By Leslie Josephs
Not all aspiring food companies dream of getting their products
into Whole Foods Market.
One example: Hayden Slater, co-founder and chief executive of
Santa Monica, Calif., juice company Pressed Juicery, who said he
passed up the opportunity for fear his juices would just get lost
in the mix.
The 31-year-old said he rejected a Whole Foods buyer's advances
more than four years ago, worried that his brand wouldn't get
noticed in an increasingly crowded beverage aisle.
"I think when you're in a bottle that's a similar shape and size
to other beverages it's really easy to blend in," said Mr. Slater,
whose business sells bottles of juices--with ingredients such as
apples, cucumbers, celery, ginger, and kale--sell for about $6.50
apiece. "We didn't want to blend in."
Mr. Slater also was concerned about his capacity to produce
enough juice for so large a retailer as Whole Foods. At the time,
he and a few contract workers he found through Craigslist made
beverages made with greens such as spinach and kale in a nearby
kitchen the business shared with a small cupcake company.
That kind of caution can be wise, said Rocki-Lee DeWitt,
professor of management at the University of Vermont.
Differentiating a new food or consumer product from existing brands
can be challenging, she said. Plus, managing the cost of a growth
spurt can be risky for small companies.
"The hard part is not going broke" under the strain of suddenly
ramping up production, she said, speaking of small players that get
their products into a big retail chain.
"Success has unexpected consequences," Prof. DeWitt added. Small
businesses may not not have the staff, raw ingredients or
production capacity to replicate its best-sellers on a larger,
national scale.
Whole Foods spokeswoman Robin Rehfield Kelly said its buyers in
the region couldn't confirm the chain's outreach to Pressed
Juicery, and weren't aware of any previous discussions with the
small business. "When we were delving into the facets of juice a
couple years back there were probably lots of times when people
asked questions in various juice venues in and around the L.A.
area," she added.
In the meantime, Mr. Slater's business has outgrown the shared
kitchen. From his first retail shop in Brentwood, Calif.--a
22-square-foot space he likened to a "broom closet," which still
exists--he has since built a brick-and-mortar chain. Pressed
Juicery now has 26 locations, and expects to have around 40 in
2016, including stores in Las Vegas and New York City. It also
offers home delivery for all 50 states.
To supply the stores, the company, with 400 employees, now
operates a juice manufacturing facility in Fresno, Calif., and one
in Wayne, N.J.
And what if Whole Foods came calling now?
"Focusing on retail has really worked for us," Mr. Slater said,
"But we know that as we continue to grow the brand we will have to
diversify and would be ecstatic to continue the conversation with
Whole Foods."
Pressed Juicery recently sealed a deal to sell juice at the
Equinox gym chain in New York and starting selling at one of the
locations in February.
Leslie Josephs
Access Investor Kit for Whole Foods Market, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US9668371068
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires