Standout SMBs -- August 2007
A great deal of vision within the consumer goods industry comes from small to mid-size businesses (SMBs). The following profiles highlight select companies that are poised to breakout of the midmarket and reach that $1 billion mark.
AMERICAN LICORICE COMPANY
American Licorice Company is one of the oldest companies in the U.S. candy industry. Since its establishment in 1914 by a candy entrepreneur, American Licorice has brought enjoyment to people through its premium-quality candies, like Red Vines Black Licorice and Original Red Twists, Snaps bite size licorice pieces and Super Ropes candy. As the company approaches its centennial, American Licorice continues to strongly value its people and increasingly focus on innovation, markets, leadership and technology. Recently, the company selected MEI's Troubadour Trade Promotion Management solution to manage all aspects of the trade promotion management cycle. Through the use of MEI's hosted solution, American Licorice expects to gain better insight into account plans and event tieins, introduce controls and approval processes to better manage funds/spending, and enable promotion evaluation by looking at customer profitability and return on investment.
GRAND SLAM: American Licorice's commitment to innovation began in the early 1990s when it became one of the first candy companies to expand into the sour candy market with the launch of the Sour Punch line.
ASPEN PET PRODUCTS INC.
According to Aspen Pet Products, whose brands include Cider Mill and BOODA, the company is driven by innovation and it strives to bring to market unique products that enhance the lives of pets and their pet parents. The company began with an original line of functional pet accessories and went on to acquire successful brands. Aspen Pet says it is dedicated to streamlining all customer service and distribution processes to create thriving relationships with retailers. To that end, Aspen Pet implemented Logility Voyager Demand Planning, Inventory Planning and Collaborate to reduce inventory levels and increase turns. Actually, it increased fill rate to 98 percent for more than 3,000 SKUs, improved already low inventory levels and decreased air freight expenses. The company earned the Class A ranking in manufacturing and distribution due to shortened delivery times, reduced delivery costs and efficient, paperless inventory management.
GRAND SLAM: Aspen Pet Products is able to ship all orders within 72 hours and track all shipping information in real time, aiding its effort to achieve the goal of a 100 percent accurate fill rate.
BITTEN
Fashion is not a luxury. It is a right. Chances are you have heard this mantra recently as Sarah Jessica Parker launched "BITTEN", her first-ever apparel line. BITTEN is a collection of affordable sportswear for women of all ages and sizes. Every piece in the line is priced at $19.98 and less. Between the already launched summer collection and the Fall collection to hit store shelves this month, BITTEN offers nearly 1,000 apparel and accessories pieces, including jeans,woven and knit shirts, suit separates, wool and cashmere sweaters, dresses, jackets, lingerie, t-shirts, sweatshirts, sleepwear, swimwear, bags, jewelry, belts, footwear and much more. BITTEN offers a full size range from XSXXL in tops, 0-22 in bottoms, and 5-11 in shoes and is only available at Steve & Barry's stores.
GRAND SLAM: O Magazine said, "We are smitten with BITTEN...and even crazier about the democratic sizes...and unbelievable prices."
BUBBA FOODS LLC
They may not even be close to the $1 billion mark yet, but with BUBBA Burger's new ad campaign and selection as the "Official & Preferred Burger" for the 2007 MLB season of Houston Astros, Mets, Braves, Cubs and Phillies, plus the sponsoring of car #21 for three races in the NASCAR Craftsman's Truck Series even greater success can't be too far ahead. Bubba Foods LLC was formed in 2000 to take over all aspects of the BUBBA burger, including production, sales and marketing. The burger was actually created in 1990 by Walter "Bubba" Eaves, who, according to the company, had a mission and a dream to create "the perfect hamburger." He invented a production process that allows for the BUBBA burger to be cooked from a frozen state and still remain juicy and tender. He also decided to use only high quality meat in his burger, refusing to use trimmings. Distribution began with the Jacksonville division of Publix and grew throughout the southeast.
GRAND SLAM: BUBBA Burgers are now available in nearly every state plus the Bahamas and Puerto Rico.
CE DE CANDY INC.
In 1949, Ce De Candy Inc.'s chairman brought Smarties to America from England with two wrapping machines, a rented facility and a lot of ingenuity. Almost 60 years later, Smarties is distributing its flagship product and newer products, including XTreme Sour Smarties and Mega Smarties, through major retail chains, like Wal-Mart and Target. Like all food manufacturers, the FDA's new Food Bioterrorism regulation required Ce De Candy to maintain records that allow complete traceability for all raw goods and manufactured products by June 2006. To meet the mandate, Ce De Candy implemented an enterprise mobility solution from Motorola Inc. and PartnerSelect Solution Provider Portable Technology Solutions (PTS). Implementation of the Motorola/PTS solution met firm timing and budget requirements, and Ce De Candy now benefits from automated production reports by using scanners rather than its previous manual process. In addition, customer disputes are now more quickly resolved as Ce De Candy can track shipments on a lot basis.
GRAND SLAM: Ce De Candy sells more than 25 billion tablets (8.8 billion rolls) of Smarties annually with approximately 600 million at Halloween alone.
THE EIGHT O'CLOCK COFFEE COMPANY
Eight O'Clock Coffee is the tale of a private label brand that became a national sensation. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) introduced the "Eight O'Clock Coffee" trademark in 1919, arriving at the name after determining that eight o'clock a.m. and p.m. are when most coffee is consumed. The brand's 150-year relationship with A&P ended in 2003 when The Eight O'Clock Coffee Company became incorporated. Today, Eight O'Clock Coffee is the third-largest national brand in terms of volume. Eight O'Clock Coffee's trade management solution from Gelco has scaled with the company since being implemented in 1996. Eight O'Clock Coffee recently upgraded to the Gelco TMS Enterprise solution to provide visibility and improve controls over trade promotion spending as well as enhance the system experience for brokers by removing redundant process steps.
