Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/579196
C o n v e n i e n c e R e t a i l e r S h o w D a i l y 4 1 Tu e s d a y, O c t o b e r 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 world leaders in beverage dispensing equipment. In July 2006, Jud Schroeder founded Schroeder America, which has transformed itself from a "one product company" to a vertically integrated, state of the art manufacturing and engineering company. Schroeder America produces more than 15 unique products that con- tinue to bring new technology and prod- uct improvements to the marketplace. CRSD: As a vertically integrated manu- facturer, what is your current product line? AB: We are focused more towards the concentrated or post-mix beverages with numerous dispensing platforms. The current product line includes bar guns, post-mix tea dispensers, valves, chiller platforms, ice cooled dispensers and fresh brew tea urns. There's also visual bubblers and frozen non-carbon- ated dispensers, both with auto-mix option. New for 2015, we have a 2 Valve Electric Pump Post-Mix Dispenser. CRSD: What makes your manufacturing company unique? AB: Schroeder America is totally com- mitted to engineering and manufacturing a quality product, at competitive prices, with outstanding customer service. A dedicated research and development department is focused on continued prod- uct improvements and next generation dispensers. Vertically integrated manu- facturing ensures quality control, on time delivery and cost savings that are passed onto the customer. Customer service and satisfaction along with beverage quality are the company's priorities. CRSD: Who is Schroeder America's customer base? Schroeder America (Cont'd. from p. 1) AB: While our doors have only been open for a few years, our market share is strong and growing. Schroeder America enjoys strong relationships with major syrup suppliers worldwide. Additionally, we sell to and through distributors servic- ing many of the top brands in the food and beverage industry. CRSD: Schroeder America continues to sell from a platform of quality and relia- bility. Can you address this? AB: The ICON ® and MAGNUM are our bar gun beverage dispensers. The bar gun exceeds industry standards for reliability, serviceability, ratio control and is the pre- ferred bar gun for many companies worldwide. Schroeder America lives and breathes "continuous product improve- ment" in order to ensure that our products not only perform the best but also contin- ue to evolve and improve to meet market demands. The post-mix tea dispenser introduced new technology and raised the bar for dispensing product through a simulated tea urn. CRSD: Does Schroeder America have any new products that have not been mentioned? AB: In development for the past three years, Schroder America's new carbona- tor entry is ready for the market. CRSD: Why should the industry look to Schroeder America for their beverage dispensing solutions? AB: We are driven by drink quality, relia- bility and serviceability. All of these things drive customer satisfaction and certainly beverage volume. This means dollars and cents to our customer's bottom line. For more information, visitwww.schroeder america.com, call 210.662.8200. brand-new pumps, saving up to approxi- mately 50 percent over new. We also rebuild electronic boards for the dis- pensers and provide replacement stain- less steel for them. Graffco also offers rebuilt POS equipment and rebuilt tank monitoring equipment. CRSD: How did you get into the busi- ness? DG: Back when I was a young boy, my dad made his living rebuilding automat- ic nozzles. As a young man growing up, helping my dad rebuild nozzles is how I earned money for cars and school. When I was 20, I moved to Fort Lauderdale and started my own nozzle business. In the mid 1970s when unleaded gas came in, my dad called and asked if I could sell used pumps in Florida. As the business evolved, the focus left the nozzles and became the pumps. We incorporated as Graffco, Inc. in 1986. We were partners for many years – two men and a pump. It was a great partnership. Now, my dad is retired, and I have my three daughters and a son in the business with me, and it's a joy working with them on a daily basis. CRSD: What's new this year for Graffco? DG: This year, we're teaming up with Orpak to develop EMV modules into existing dispensers. Brand-new dis- pensers are so expensive for EMV, so we'll offer an alternative. We are devel- Graffco (Cont'd. from p. 1) oping it to work with a variety of POS equipment. CRSD: Who are your customers for that and for your other equipment? DG: Our customers are a lot of distribu- tors who will resell our equipment to smaller oil companies that can't afford new. We cater to the smaller marketer, but we still can handle doing special things for the bigger ones. For instance, we rebuild the pumps for 7-11 when they've been hit. CRSD: How's the business going? DG: The future looks good. With EMV upgrades and the partnership with Orpak, and the reputation we've earned through the years of doing business, the future looks bright. We've been growing every year. We supply a