Economic Indicators: Christopher Crowley, Polar Beverages
Who are your customers?
Anybody with lips. Mainly we distribute throughout New England and New York City and along the East Coast. That’s where we plan to grow. We distribute primarily to supermarkets as opposed to smaller pizza shops and convenience stores. About 40 percent of our business is our branded products, including Polar, Adirondack and Waist Watchers. Another 15 percent of our business is the big national brands, including 7Up, A&W, Snapple — all those affiliate brands that we have permanent rights to distribute and manufacture. The remainder of our business is private label beverages sold in supermarkets like Stop & Shop and Shaws.
How do you expect to close out 2010 in terms of revenues?
Revenues are about flat, but we’ve really managed well by constantly tightening our belt. We’re having an acceptable year. And 2009 wasn’t bad.
What are your projections for 2011?
A lot of our business will be flat. Hopefully the Polar brands will grow. We spend much of our time consolidating our activities around Worcester. We’re really trying to manage head count and overall cost.
Are you planning to do anything different in 2011 to help drive revenues?
It’s a little bit of the same old same old. We’re planning on a major acquisition in the south, but I don’t know for sure if that’s going to happen.
How did the recession impact your business?
We’re not that susceptible to a recession. We’re that food category that’s value priced. We didn’t see a huge dip at all in our activity. 2009 was decent and 2010 was a little bit better.
How are you feeling about 2011?
We feel in control. We feel very comfortable with the team we have in place and the plans we have.
How’s the Polar Bear that looks out on Interstate 290 feeling?
Great. The bear feels excellent. He’s got a new scarf for the winter and in the spring he’ll have a Hawaiian lei.
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