GRAND SLAM: Eight O'Clock Coffee is now offered in roughly 65 percent of all grocery stores, and the majority of its sales occur in retailers beyond A&P.
NATURALLY FRESH INC.
When Naturally Fresh was founded 40 years ago, it was easy to keep track of manufacturing, distribution and sales information. The company had one product - a non-dairy creamer sold to airlines, one small warehouse and a handful of employees. Today, Naturally Fresh has a broad line of fresh refrigerated dips, sauces and dressings, a 250,000-square-foot facility, 28 distribution centers and 375 employees. The company needed an alternative to a slow and inflexible data analysis solution. Working with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Northridge Systems, the company adopted a Microsoft Business Intelligence solution based on Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The result is that more users can access more data than ever before, which enables better decision making throughout the company.
GRAND SLAM: The previous solution produced reports at a rate of up to 45 minutes each. Now users can pull most reports in two or three seconds and can pull all reports within 10 seconds.
DAISY BRAND
Still a family-owned business, Daisy Brand began in 1917 when a young man named Louis sold cheese out of a horsedrawn buggy on the west side of Chicago. Today, the company has grown significantly, selling direct to consumers via grocery stores and also catering to the unique needs of restaurants and hotels. What helps Daisy Brand stand out among larger competitors is a flexible deployment model, which is purely merchandise driven and powered by a mobile field force solution from O4 Corporation. An internal sales team does not have territories and its supply chain does not rely on warehouses. Instead, a mobile sales team travels where it is needed to help grow the business. For example, if a product launch is scheduled in the Northeast, the mobile sales team travels there and ensures promotions are in position, orders are taken, inventory is in place, shelves are stocked, and business objectives are met, tracked and measured for repeatability in the future.
GRAND SLAM: Daisy Brand is one of the nation's largest foodservice sour cream suppliers coast to coast.
GANZ
Established by Samuel Ganz and sons Jack and Sam in 1950, this privately-held family company is now headed by the founder's grandson, Howard Ganz, and produces one of the hottest toys on the market today - Webkinz, a cuddly collection of plush "pets." Each pet carries a secret code, which when entered at the Webkinz' Web site, brings the pet to life in a virtual world. Kids can adopt their pet and name it, and are responsible for taking care of it online everyday. They start out with $2,000 "Kinzcash" and with this they can "buy" food and accessories for their pet. Webkinz World also offers other ways to learn while earning Kinzcash through trivia quizzes, arcade games, daily activities and surprises. The "Clubhouse" offers an area for children to chat with their friends through KinzChat - constructed messaging with prewritten sentence options. The company claims there is no chance that kids can share any personal information.
GRAND SLAM: According to The New York Times, the Webkinz site draws 3.8 million visitors a month.
GOLD MEDAL BAKERY
"Our first responsibility is to our customers, without which we would have no reason for being. We cater to our customers in a professional manner by offering quality merchandise, competitively priced and delivered with courtesy and professionalism," claims Gold Medal Bakery, a 90-year old provider of private-label and branded bakery products. Yet, the company found itself experiencing a significant number of out of stocks and felt it was less flexible than its competitors. Further complicated by the pressure to reduce product waste, Gold Medal Bakery was challenged to improve demand forecasting ability while maintaining a high level of service for its retail customers. Gold Medal worked with Clarkston Consulting, which recommended combining a SMARTselling application with supply and demand chain optimization best practices as an innovative solution. Eleven Technology's SMARTselling web-based application suite for handhelds was integrated into the current SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
GRAND SLAM: Gold Medal Bakery's sales force can capture data at the "moment of truth," enabling the company to identify growth opportunities and improve customer service.
HEELYS INC.
Heelys Inc. designs, markets and distributes a slew of innovative, action, sports-inspired products targeted to the youth market. Yet its flagship product - a shoe with a removable wheel in the heel - accounts for about 95 percent of net sales, a feat that comes in the midst of controversy: Heelys-wheeled footwear has come under fire by those who worry they are unsafe. Some schools, malls and other public places have even banned them. However, detailed analysis from Heiden Associates, an authority on product safety and risk assessment, recently confirmed that Heelys is the safest activity among popular wheeled sports, measured by the rate of injuries per 100,000 activity participants.
GRAND SLAM: In 2006, Heelys Inc. raked in more than $188 million in sales, compared with $21.3 million two years earlier.
INNOCENT LTD
Hesitant to give up their day jobs to pursue an idea for a healthy beverage business, quirky college buds Adam, Rich and Jon bought 500 worth of fruit, turned it into smoothies and sold them from a stall at a little music festival in London. "We put up a big sign saying 'Do you think we should give up our jobs to make these smoothies?' and put out a bin saying 'YES' and a bin saying 'NO' and asked people to put the empty bottle in the right bin. At the end of the weekend the 'YES' bin was full so we went in the next day and resigned," according to the company's Web site. The big idea was to make it easy for people to do themselves some good...and to make it taste good too. And that's how innocent Ltd was born; innocent because anything you ever find in an innocent bottle will always be 100 percent natural.
GRAND SLAM: innocent Ltd began in 1999 with just three employees, three recipes, 0 turnover and one retailer. Today, innocent has grown to include 194 employees, 26 recipes, 100 million turnover and more than 7,000 retailers.
