February-March 2022 - 18

and only provides breakroom solutions that are offered to
employees at no cost. With so few employees back in the
office and many reluctant to come back, Kamden was able
to leverage his strong relationships with clients to convince
them to offer additional and higher-end amenities to help
entice employees to come back. "
At BostonbeaN, drivers are not only delivery personnel,
but they are also account managers. " This was our philosophy
from the start, " Serino said. " But Kam really listened
and drove the message home. As a result, his route showed
the highest sales of any. Coffee only represented 19% of his
total sales over the past few months while pre-COVID, it
represented 55%. "
BostonbeaN still has a long way to go to return to
2019 sales, Serino told Automatic Merchandiser. But if the
company's route team can rival some of Mauser's success, it
will close in on that pre-COVID benchmark soon. Mauser
estimates that his route has already recovered about 70% of
pre-pandemic sales.
" When the pandemic hit, it was a big challenge for us, "
Mauser said. " Literally, overnight, our business changed. "
On March 14, 2020, in fact, BostonbeaN went from full
speed to almost a complete stop overnight. As offices
emptied, the operator first had to address what to do with
product on location, on its trucks and in the warehouse.
" We gave away products that would have expired, "
Mauser recalled. " We went to police stations, fire departments
and hospitals. We installed kegerators to provide free
cold brew and we gave away all our perishables. And when
some accounts started to reopen their offices a little, bringing
in essential workers first, we started offering them more
beverage, snack and food options...companies were eager
to invest more to reward those employees. And as time went
on further, we began presenting more options to clients to
help them entice workers back...that still goes on now. "
BostonbeaN serves numerous accounts in Massachusetts'
technology corridor, which runs along the 55-plusmile
Boston beltway that is Route 128 known as " America's
Technology Highway. " The high number of technology firms
in the area had been a great market for an OCS provider like
BostonbeaN, and more recently for pantry services.
Serino describes the company's pantry program, which
it formalized as a business division eight years ago, as a
" white-glove service " offering high-quality snacks, cold
drinks and even fresh food that can be tailored to each
customer's need. Whereas BostonbeaN's coffee sales have
started to enjoy a strong comeback, its pantry service,
which was booming pre-pandemic in the technology sector,
is returning at a slower pace. " Technology companies have
been much more cautious about bringing their employees
back, " Serino observed.
18 Automatic Merchandiser * February/March 2022
Where OCS Thrived
Massachusetts has a long history of being a central
hub for technology companies and medical labs. The
state gave birth to several industries and is, perhaps,
the birthplace of the American industrial revolution
itself. In the early 1900s, area scientists, inventors,
businessmen and investors were focusing on the new
field of electrical sciences. Research labs at Harvard
and M.I.T., among other institutions, contributed to R&D
growth. World War II provided the biggest boost to
dozens of Massachusetts companies doing research
and development. In fact, Boston became a source of
scientific and technological talent to the war-related
industries and changed from a " mill-based " to " mindbased "
economy. In recent decades, Boston firms took
the lead in software design, computer architecture,
data processing and biomedical technologies. As a
result, area banks created high-technology investment
companies. This robust high-tech economy created a
perfect opportunity for Boston's convenience services
pioneers like BostonbeaN.
" Our tech clients can easily telecommute, " Mauser
added. " Many of their employees can work from home. " So
as the workforce pivoted from offices to homes, BostonbeaN
pivoted its business to serve its patrons at home.
" We had to leverage our relationships with clients, "
Mauser said. So, the route driver and Serino developed
a care package delivery program for remote employees
and the idea resonated with many of their clients. " It was
a win-win for our clients, " Mauser said. " It accomplished
two things for our clients; it kept them, and us, in contact
with their employees and makes those employees feel good
about their company. "
The care package program was brisk for a while. Serino
himself helped with deliveries, sometimes spending a
whole day delivering packages in Boston and its surrounding
towns.
Both BostonbeaN-ers agreed that making those deliveries
was extremely fun. " It allowed us to maintain some
contact with our customers, " Mauser said. " We leaned on
our strong relationships to make them even stronger. And
then customers started calling me, asking 'can you get PPE,
masks, hand sanitizer? How about toilet paper?' And we
were able to get some of that during the shortages. "
Pre-pandemic, some of Mauser's clients would order
annually a about quarter million dollars' worth of breakroom
supplies. But during the first year of the pandemic,
facing a total loss, some of those clients ended up spending
at least half that amount on BostonbeaN's care package
service. " To be able to provide a solution like that to our
customers is fantastic. It solidified our many customer
relationships. It was a challenging time, but fun, too, " said
the Route Driver of the Year. ■
February-March 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February-March 2022