niche market with quality used pumps and reconditioned pumps. We stand by everything we sell, and everyone knows that. We're also rebuilding more electronics than ever before, and that's an avenue that we expect to continue to develop. CRSD: Anything else our readers should know? DG: We also purchase late-model equip- ment if people have any for sale. Anyone doing any remodeling or upgrading should contact us. For more information, visit booth #6603. After the show, visit www.graffco.com, email sales@graffco.com or call 800.443.1219. that is Non-GMO Project Verified. All of our drinks contain real aloe vera pulp and juice that are straight from the leaf, not from powder, and we have very unique flavor combinations like peach-water- melon, wheatgrass and pomegranate- cranberry that you don't see very often. We have the highest real aloe vera con- tent among R-T-D aloe vera beverages in the market, and we're the No. 1 brand in the country. CRSD: Who is your target market? HC: ALO's target market is expanding all the time. When we launched, our core customers were those that were more health conscious. Nowadays, we're finding that more and more "mainstream" consumers are also look- ing for better-for-you alternatives to sodas and sugary drinks, and we fit right in. In fact, we even had a c-store owner tell us that his best ALO cus- tomer is a construction worker who comes in regularly to buy six bottles at a time. CRSD: How has the past year been for ALO? HC: We continue to see tremendous growth and an expanding fan base. Our ALO Pulp-Free line was introduced a few months ago, and the response has been fantastic. In fact, ALO Comfort Pulp-Free was recently awarded the Gourmet Retailer Editors' Pick award for best new product in the beverage catego- ry. Our pulp-free line is a great addition ALO Drink (Cont'd. from p. 1) to the ALO family; it's something we cre- ated for the consumers out there who love the taste of our original drinks but who aren't crazy about the texture. It has all the same aloe vera content as our orig- inal line, but with the aloe vera pulp fine- ly minced into the drink for a smooth tex- ture. Our newest flavor, ALO Crisp, which is made with Fuji apple and pear juice, is already taking off. Introduced just a few months ago, we see this flavor becoming a Top Five if not Top Three very shortly. CRSD: Is ALO releasing any new prod- ucts? HC: Yes, ALO Drink is getting ready to release a new line called ALO Essentials. ALO Essentials consists of two new fla- vors, Lime Spark and Mango Delight, in smaller 350 mL single-serve bottles at a lower price point. ALO Essentials is per- fect for consumers on the go. CRSD: How do your products or servic- es enhance your customers' ability to compete in the marketplace? HC: ALO Drink is the No. 1 R-T-D aloe vera beverage brand in a fast growing category. We enhance our customers' ability to compete by providing them a product that is on-trend at a great price point that will turn quickly and bring a lot of repeat business. Visit ALO Drink at booth #3712. For more information, go to www .alodrink.com, email info@ alodrink.com or call 800.223.4438. that is targeted for high-end gourmet stores. Our company focuses on re-bag- ging, co-packing and private label for almost any dry products across the United States. Many things set our company apart from our competition, one of which is that we have the highest quality, variety and value in each bag. King Henry's searches for manufacturers that have quality products that are well known and are proven to be great tasting and great selling across the world. In King Henry's bag line, we have more than 200 items to choose from and many different sized racks to fit most locations needs. We also give the bags the most product that we can, so that the end consumer feels that they get value for their purchase. The second distinction is that I have been in this business for more than 26 years, and started as a route sales person driving a truck and making deliveries store to store. I know what it is like to work long hours, work in extreme tem- peratures, and how hard it is to get, keep and maintain accounts. Between myself and the sales staff, we can also offer help and suggestions for distributors, from getting accounts to setting up racks, to maximizing their sales and profits per store, considering their warehouse capac- ity and their geographical area. Another difference is that we can react to our customer's needs and requests for new and varied products much quicker by testing many distribu- tors across the United States for items that are the most popularly requested. This helps all distributors to bring new items to the market and keeps the line constantly improving and updated to help ensure the highest level of sales possible for all distributors and stores. My name is Trina Davidian and I am writing this article to invite you to please stop by King Henry's booth. My sales staff and I would love to meet you to see if we can help you, either with our King Henry's bag line, co-packing or even a private label line. Visit King Henry's at booth #1637. King Henry's (Cont'd. from p. 1)