Bahama Blast frozen cocktail mixes and smoothie concentrates won Rich Products a Best of Class Award this year from the Culinary Institute of America. |
On the beverage side, Rich’s Bahama Blast line of frozen cocktail mixes and smoothie concentrates received the 2004 American Culinary Institute Best of Class Award in the foodservice frozen beverage category. Rich research also heard Dunkin’ Donuts’ clamor for a more healthful muffin and came through this past season with a trans fat-free muffin. It quickly boosted the chain’s sales. “What’s more, it’s a better muffin,” adds Dave Konst, vice president of R&D.Harnessing Fortune“You have to be a fighter – and you have to be lucky!” reflects Bob Sr. on the underpinnings of his success. “Four or five times in our history, if a decision had gone the other way, Rich Products would have been out of business.” Rich traces his love of competition to his years as an athlete, grappling with opponents on the wrestling mat or knocking heads on the gridiron.He fought a seemingly endless string of lawsuits in 41 states to keep his soybean-based Coffee-Rich frozen non-dairy coffee creamer on the market. The dairy industry invoked a federal law stating that “no person shall sell or manufacture any product in semblance or imitation of milk or cream.” He and his legal team argued the semantics of “cream” and “creamer,” charging the industry had no exclusive claim to the term. He also disclaimed any attempt at “imitation” at all, calling his product a “replacement.”“We got a 3-3 decision at the Superior Court in Wisconsin,” recalls Rich of the most significant and memorable of the court decisions. “One of the judges had a conflict of interest. He was the one who filed the initial suit against us. He had to dismiss himself from the case. So the vote stood 3-3. It was then that I discovered that the courts operated like baseball: The tie goes to the runner. By beating these laws we did one hell of a service for the margarine industry, too,” he notes.Luck surfaced on other occasions. As a War Foods Administrator in the 1940s, Rich visited a New York customer to display a new non-dairy whipped topping made from soybean. The liquid product inadvertently froze. “We cut the frozen topping into pieces, and it whipped to perfection,” raves Rich. A breakthrough product, Rich’s Whipped Topping, was born.At times, brainstorms showered a virtual embarrassment of riches upon the firm. In a turnabout of the frozen topping surprise, Rich’s now famous all-natural “Freeze Flo” technology came into being. The head of the R&D lab pulled a test batch of a soy-based whipped topping from the freezer only to find that the topping was still soft. In typical fashion, the elder Rich turned the accident into a milestone event. Freeze Flo technology, still licensed by the company, keeps interior fillings soft with freezer-stored product. It is used today in éclairs and ice cream.Seeing in 3-DSince those early brushes with good fortune, the company almost makes a science of harnessing luck. It begins with fostering innovation. A “3-D vision” the younger Bob Rich identifies in the company-wide initiative, Mission World Class, is “to lead the way to DREAM, DEVELOP, and DELIVER tomorrow’s food innovations today. If company history teaches anything, it’s that good ideas are everywhere. Vision, focus and persistence, however, bring them to fruition.”Such an eye for development hearkens back to Bob Sr.’s knack for letting no idea with star potential slip through the cracks. Mindy Rich, vice president of innovation and wife of president and CEO Bob Rich Jr., has been a prime mover in formalizing the company’s culture of innovation.Among her inspirations has been an Innovation Fair. At the biannual event, business divisions, operating groups and processing plants showcase successful ideas and give other ideas a chance to gather momentum and support. Culinary/sales teams find the seeds of new product innovation from customers, headlines and market sources. “Innovation is not just about products but processes, too,” says Barth. “We’re an organization that gets an idea and makes it happen.”“My job is to deliver as much luck as I can,” laughs Konst, hearkening back to the founder’s favorite theme. “The challenge is to find out what projects have the best chance of working, (and) to know what we’re getting into before we make a commitment,” he says. “I prioritize, give the go/no-go to projects.”The Rich Mission emphasizes working smarter and “doing the right things” as well as thinking outside the box. Cross-functional teams and the Stagegate process help screen the flood of ideas, narrowing the field of focus to concepts with the best chance of success and highest return potential. Leadership competencies include knowing value drivers, with emphasis on profit and growth potential, and effective strategic planning.And it seems that the right things just continue to happen at Rich Products as new products continue to flourish. The company will pass $2 billion in sales this year, not bad for a family-owned business. It’s a testament to an organization that has always placed a premium on quality and innovation. And a little luck!Chef with the magic touchAdd a chef’s touch to the customer menu, knowledge of the kitchen and just a pinch of legerdemain, and you have all the ingredients for remarkable success with the world’s leading food chains. “I look at a blank plate, and it is like a canvas for me,” says Michael Joseph, certified executive chef and national accounts culinary manager for Rich Products.