JOHN B. SANFILIPPO & SON, INC.
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (JBSS) doesn't mind being called nuts - that's because the company is a processor, packager, marketer and distributor of shelled and unshelled nuts and sesame sticks under well-known brands such as Fisher. In fact, Fisher is the official nut of the Metrodome. JBSS also produces private label products and markets and distributes a diverse line of other food and snack items. With more than 50 trading partners ordering multiple private and brand label products, JBSS needed the reliability and flexibility in its EDI system to process customer orders without delays. It chose to implement QAD's EDI ECommerce for MFG/PRO and Sterling Commerce's Gentran: Server for NT, hiring QAD Consulting to assist in training and consulting services. JBSS is now able to efficiently support everything from the most basic EDI customer requirements to the very complex in a fully automated process.
GRAND SLAM: JBSS now has an automated and reliable EDI process that reflects its product range and company structure. EDI is now an integral part of business at JBSS, reducing keying errors and costs associated with paper purchase orders and invoices.
JOHNSONVILLE SAUSAGE LLC
According to Information Resources Inc., Johnsonville Sausage captured two of the top three growth brands in the robust dinner sausage market with its refrigerated dinner sausage. The company is regionally known for its bratwurst, which accounts for 60 percent of its sales, and 75 percent of all the "brats" (pronounced brahts) produced in America come from Johnsonville, Wisconsin. (The unincorporated town is so small it doesn't have an official population.) In the last 10 years, the company has seen a 500 percent increase in productivity, going from a small local company to one that does business globally with 15 percent annual growth. Because of this expansion and the increased complexities that go along with it, Johnsonville decided to implement a new ERP system from SAP. The implementation is taking place in phases with a North American go live planned for later this year. Phase II will include PLM, TPM, plant maintenance and locations in Mexico, China and Europe.
GRAND SLAM: Johnsonville is the nation's No. 1 brand of fresh dinner sausage, including bratwurst and Italian sausage.
THE JEL SERT COMPANY
For more than 80 years, generations of families have enjoyed Jel Sert products such as Fla-Vor-Ice, Wyler's, Royal Pudding, Fla-Vor-Aid, Otter Pops and Jel Sert Gelatin Dessert. The company has put the lessons learned on its path to long-lasting success to good use. From its factory in West Chicago, Ill., Jel Sert now utilizes its manufacturing capabilities and significant production capacities to help pharmaceutical and food companies expand existing product lines and brands with new and novel formats. As part of this initiative, Jel Sert leans on LeanLogistics' On-Demand TMS for transportation management to improve visibility, reduce transportation costs, increase logistics efficiencies and raise service levels. "The Jel Sert Company is achieving our project objectives established with LeanLogistics, including increasing visibility to shipment pick and drop data, optimizing utilization through load consolidation, and employing business intelligence for better management and distribution decisions," says Andy Rush, executive vice president of operations for Jel Sert.
GRAND SLAM: The contract manufacturing of pharmaceutical and nutritional items is a quickly expanding portion of Jel Sert's business.
NEW WORLD PASTA
New World Pasta found itself in hot water after purchasing the Hershey Pasta Group, part of chocolate maker Hershey Foods, in 1999. In 2002, its financial statements came into question. And in 2004, the company filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. But in 2005, the tides turned when lenders agreed to finance $240 million for New World Pasta to exit from Chapter 11.Then in 2006, New World Pasta was bought by Spanish food giant Ebro Puleva for $362 million. New World Pasta kept its name and management, but now benefits from Ebro Puleva's worldwide expertise and geographic balance as the No. 2 pasta manufacturer. In the midst of all this, New World Pasta replaced it trade solution with Gelco's TMS Enterprise to provide powerful management information for effective trade promotion planning. The solution allows for real-time execution of the trade plans in the field by sales representatives.
GRAND SLAM: New World Pasta plans to implement a promotion evaluation tool from Gelco Trade Management to complete a closed-loop trade process by integrating syndicated data into its trade management system, thereby allowing the company to evaluate the effectiveness of its trade spend.
MARSAN FOODS
Marsan Foods is a family-owned company that prepares and packages food for large retail, food service and healthcare customers in North America. Driven by a strategic need to reduce operating costs and improve plant efficiencies, Marsan pursues continuous improvement policies. The company maximized manual systems and was having difficulty identifying how to further unlock the potential of its people and practices, and improve its overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Marsan selected CDC Software's out-of-the-box solution - CDC Factory, a manufacturing operations management system. This provided Marsan with the benefits of real-time OEE, finite scheduling, quality assurance and rapid maintenance response, unlocking the hidden capacity in the factory by managing production planning in real-time and recording results of all activities in terms of rate, yield, utilization and unit cost.
GRAND SLAM: Marsan implemented the system in just six weeks; increased its average OEE from 65 percent to 74 percent; reduced direct labor cost on all products run through the line; increased throughput; and raised production standards twice. Payback was within eight months with a 9 percent overall efficiency improvement.
METHOD
Cool packaging is just one of the innovations claimed by Method. The founders were high school buddies and then roommates, first experimenting with product in their kitchen. "The goal was to evolve the household cleaner from a toxic object that hid under the sink to an all-natural, biodegradable, and stylish counter-top accessory," says the company's Web site. Method's first product line was five spray cleaners and has expanded to dishes, hand and body, air and laundry. While first delivered from the back of a pick up truck, it can now be found at top retail and grocery chains across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Method's mantra is "people against dirty," referring to sustaining and cleaning up our environment. In 2006, the company was ranked No. 7 in Inc.'s list of America's fastest growing private companies.
