establish Silver Jeans Co. as a global lifestyle brand, known not just for great jeans, but as a fashion collection,” says Lamont.
 
 
GROWTH SPURTS
Most small businesses don’t stay small for long. More often than not, they scale the growth charts by way of merger or acquisition. Here is a recap of the deals that happened in the SMB sector this past year.
 
Honest Tea Joins Coca-Cola Family
The Coca-Cola Company acquired the remaining portion of Honest Tea in March 2011. “This is our chance to bring organic beverages to the mainstream,” said Seth Goldman, co-founder, president and TeaEO of Honest Tea. Since receiving the investment from Coca-Cola, Honest Tea has made progress, including an expanded distribution of Honest Tea from about 15,000 retail outlets in 2008 to more than 75,000 today.
 
P&G Buys Natura Pet Products
The addition of Natura Pet Products Inc. enables The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) to expand into the “holistic and naturals” segment of the pet food category, complementing its current Iams and Eukanuba brands. Natura’s brands include Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature and Karma.
 
Coty Acquires OPI
Coty Inc. strengthened its footprint in the HBA market by acquiring OPI Products Inc., a leader in professional nail salon products. “It’s time for a new era at OPI, and together with Coty we can begin this new journey,” said George Schaeffer, president and CEO, OPI Products Inc.
 
Lance and Snyder’s Merge 
The combined company, Snyder’s-Lance Inc., broke out of the mid-market with net sales of approximately $1.6 billion. Its iconic brands include Cape Cod, Grande, Tom’s, Jays, O-Ke-Doke, Stella D’oro, Krunchers!, Archway, Naturals as well as Lance Private Brands.
 
Snapware Finds Home at World Kitchen
Snapware Corporation, a privately-held company that specializes in storage and organization solutions for the home and kitchen, is now part of the World Kitchen LLC portfolio of brands, which includes Corelle, Pyrex, CorningWare and Chicago Cutlery.
 

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