Nantucket Nectars Case Study
Nantucket Nectars' "Juice Guys" Bottle Formula for Success With Quality Ingredients
The island of Nantucket is known for its entrepreneurial spirit. Tom Scott and Tom First caught that fever nine years ago when they started peddling Nantucket Nectars in the island's harbor. Now the self-proclaimed "juice guys" hold the number-two spot in the New Age beverage market.
To say the juice guys started their company, Nantucket Nectars, on a shoestring budget would be an understatement. The two Toms built a multi-million dollar company with an initial investment limited to a $170 bottle-cap hand press, recycled bottles and an assortment of fruit. They had no formal business training and conducted no market research. Their business was born from trial and error.
First, a Boston native, says it was a willingness to learn every aspect of the business, along with their own naiveté that kept their dream alive in the early years. "If we had ever written out a business plan in 1992, we would have gone to do something else," admits First. He says since the duo didn't know how to do a cash flow projection and had no idea that their business was sinking. "In the early 1990s we ran the business out of a cash box, and if there was anything left in the cash box at the end of the day, we thought we were making money," he muses.
Nantucket Nectars products are now sold in 30 states, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Compared to mainstream titans in the $15 billion fruit and tea beverage industry, the Toms are still a niche operation. However, their company is increasing its growth rate each year and expanding its product line as well. Besides juice, the company now offers a line of teas, as well as Super Nectars, nutritionally enhanced juices that include food additives like gingko biloba.
The story of Nantucket Nectars blossomed from a desire to break tradition, to shun the corporate world, with its suit-and-tie lifestyle. The Toms have succeeded in doing this with
The island of Nantucket is known for its entrepreneurial spirit. Tom Scott and Tom First caught that fever nine years ago when they started peddling Nantucket Nectars in the island's harbor. Now the self-proclaimed "juice guys" hold the number-two spot in the New Age beverage market.
To say the juice guys started their company, Nantucket Nectars, on a shoestring budget would be an understatement. The two Toms built a multi-million dollar company with an initial investment limited to a $170 bottle-cap hand press, recycled bottles and an assortment of fruit. They had no formal business training and conducted no market research. Their business was born from trial and error.
First, a Boston native, says it was a willingness to learn every aspect of the business, along with their own naiveté that kept their dream alive in the early years. "If we had ever written out a business plan in 1992, we would have gone to do something else," admits First. He says since the duo didn't know how to do a cash flow projection and had no idea that their business was sinking. "In the early 1990s we ran the business out of a cash box, and if there was anything left in the cash box at the end of the day, we thought we were making money," he muses.
Nantucket Nectars products are now sold in 30 states, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Compared to mainstream titans in the $15 billion fruit and tea beverage industry, the Toms are still a niche operation. However, their company is increasing its growth rate each year and expanding its product line as well. Besides juice, the company now offers a line of teas, as well as Super Nectars, nutritionally enhanced juices that include food additives like gingko biloba.
The story of Nantucket Nectars blossomed from a desire to break tradition, to shun the corporate world, with its suit-and-tie lifestyle. The Toms have succeeded in doing this with