GRAND SLAM: All Method products are biodegradable, come in recyclable packaging and are not tested on animals.
PACIFIC COAST PRODUCERS
"Top Ten Vendor Award," "Outstanding Supplier" and "Vendor/Partner of the Year" are just a few of the awards Pacific Coast Producers (PCP) has received over the years. Perhaps these were garnered because of the company's dedication "to examine any process, no matter how efficient or productive it may seem, for potential improvement." For example, PCP needed to respond to a major retail customer's request mandating that suppliers tag shipments with RFID devices. The company saw an opportunity here to go far beyond mandated capabilities, transform business processes and differentiate itself. Using a consultative partnering approach, IBM, OATSystems and PCP conducted a business analysis session and made recommendations on how best to use RFID technology for business value.
GRAND SLAM: With a scalable solution in place, when a customer requests additional RFID tags, PCP can quickly expand its initial RFID activities with increased volume and additional SKUs, all while engaging in pilot RFID programs with other retailers.
SEVENTH GENERATION
The name comes from the Iroquois belief that "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." Seventh Generation offers non-toxic household products including non-chlorine bleach; 100 percent recycled paper goods; non-toxic, phosphate free, biodegradable cleaning, dish and laundry products; plastic trash bags made from recycled plastic; chlorine free baby diapers and wipes; and chlorine free feminine care products. According to the company, its uses an independent group to track its environmental impact. In 10 years, it has saved: 327,800 trees, 233,000 pound of greenhouse gases, 1,313,700 gallons of petroleum and 123,642,500 gallons of water. Its operating principles are mantras of sustainability, service, leadership, community and education.
GRAND SLAM: "If every household in the United States replaced just one 25 oz. bottle of petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with our plantbased product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil - enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S. homes for a year!"
PHYSICIAN'S FORMULA COSMETICS
While fulfilling its steadfast pledge to purity - a promise never to allow fragrance, PABA or any of the 132 known skin irritants into anything it makes - Physician's Formula Cosmetics has posted more than 20 percent revenue growth (25 percent CAGR) in the past five years despite operating in a flat category. What's more impressive is that the steady growth rate has come despite millions of dollars in advertising and category management spending from mega-competitors, like Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal, Revlon and Johnson & Johnson. Much of Physician's Formula's gains are fueled by the QuickTABS analytical software from TABS Group and a strong sales force that is comfortable with fact-based selling. In addition, Physician's Formula complements great sales execution with strong product innovation, like its Mineral Wear line extension, which is the first mineral line to hit the mass channel. Now other competitors are following suit.
GRAND SLAM: Physician's Formula executed an IPO in November 2006 based on its strong growth history and remaining room for expansion in the market.
SAO PAULO ALPARGATAS S.A.
With its eyes firmly on the future and its roots deep in the past, Sao Paulo Alpargatas S.A. spent the past 100 years making history with its innovative products. But while the name Sao Paulo Alpargatas S.A. may not ring a bell, its No. 1 brand should. Its largest success and mainstay is the genuine Havaianas sandal, which can be seen on the pages of fashion magazines and on the feet of some of the world's biggest celebrities. To protect the brand integrity and trademark of Havaianas, Sao Paulo Alpargatas selectively contracts distributors around the world to sell Havaianas. Similarly, retailers must be authorized and approved by each distributor and ultimately by Sao Paulo Alpargatas. Style West is the exclusive distributor for Havaianas in the United States.
GRAND SLAM: Since their launch, 2.2 billion pairs of Havaianas sandals have been produced and sold throughout the world. If the sandals were laid end to end, they would go around the world 50 times.
SPYDER ACTIVE SPORTS
In the trend-setting apparel industry, where selling seasons are usually short-lived, Spyder Active Sports stands out. It creates more than 18,000 new SKUs of its high-end ski apparel and accessories each year, with up to 90 percent of its merchandise refreshed each ski season. The company follows an outsourced manufacturing model, relying on overseas suppliers to produce skiwear and ship goods to regional distribution centers in North America, Europe and Asia. Distribution centers then forward merchandise to customers. A recent assessment conducted by IDC found that Spyder's deployment of a JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Financial Management, Distribution and Manufacturing helps it to compress time to market, synchronize rapid development cycles with changing market conditions, and establish relationships with retailers and consumers. The resulting integrated financial and distribution system gives Spyder insight into accounts receivable, customer balances and the order-to-cash cycle. Despite an increasing number of products, the system handles the extra workload.
GRAND SLAM: Spyder, known for cutting-edge designs fused with high-tech fabrics, has enjoyed an annual CAGR of 30 percent, and recently launched into multi-season product offerings.
TWEEN BRANDS INC.
After its spin off from Limited Brands in 1999, Too Inc. changed its name to Tween Brands Inc. to more accurately reflect what it had become,a company focused on one segment of the population - tweens (ages 7-14). Earlier this summer,Tween Brands opened its 200th Justice store, an important milestone for a concept that just began three-and-a-half years ago. At least 100 more Justice stores are planned to open in 2007. The company also operates 569 Limited Too stores in 46 states and Puerto Rico. In 2007, it is planning a net increase of 25 to 30 Limited Too stores. To excel as a self-sourcing retailer, Tween Brands implemented the Jesta I.S. Vision Merchandising and Vision SCM. Jesta's solutions enable Tween Brands to quickly determine the status and location of its goods, be it on order, in transit, in warehouse or in store.
