|
TheBuzz Erika Engle |
New owners give
fresh burst of energy
to Maui Juice Co.NEW owners are juicing up Maui Juice Co., purchased from Larry Lassek in March. "Larry did a great job building the business, and (founder) Andy (Binstock) did as well," said Jerry Pearring, chief executive of Florida-based XStream Beverage Inc. The company bought Maui Juice, founded in 1986 on the Valley Isle, for an undisclosed price.
Lassek is still involved as a consultant and Pearring has hired former Hawaii ex-pat James Clouse to serve as general manager.
Clouse recently returned to the islands from Northern California and brings a background in sales and marketing in the beverage industry.
Meanwhile, Pearring has reviewed potential new production sites. "As we grow, we'll need a larger location," he said.
The Maui Juice production facility is in an industrial area in Wailuku, Maui, but Pearring would like a facility in a "more tourist-friendly area," to include a visitor center and to show visitors and kamaaina how the juice is made.
The ultra-small company has three employees making seven flavors of juice in 150-gallon batches.
At the time of the purchase, Lassek said many suitors had approached Maui Juice "but none of them truly understood and appreciated the spiritual surrounding of our products like XStream Beverage."
"Local consumers are loyal to this brand ... they're so receptive already to the Maui Juice brand," that expanding its reach on Maui won't be hard, Pearring said.
The plan is also to distribute Maui Juice products to other islands and the mainland, where demand for so-called functional drinks and new-age beverages is rising.
First, Pearring said, "I really want to take care of our existing customer base and get more active with those customers." The 50 to 60 accounts include natural food stores, beach-side shops and convenience stores.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at: eengle@starbulletin.com