making health food juices, which at that time only appeared in health food stores," recalls Bruce Langer, co-vice president of the company. "There was a time when it was fresh and not shelf-stable."

The juice, formerly known as L&A Juice, was available only in Southern California. The Langers brand the company sells today didn’t evolve until 1988, when the company moved to its current 140,000-square-foot, City of Industry, Calif. location, nestled among plants and warehouses outside of Los Angeles. Shortly after moving into its new location and changing its name from L&A to Langers, the company began to focus on developing its foothold in the national market. Today, Langer Juice has its sights on the Eastern United States.

Regardless of expanding its juice-making capabilities and varieties over the years—and even becoming a starlet in recent Hollywood movie promotions—Langer Juice Co. always keeps its roots in Building on its solid foundation of healthy and other product lines, the company has seen double-digit growth during the past year, reporting $107 million in sales for 2002, up from $99 million in 2001. In addition to its California facilities, Langer Juice has grown to five distribution centers and four manufacturing facilities across the country. Its sixth distribution center is scheduled to open next month.

According to Langer, the company has grown over the years for two key reasons: customer contact and high-quality product introductions in response to consumer demand.

“ I think the reason we’ve been successful is our mindset, which takes several forms,” he says. “It’s how we work with customers and put ourselves in their shoes. [We also] bring in private [suppliers] that are officially promoted as No. 1, top-quality producers from raw materials, to blending and tasting. It’s a family business and this is the juice our children drink.”

For these reasons, producing a quality product is of top concern to the Langer Juice team. During every step of the process, from raw materials to filling, there are people who test the product. The plant is fully staffed 24 hours per day and tasters test every batch of juice produced. A bottle of juice from each 45-minute run is retained in the warehouse for about one year for quality purposes, according to the company.

The breadth of the Langers product line ranges from juice for babies to adults. And in the case of Langers 100 percent cranberry blends, the line transcends age demographics. Its 100 percent line of products from Cranberry to White Grape makes moms feel better about giving juice to their children, and builds on the health-conscious message that added vitamins and minerals are a necessary part of the American diet, which appeals to older consumers. In addition to 100 percent line, Langers is available in Plus varieties that offer consumers vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, iron and calcium. Additionally, herbs such as ginkgo biloba and ginseng are added to various items in the 100 percent product line.

“ Our [product] enhancements are important to our consumers and promote loyalty,” Langer says. “[For example] our Cranberry 100 has added vitamin A, C and E, and all of our shelf-stable diet juices have calcium.

The Langers juice product line varies not only by enhancement but also by style and size. In addition to its 100 percent and enhanced juices, Langers comes in frozen concentrates, seasonal blends that rotate throughout the year, and juice blends in 32-once, 16-once and 10-once sizes. The company also uses 128-once bottles for a variety of its products.

Industry trends promote change
In addition to changing its name and relocating its operations, juice industry shifts during the past three decades have affected the company, requiring an agile approach to growth and development. Langer Juice Co.’s years of experience in the marketplace and understanding of the juice category have prepared the company for what lies ahead.

For instance, the company at one time divided the juice category into cranberry and apple juices. All other juices were lumped into one side of the business based on consumer trends, according to Jerry Bekier, president of Premier Sales & Marketing, an Anaheim Hill, Calif., company that manages sales and marketing for Langer Juice.

“ That’s all out the window now,” Bekier says. When the company introduced its cranberry juice, consumers were beginning to realize that many products on the shelf were mixtures of juice and sugars. Once the consumer’s embraced 100 percent all-natural juice without added sugars, smaller producers such as Langers had room to grow, he says. With a little coaxing to expand its juice offerings, the company took advantage of this market change and rolled out its 100 percent cranberry juice with added vitamins and minerals.

“ We were successful with our customers in apple juice and then one of our buyers suggested that we make a cranberry version,” Langer remembers. Langer Juice listened to its buyer and forged ahead, proving to be weighty competition in the category.

According to Langer, without passionate, aggressive and intelligent salespeople, the company would have faltered against major national competitors.

“ We found that people believed the category needed competition,” Langer says. Good things come from healthy competition such as pricing and promotions, he says. It also doesn’t hurt that the product’s flavor was judged second to none.

A taste test performed by the American Culinary Institute, a division of Quality Institute International, gave Langers a boost as the “best tasting juice”.

With a gold medal under its belt, the Western United States market cornered, and expansion looming in the Northeast thanks to an independent broker waiting in the wings, Langer Juice knew it had a big future ahead.

“ We just started selling in Boston and New England because it was the place to go competitively, “Bekier says. “We didn’t do focus groups. We just canvassed the trade, looked at what was available to the consumer and determined how we could fill unmet needs.”

Although Bekier attributes some of the company’s 100 percent juice success to being in the right place at the right time, he also considers consumer buy-in a driving force when competing against large companies in the market.