GRAND SLAM: An NPD survey placed Tween Brands as the fourth-highest dollar volume retailer of apparel for girls seven to 12 years of age and as the top specialty retailer.
AMERICAN LICORICE COMPANY
American Licorice Company is one of the oldest companies in the U.S. candy industry. Since its establishment in 1914 by a candy entrepreneur, American Licorice has brought enjoyment to people through its premium-quality candies, like Red Vines Black Licorice and Original Red Twists, Snaps bite size licorice pieces and Super Ropes candy. As the company approaches its centennial, American Licorice continues to strongly value its people and increasingly focus on innovation, markets, leadership and technology. Recently, the company selected MEI's Troubadour Trade Promotion Management solution to manage all aspects of the trade promotion management cycle. Through the use of MEI's hosted solution, American Licorice expects to gain better insight into account plans and event tieins, introduce controls and approval processes to better manage funds/spending, and enable promotion evaluation by looking at customer profitability and return on investment.
GRAND SLAM: American Licorice's commitment to innovation began in the early 1990s when it became one of the first candy companies to expand into the sour candy market with the launch of the Sour Punch line.
ASPEN PET PRODUCTS INC.
According to Aspen Pet Products, whose brands include Cider Mill and BOODA, the company is driven by innovation and it strives to bring to market unique products that enhance the lives of pets and their pet parents. The company began with an original line of functional pet accessories and went on to acquire successful brands. Aspen Pet says it is dedicated to streamlining all customer service and distribution processes to create thriving relationships with retailers. To that end, Aspen Pet implemented Logility Voyager Demand Planning, Inventory Planning and Collaborate to reduce inventory levels and increase turns. Actually, it increased fill rate to 98 percent for more than 3,000 SKUs, improved already low inventory levels and decreased air freight expenses. The company earned the Class A ranking in manufacturing and distribution due to shortened delivery times, reduced delivery costs and efficient, paperless inventory management.
GRAND SLAM: Aspen Pet Products is able to ship all orders within 72 hours and track all shipping information in real time, aiding its effort to achieve the goal of a 100 percent accurate fill rate.
BITTEN
Fashion is not a luxury. It is a right. Chances are you have heard this mantra recently as Sarah Jessica Parker launched "BITTEN", her first-ever apparel line. BITTEN is a collection of affordable sportswear for women of all ages and sizes. Every piece in the line is priced at $19.98 and less. Between the already launched summer collection and the Fall collection to hit store shelves this month, BITTEN offers nearly 1,000 apparel and accessories pieces, including jeans,woven and knit shirts, suit separates, wool and cashmere sweaters, dresses, jackets, lingerie, t-shirts, sweatshirts, sleepwear, swimwear, bags, jewelry, belts, footwear and much more. BITTEN offers a full size range from XSXXL in tops, 0-22 in bottoms, and 5-11 in shoes and is only available at Steve & Barry's stores.
GRAND SLAM: O Magazine said, "We are smitten with BITTEN...and even crazier about the democratic sizes...and unbelievable prices."
BUBBA FOODS LLC
They may not even be close to the $1 billion mark yet, but with BUBBA Burger's new ad campaign and selection as the "Official & Preferred Burger" for the 2007 MLB season of Houston Astros, Mets, Braves, Cubs and Phillies, plus the sponsoring of car #21 for three races in the NASCAR Craftsman's Truck Series even greater success can't be too far ahead. Bubba Foods LLC was formed in 2000 to take over all aspects of the BUBBA burger, including production, sales and marketing. The burger was actually created in 1990 by Walter "Bubba" Eaves, who, according to the company, had a mission and a dream to create "the perfect hamburger." He invented a production process that allows for the BUBBA burger to be cooked from a frozen state and still remain juicy and tender. He also decided to use only high quality meat in his burger, refusing to use trimmings. Distribution began with the Jacksonville division of Publix and grew throughout the southeast.
GRAND SLAM: BUBBA Burgers are now available in nearly every state plus the Bahamas and Puerto Rico.
CE DE CANDY INC.
In 1949, Ce De Candy Inc.'s chairman brought Smarties to America from England with two wrapping machines, a rented facility and a lot of ingenuity. Almost 60 years later, Smarties is distributing its flagship product and newer products, including XTreme Sour Smarties and Mega Smarties, through major retail chains, like Wal-Mart and Target. Like all food manufacturers, the FDA's new Food Bioterrorism regulation required Ce De Candy to maintain records that allow complete traceability for all raw goods and manufactured products by June 2006. To meet the mandate, Ce De Candy implemented an enterprise mobility solution from Motorola Inc. and PartnerSelect Solution Provider Portable Technology Solutions (PTS). Implementation of the Motorola/PTS solution met firm timing and budget requirements, and Ce De Candy now benefits from automated production reports by using scanners rather than its previous manual process. In addition, customer disputes are now more quickly resolved as Ce De Candy can track shipments on a lot basis.
GRAND SLAM: Ce De Candy sells more than 25 billion tablets (8.8 billion rolls) of Smarties annually with approximately 600 million at Halloween alone.
THE EIGHT O'CLOCK COFFEE COMPANY
Eight O'Clock Coffee is the tale of a private label brand that became a national sensation. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) introduced the "Eight O'Clock Coffee" trademark in 1919, arriving at the name after determining that eight o'clock a.m. and p.m. are when most coffee is consumed. The brand's 150-year relationship with A&P ended in 2003 when The Eight O'Clock Coffee Company became incorporated. Today, Eight O'Clock Coffee is the third-largest national brand in terms of volume. Eight O'Clock Coffee's trade management solution from Gelco has scaled with the company since being implemented in 1996. Eight O'Clock Coffee recently upgraded to the Gelco TMS Enterprise solution to provide visibility and improve controls over trade promotion spending as well as enhance the system experience for brokers by removing redundant process steps.
