Whats with the Can?

VISO is now available exclusively in what I think is the best looking 16oz. beverage can in America! This change has been long in the coming, and will allow our company to move forward with expanding our distribution footprint in the US, Canada, Asia, and Europe, while also improving on the products that our customers have come to enjoy. The process of switching our packaging to a can was not easy, and a lot of thought went into it. This will definitely seem a little long-winded to some, but I feel that I owe nothing less that a comprehensive explanation to my loyal customers on this topic. Especially those I may have disappointed along the way.

 

Early in 2009, our company was faced with a pretty substantial challenge. The blue bottle that we had been using was becoming more of a growth inhibitor than was acceptable. The blue bottle was a great package, however it had huge production limitations. The bottle was constructed in a very high end blow-molding machine that was designed to produce one bottle at a time, translating into a maximum production capacity of about three truckloads per month. While this process resulted in a very sexy bottle, it was expensive and increasingly worrisome because we couldn’t satisfy even conservatively forecasted demand. Regarding the expense of the bottle, PET plastic is tied to the price of oil (because it is oil), so as oil increased in price, so did the price of the bottle. The blue bottle therefore had availability issues, as well as financial and environmental drawbacks to it use. So, with business being business, it was time to look for a new package.

 

The idea for the can came from our production options. We could find a new, far less attractive plastic bottle that would function with our bottling equipment, but then we ran into another set of problems. Our bottling line’s capacity was limited by the fact that it was a slow line. Loved it, worked it for years, it was a great line, but it could only produce 12 pallets of product a day, and we were selling about 3 pallets of Vigor alone per day. So, if we were going to stick to producing the product ourselves, we’d need new equipment that would run at higher speeds.

 

Right around this time, hinting that the universe, the air, and peoples’ psychic wavelengths are somehow connected, Portland Bottling Company approached us about working with them. They saw that we were a growing company, and that perhaps we’d like to bottle our drinks at their facility. They had a lot of things going for them, not least of which was the fact that it’d had been a dream of mine to make our drinks there for the last seven years. Other advantages included an almost unlimited production capacity, state of the art equipment, Organic Certification, and the prospect that we’d be working with solid local folks that we knew and admired.

 

Evaluating the pros and cons would be tricky. Faster equipment meant that we could produce more product, which would 1) make it cheaper to produce and 2) eliminate all the out of stocks and shipment delays that we’d been plagued with in the past. It also meant that we could finally actively expand and pursue new customers beyond Portland and Seattle. Product wise, using the Portland Bottling equipment would mean that we could produce a much more consistent product due to the larger batch sizes we’d be running there.

 

Organically speaking, working with Portland Bottling meant that we could begin offering our customers Organically Certified drinks and begin using organic juices in all of our flavors. I really felt this was important, as being the only Oregon-based beverage producer that didn’t offer Organic products was really starting to put me off! Additionally, using organic juices to flavor the drinks instead of essences (which are like perfume for the food industry) would result in a much more complex and delicious product offering.

 

And finally, the people at Portland Bottling know beverage production inside and out, their facility is central, and knowing the people that we’d be working with were local and in touch with our needs made for a unique, attractive, and elegant solution for us. We stand shoulder to shoulder with them as VISO is mixed and packaged every single time we produce at Portland Bottling, and that’s exactly how it should be. If anything, we’ve learnt a lot about our own product in the process of working with them.

 

If there was a con, then it was the fact that Portland Bottling only works with cans, specifically the 16oz. Ball Aluminum Can. Now, there’s a few ways to look at this. The first way would be for me to assume that my customers could give a hoot about the packaging; that they were consuming VISO for what was inside the package and not the package itself. I really tried to convince myself that this scenario could be reality, but I knew that packaging was important to me when I purchased a product; so it would be important to other folks as well. The major risk would involve customers viewing the can as a step down in packaging, both from design and resealing perspectives. Equally problematic, our distributors and retailers could start looking at us as just another energy drink.

 

In order to go forward with the new packaging, I really had to make sure that we could give customers sensible answers to their questions. Insofar as the issue of resealing the can, I found the gorgeous “Can Caps” which are now offered here on the website free to customers who’d like to try them. Addressing the price increase was the logic that putting organic juices in the product makes it a better, more expensive product. So, yes there are four fewer ounces per VISO, but the 16oz. a customer is experiencing is a better beverage than the 20oz. bottled VISO. As far as VISO now being an “Energy Drink” company? Well, if we are then we’re the best. Regardless, VISO has always been designed and formulated around the Vitamins and Minerals so prominently featured as our main selling point. We are a “Vitamin Drink” company that happens to make a few flavors that contain a lot of caffeine. And that’s the way we intend to have people think about us!

 

As I write this, sales of VISO have never been better, and I attribute that to the improved flavor and ingredients now found in our products resulting from our switch in packaging. I’m excited to see what 2010 will bring as we have aggressive plans for expansion, not only in our current markets, but also down the West Coast and into the Southwestern US. My pledge to our customers is that I will continue to develop, teardown, rebuild, and do whatever I can to always make sure that VISO is on the cutting edge of tastiness, functionality, environmental sustainability, and availability throughout our markets. I’m a young guy living his dream, so I’ll be at this for a while yet! As always, I’m a phone call away and welcome your comments.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

Your mad scientist friend in the beverage business,

 

Alex Ilica

(503) 222-2321