Consumer satisfaction is especially important when producers are faced with decisions triggered by industry trends. A lack of stability in the juice category has caused many juice companies to not only revise their product formulations to meet consumer needs, but also to consider alternative packaging options to keep up – even when faced with consumer animosity toward change.

“ Not too long ago, everything was glass,” Bekier says. “We were the first juice company on the West Coast to use plastic packaging.” Although plastic was easier-to-handle and a more efficient packaging option for producers, consumers on the West Coast were not excited when juices adopted plastic packaging in the late ‘80s, according to Bekier.

Today, Langer’s packages only its Pineapple Coconut juice in 64-once glass bottles, which accounts for less than 1 percent of the company’s portfolio of brands. But it wasn’t only consumers’ eventual acceptance of plastic that was important to the company. Retailer support played a key role in whether or not the product would get to the shelf.

“ Getting past [many years of brand loyalty to other brands by retailers] and the consumer giving the retailers reasons to carry the brand has been a huge part of Langer’s success,” Bekier says.

Independent alliances
Langer’s family-run operation maintains the atmosphere of a company run without outside management and bureaucracy, and cross-promotional and sales activities continue to win over the support of the trade. Having been approached by numerous companies looking to get into the business of juice making, the company enjoys its independence and prides itself on creating partnerships with like-minded organizations in the industry. For example, Langer Juice works within a network of independent food brokers and distributors.

“ The people we see are decision-makers and it’s frustrating for them to have to wait for an answer and not be able to negotiate across the table [with other companies], “Langer says. “As an independent company, we provide that negotiating experience that lets [the companies we work with] move on with their business.”

Another advantage of working with independent companies is that the owner lives within the marketplace and is able to keep an eye on local business and understand what consumers want.

“ We like to work backward from the consumer,” Bekier says. “The company philosophy is such that if we find a need on our production side, we find the best people we can, define our goals, hire the ‘A’ team and let them run with it. We’re not formal, we’re very informal, and all ideas are considered.”

As a result of continual contact with the trade and consumers, the company has introduced a variety of successful flavors such as Raspberry Lemonade 100. Additionally, grocery stores that Langer Juice works with have tipped it off to trends in grocery aisles to move to single-serve packaging, an area in which the company is considering ways to do more business, says Tom Bottiaux, national sales manager for Langer Juice.

But it’s not only opportunities to enter burgeoning categories that interest the company.

“ To us [the juice market is] new and exciting,” Bekier says. That excitement has carried over to other categories. [In the beginning] we consciously entered a market to give it a little life.”

For example, the company introduced its frozen juice concentrates at a time when frozen concentrates were on the decline due to limited promotional activity and flavor innovation.

The company’s desire to encompass all age groups and tastes within the family of products triggered its entry into the diet juice business, which brought in more than $5 million for the company during the past year. Its six varieties of juice with no sugar added use sucralose and acesulfame potassium as sweeteners.

“ The consumer [with diabetes or other health concerns who requires sugar-free alternatives] hasn’t had a choice,” Bekier says. “The most enthusiastic e-mail we get is from people who haven’t had a choice until now.”

But it’s not only juice that the company feels will reach all age groups and tastes. The recent launch of Langer brand purified drinking water, which is available in 0.5- and 1-liter sizes, received representation in the Southern California market in the beginning of May, according to Bottiaux.

As the company expands into uncharted territory with water and frozen concentrates, the question remains: will the new lines of products undercut Langers juice business?

“ You’re going to have your No. 1 product and No. 80,” Bekier says. “Pineapple Coconut juice has dedicated consumers, and our apple juice business is growing, even though the percent of contribution to the total grocery apple juice market is declining typically in a market such as Southern California, Langers product accounts for anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of the juice category. It’s hard to find that [type of product representation] in a single market.”

Cross-promoting to the top
From adding vitamins to co-marketing and cross-promotions with major Hollywood movie and consumer product companies, the Langer’s consumer is getting more for the money – and “freebee” opportunities such as a trip to Jamaica, a JanSport Backpack with Langers “Go Anywhere” Sweepstakes, or a “Charlotte’s Web” movie videocassette.

“ Part of the overall philosophy is adding value to our consumer,” says Langer. “We have one promotion coming up in December in which the winner and their friends will have a private movie screening party. And we just completed a sweepstakes with the ‘Agent Cody Banks’ movie.”

Langer’s proximity to Hollywood is a driving factor in the company’s decision to partner with MGM, Sony Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Mira Max and Universal Studios. Another outlet for promotion has been the video gaming industry, which is popular among younger consumers, who in theory, will maintain their juice-drinking habits throughout their lives.

“ If you can find a consumer who is nine or 10 years old who likes your product, then you’ve got a consumer for life,” Bekier says.

PLANT PROFILE
BYJamie Popp

Flexible and Independent
Langer’s efficient manufacturing and distribution systems accommodate demand