GRAND SLAM: Eight O'Clock Coffee is now offered in roughly 65 percent of all grocery stores, and the majority of its sales occur in retailers beyond A&P.
NATURALLY FRESH INC.
When Naturally Fresh was founded 40 years ago, it was easy to keep track of manufacturing, distribution and sales information. The company had one product - a non-dairy creamer sold to airlines, one small warehouse and a handful of employees. Today, Naturally Fresh has a broad line of fresh refrigerated dips, sauces and dressings, a 250,000-square-foot facility, 28 distribution centers and 375 employees. The company needed an alternative to a slow and inflexible data analysis solution. Working with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Northridge Systems, the company adopted a Microsoft Business Intelligence solution based on Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The result is that more users can access more data than ever before, which enables better decision making throughout the company.
GRAND SLAM: The previous solution produced reports at a rate of up to 45 minutes each. Now users can pull most reports in two or three seconds and can pull all reports within 10 seconds.
DAISY BRAND
Still a family-owned business, Daisy Brand began in 1917 when a young man named Louis sold cheese out of a horsedrawn buggy on the west side of Chicago. Today, the company has grown significantly, selling direct to consumers via grocery stores and also catering to the unique needs of restaurants and hotels. What helps Daisy Brand stand out among larger competitors is a flexible deployment model, which is purely merchandise driven and powered by a mobile field force solution from O4 Corporation. An internal sales team does not have territories and its supply chain does not rely on warehouses. Instead, a mobile sales team travels where it is needed to help grow the business. For example, if a product launch is scheduled in the Northeast, the mobile sales team travels there and ensures promotions are in position, orders are taken, inventory is in place, shelves are stocked, and business objectives are met, tracked and measured for repeatability in the future.
GRAND SLAM: Daisy Brand is one of the nation's largest foodservice sour cream suppliers coast to coast.
GANZ
Established by Samuel Ganz and sons Jack and Sam in 1950, this privately-held family company is now headed by the founder's grandson, Howard Ganz, and produces one of the hottest toys on the market today - Webkinz, a cuddly collection of plush "pets." Each pet carries a secret code, which when entered at the Webkinz' Web site, brings the pet to life in a virtual world. Kids can adopt their pet and name it, and are responsible for taking care of it online everyday. They start out with $2,000 "Kinzcash" and with this they can "buy" food and accessories for their pet. Webkinz World also offers other ways to learn while earning Kinzcash through trivia quizzes, arcade games, daily activities and surprises. The "Clubhouse" offers an area for children to chat with their friends through KinzChat - constructed messaging with prewritten sentence options. The company claims there is no chance that kids can share any personal information.
GRAND SLAM: According to The New York Times, the Webkinz site draws 3.8 million visitors a month.
GOLD MEDAL BAKERY
"Our first responsibility is to our customers, without which we would have no reason for being. We cater to our customers in a professional manner by offering quality merchandise, competitively priced and delivered with courtesy and professionalism," claims Gold Medal Bakery, a 90-year old provider of private-label and branded bakery products. Yet, the company found itself experiencing a significant number of out of stocks and felt it was less flexible than its competitors. Further complicated by the pressure to reduce product waste, Gold Medal Bakery was challenged to improve demand forecasting ability while maintaining a high level of service for its retail customers. Gold Medal worked with Clarkston Consulting, which recommended combining a SMARTselling application with supply and demand chain optimization best practices as an innovative solution. Eleven Technology's SMARTselling web-based application suite for handhelds was integrated into the current SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
GRAND SLAM: Gold Medal Bakery's sales force can capture data at the "moment of truth," enabling the company to identify growth opportunities and improve customer service.
HEELYS INC.
Heelys Inc. designs, markets and distributes a slew of innovative, action, sports-inspired products targeted to the youth market. Yet its flagship product - a shoe with a removable wheel in the heel - accounts for about 95 percent of net sales, a feat that comes in the midst of controversy: Heelys-wheeled footwear has come under fire by those who worry they are unsafe. Some schools, malls and other public places have even banned them. However, detailed analysis from Heiden Associates, an authority on product safety and risk assessment, recently confirmed that Heelys is the safest activity among popular wheeled sports, measured by the rate of injuries per 100,000 activity participants.
GRAND SLAM: In 2006, Heelys Inc. raked in more than $188 million in sales, compared with $21.3 million two years earlier.
INNOCENT LTD
Hesitant to give up their day jobs to pursue an idea for a healthy beverage business, quirky college buds Adam, Rich and Jon bought 500 worth of fruit, turned it into smoothies and sold them from a stall at a little music festival in London. "We put up a big sign saying 'Do you think we should give up our jobs to make these smoothies?' and put out a bin saying 'YES' and a bin saying 'NO' and asked people to put the empty bottle in the right bin. At the end of the weekend the 'YES' bin was full so we went in the next day and resigned," according to the company's Web site. The big idea was to make it easy for people to do themselves some good...and to make it taste good too. And that's how innocent Ltd was born; innocent because anything you ever find in an innocent bottle will always be 100 percent natural.
GRAND SLAM: innocent Ltd began in 1999 with just three employees, three recipes, 0 turnover and one retailer. Today, innocent has grown to include 194 employees, 26 recipes, 100 million turnover and more than 7,000 retailers.
JOHN B. SANFILIPPO & SON, INC.
