Distribution and POS/ Transaction Alternative Idea

[Faris, Kenneth]

Walking downtown with Viv today and went by a Kelloggs HQ Office building on Main with Glass walls allowing visibility into the gym on the ground floor.  Lining a wall was a large rack of the blue plastic 5 gallon water cooler bottles.  

I then thought about Culligan which is a national water distributor and my guess is that they have lots of gym customers. 

http://www.culliganmi.com/bottled-water/products 

They do free delivery of systems and could be a great back door distributor without all the competition and regulation of an alcohol or traditional beverage distributor. 

Whats more they have a whole section of thier site devoted to the benefits of personal hydration complete with a calculator for personal hydration needs!!!

http://www.culliganmi.com/bottled-water/hydration.php 

One negative  is that they are directly preaching  against sports drinks 

http://www.culligannation.com/blog/national/water-vs-sports-drink-the-clear-choice/ 

Specifically because of the sugar however they are recommending fruit in addition to the water after a strenuous workout.  

I think if we were piggy backing with them and offering a way to capture revenue from sports drink competitors without cannibalizing their core water business it might be a no brainer for them.  A little education and selling on "good" vs "bad" sugar and the science of how the body needs some sugar to be healthy. 

Placing a call to get a sense of thier sports club business. 

Also thinking there is an opportunity for a branded neoprene cooler bottle cover with pockets for stick packs or a simple stick pack dispenser that can be plced on or near the cooler bottle. 

If Culligan alreacy has a calculator maybe there is an app they would develop in conjunction with us that can tell someone how many "clicks" of a powder dispenser they need to have depending on their profile and activity

http://www.idm-dispenser.com/category/pro-portion-protein-and-powder-dispenser

 and they can pay per click through their phone.

http://www.geek.com/apple/soda-machine-modified-to-dispense-using-iphone-app-1256522/   

This was created by an MIT student. A local!!!!  

With good reception in a gym or even a simple phone locker in the main space the user would not even have to have their phone on them.  The dispenser could be wired to call and charge their phone automatically. 

  Allows us to save of packaging and distribution costs as well as transaction costs.  Technology and data component can be attractive to investors.  

[Lodestro, Nick]

Great observation (Culligan).  That could really have some 'legs' if we can help them understand that we too are anti-sports drinks! 

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NICK LODESTRO | Regional Sales Manager at IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX)

Babson College | F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business | Fast Track MBA

 

T: 910.545.8201| nlode...@babson.edu

“A true professional speaks without ever saying a word.”