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 …show more content…

"There was nothing like it in the United States. So when I got back, I kept trying to recreate it." The recipe calls for just the right mix of water, nectar and pure cane sugar. The islanders loved it.

A Juicy Opportunity
The Toms quickly realized the potential of this tasty fruit creation and headed to their local grocers that same evening. "One night, we started mixing fruits in a blender. We bought all sorts of fruits from our local grocery store and came up with some concoctions that are probably better left forgotten," says First. But he says they did hit upon some great flavors, including the ever-popular Orange Mango juice cocktail.

The next spring, Allserve would include a glorified floating lemonade stand in its repertoire of services. They sold a lot of peach juice to thirsty boaters that summer. And while they felt this might be the idea that hit it big, their juice business started as just another way to boost Allserve's summer sales. "We were doing so many different things, we thought eventually maybe something will stick," says First.

Nantucket Nectar's early channels of manufacturing and distribution were quite primitive in comparison to the bottling plants they use today. "Basically we were producing the juice by hand out of an ice cream store for a while, and just selling it to a few stores on Nantucket," says First. But the juice guys would soon encounter the first real setback to their pioneering efforts: spoilage. Because the