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (JBSS) doesn't mind being called nuts - that's because the company is a processor, packager, marketer and distributor of shelled and unshelled nuts and sesame sticks under well-known brands such as Fisher. In fact, Fisher is the official nut of the Metrodome. JBSS also produces private label products and markets and distributes a diverse line of other food and snack items. With more than 50 trading partners ordering multiple private and brand label products, JBSS needed the reliability and flexibility in its EDI system to process customer orders without delays. It chose to implement QAD's EDI ECommerce for MFG/PRO and Sterling Commerce's Gentran: Server for NT, hiring QAD Consulting to assist in training and consulting services. JBSS is now able to efficiently support everything from the most basic EDI customer requirements to the very complex in a fully automated process.
GRAND SLAM: JBSS now has an automated and reliable EDI process that reflects its product range and company structure. EDI is now an integral part of business at JBSS, reducing keying errors and costs associated with paper purchase orders and invoices.
JOHNSONVILLE SAUSAGE LLC
According to Information Resources Inc., Johnsonville Sausage captured two of the top three growth brands in the robust dinner sausage market with its refrigerated dinner sausage. The company is regionally known for its bratwurst, which accounts for 60 percent of its sales, and 75 percent of all the "brats" (pronounced brahts) produced in America come from Johnsonville, Wisconsin. (The unincorporated town is so small it doesn't have an official population.) In the last 10 years, the company has seen a 500 percent increase in productivity, going from a small local company to one that does business globally with 15 percent annual growth. Because of this expansion and the increased complexities that go along with it, Johnsonville decided to implement a new ERP system from SAP. The implementation is taking place in phases with a North American go live planned for later this year. Phase II will include PLM, TPM, plant maintenance and locations in Mexico, China and Europe.
GRAND SLAM: Johnsonville is the nation's No. 1 brand of fresh dinner sausage, including bratwurst and Italian sausage.
THE JEL SERT COMPANY
For more than 80 years, generations of families have enjoyed Jel Sert products such as Fla-Vor-Ice, Wyler's, Royal Pudding, Fla-Vor-Aid, Otter Pops and Jel Sert Gelatin Dessert. The company has put the lessons learned on its path to long-lasting success to good use. From its factory in West Chicago, Ill., Jel Sert now utilizes its manufacturing capabilities and significant production capacities to help pharmaceutical and food companies expand existing product lines and brands with new and novel formats. As part of this initiative, Jel Sert leans on LeanLogistics' On-Demand TMS for transportation management to improve visibility, reduce transportation costs, increase logistics efficiencies and raise service levels. "The Jel Sert Company is achieving our project objectives established with LeanLogistics, including increasing visibility to shipment pick and drop data, optimizing utilization through load consolidation, and employing business intelligence for better management and distribution decisions," says Andy Rush, executive vice president of operations for Jel Sert.
GRAND SLAM: The contract manufacturing of pharmaceutical and nutritional items is a quickly expanding portion of Jel Sert's business.
NEW WORLD PASTA
New World Pasta found itself in hot water after purchasing the Hershey Pasta Group, part of chocolate maker Hershey Foods, in 1999. In 2002, its financial statements came into question. And in 2004, the company filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. But in 2005, the tides turned when lenders agreed to finance $240 million for New World Pasta to exit from Chapter 11.Then in 2006, New World Pasta was bought by Spanish food giant Ebro Puleva for $362 million. New World Pasta kept its name and management, but now benefits from Ebro Puleva's worldwide expertise and geographic balance as the No. 2 pasta manufacturer. In the midst of all this, New World Pasta replaced it trade solution with Gelco's TMS Enterprise to provide powerful management information for effective trade promotion planning. The solution allows for real-time execution of the trade plans in the field by sales representatives.
GRAND SLAM: New World Pasta plans to implement a promotion evaluation tool from Gelco Trade Management to complete a closed-loop trade process by integrating syndicated data into its trade management system, thereby allowing the company to evaluate the effectiveness of its trade spend.
MARSAN FOODS
Marsan Foods is a family-owned company that prepares and packages food for large retail, food service and healthcare customers in North America. Driven by a strategic need to reduce operating costs and improve plant efficiencies, Marsan pursues continuous improvement policies. The company maximized manual systems and was having difficulty identifying how to further unlock the potential of its people and practices, and improve its overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Marsan selected CDC Software's out-of-the-box solution - CDC Factory, a manufacturing operations management system. This provided Marsan with the benefits of real-time OEE, finite scheduling, quality assurance and rapid maintenance response, unlocking the hidden capacity in the factory by managing production planning in real-time and recording results of all activities in terms of rate, yield, utilization and unit cost.
GRAND SLAM: Marsan implemented the system in just six weeks; increased its average OEE from 65 percent to 74 percent; reduced direct labor cost on all products run through the line; increased throughput; and raised production standards twice. Payback was within eight months with a 9 percent overall efficiency improvement.
METHOD
Cool packaging is just one of the innovations claimed by Method. The founders were high school buddies and then roommates, first experimenting with product in their kitchen. "The goal was to evolve the household cleaner from a toxic object that hid under the sink to an all-natural, biodegradable, and stylish counter-top accessory," says the company's Web site. Method's first product line was five spray cleaners and has expanded to dishes, hand and body, air and laundry. While first delivered from the back of a pick up truck, it can now be found at top retail and grocery chains across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Method's mantra is "people against dirty," referring to sustaining and cleaning up our environment. In 2006, the company was ranked No. 7 in Inc.'s list of America's fastest growing private companies.
GRAND SLAM: All Method products are biodegradable, come in recyclable packaging and are not tested on animals.
PACIFIC COAST PRODUCERS
"Top Ten Vendor Award," "Outstanding Supplier" and "Vendor/Partner of the Year" are just a few of the awards Pacific Coast Producers (PCP) has received over the years. Perhaps these were garnered because of the company's dedication "to examine any process, no matter how efficient or productive it may seem, for potential improvement." For example, PCP needed to respond to a major retail customer's request mandating that suppliers tag shipments with RFID devices. The company saw an opportunity here to go far beyond mandated capabilities, transform business processes and differentiate itself. Using a consultative partnering approach, IBM, OATSystems and PCP conducted a business analysis session and made recommendations on how best to use RFID technology for business value.
GRAND SLAM: With a scalable solution in place, when a customer requests additional RFID tags, PCP can quickly expand its initial RFID activities with increased volume and additional SKUs, all while engaging in pilot RFID programs with other retailers.
SEVENTH GENERATION
The name comes from the Iroquois belief that "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." Seventh Generation offers non-toxic household products including non-chlorine bleach; 100 percent recycled paper goods; non-toxic, phosphate free, biodegradable cleaning, dish and laundry products; plastic trash bags made from recycled plastic; chlorine free baby diapers and wipes; and chlorine free feminine care products. According to the company, its uses an independent group to track its environmental impact. In 10 years, it has saved: 327,800 trees, 233,000 pound of greenhouse gases, 1,313,700 gallons of petroleum and 123,642,500 gallons of water. Its operating principles are mantras of sustainability, service, leadership, community and education.
GRAND SLAM: "If every household in the United States replaced just one 25 oz. bottle of petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with our plantbased product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil - enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S. homes for a year!"
PHYSICIAN'S FORMULA COSMETICS
While fulfilling its steadfast pledge to purity - a promise never to allow fragrance, PABA or any of the 132 known skin irritants into anything it makes - Physician's Formula Cosmetics has posted more than 20 percent revenue growth (25 percent CAGR) in the past five years despite operating in a flat category. What's more impressive is that the steady growth rate has come despite millions of dollars in advertising and category management spending from mega-competitors, like Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal, Revlon and Johnson & Johnson. Much of Physician's Formula's gains are fueled by the QuickTABS analytical software from TABS Group and a strong sales force that is comfortable with fact-based selling. In addition, Physician's Formula complements great sales execution with strong product innovation, like its Mineral Wear line extension, which is the first mineral line to hit the mass channel. Now other competitors are following suit.
GRAND SLAM: Physician's Formula executed an IPO in November 2006 based on its strong growth history and remaining room for expansion in the market.
SAO PAULO ALPARGATAS S.A.
With its eyes firmly on the future and its roots deep in the past, Sao Paulo Alpargatas S.A. spent the past 100 years making history with its innovative products. But while the name Sao Paulo Alpargatas S.A. may not ring a bell, its No. 1 brand should. Its largest success and mainstay is the genuine Havaianas sandal, which can be seen on the pages of fashion magazines and on the feet of some of the world's biggest celebrities. To protect the brand integrity and trademark of Havaianas, Sao Paulo Alpargatas selectively contracts distributors around the world to sell Havaianas. Similarly, retailers must be authorized and approved by each distributor and ultimately by Sao Paulo Alpargatas. Style West is the exclusive distributor for Havaianas in the United States.
GRAND SLAM: Since their launch, 2.2 billion pairs of Havaianas sandals have been produced and sold throughout the world. If the sandals were laid end to end, they would go around the world 50 times.
SPYDER ACTIVE SPORTS
In the trend-setting apparel industry, where selling seasons are usually short-lived, Spyder Active Sports stands out. It creates more than 18,000 new SKUs of its high-end ski apparel and accessories each year, with up to 90 percent of its merchandise refreshed each ski season. The company follows an outsourced manufacturing model, relying on overseas suppliers to produce skiwear and ship goods to regional distribution centers in North America, Europe and Asia. Distribution centers then forward merchandise to customers. A recent assessment conducted by IDC found that Spyder's deployment of a JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Financial Management, Distribution and Manufacturing helps it to compress time to market, synchronize rapid development cycles with changing market conditions, and establish relationships with retailers and consumers. The resulting integrated financial and distribution system gives Spyder insight into accounts receivable, customer balances and the order-to-cash cycle. Despite an increasing number of products, the system handles the extra workload.
GRAND SLAM: Spyder, known for cutting-edge designs fused with high-tech fabrics, has enjoyed an annual CAGR of 30 percent, and recently launched into multi-season product offerings.
TWEEN BRANDS INC.
After its spin off from Limited Brands in 1999, Too Inc. changed its name to Tween Brands Inc. to more accurately reflect what it had become,a company focused on one segment of the population - tweens (ages 7-14). Earlier this summer,Tween Brands opened its 200th Justice store, an important milestone for a concept that just began three-and-a-half years ago. At least 100 more Justice stores are planned to open in 2007. The company also operates 569 Limited Too stores in 46 states and Puerto Rico. In 2007, it is planning a net increase of 25 to 30 Limited Too stores. To excel as a self-sourcing retailer, Tween Brands implemented the Jesta I.S. Vision Merchandising and Vision SCM. Jesta's solutions enable Tween Brands to quickly determine the status and location of its goods, be it on order, in transit, in warehouse or in store.
GRAND SLAM: An NPD survey placed Tween Brands as the fourth-highest dollar volume retailer of apparel for girls seven to 12 years of age and as the top specialty retailer.