June/July 2023 - 45

coffee pot, the high-quality coffee machines are too
beloved to let go. " When you get that revolving door, it's
messy for everyone. I like to keep customers for a long
time, " Owen said.
FUELING INNOVATION,
ONE PANTRY AT A TIME
C&S hit its stride in pantry service. Located in Silicon
Valley's largest city, C&S was well-positioned to cater
to the ever-blossoming tech industry, where pantries
are a must-have for startups and tech giants alike. " I'm
guessing it started with people wanting to do something
nice for their employees, and so they can work longer
hours, " he hypothesized. " But in my opinion, that's
secondary in the thought process of these companies. The
main reason companies want pantry service is employee
retention. Employees are very highly sought after here,
and they can just bounce from Google to Facebook, from
here to there. So, if a company offers pantry service, and
another company doesn't, it's going to be very difficult for
that other company to bring people in and retain their
current employees. "
Seeing the huge demand, Owen doubled down with
the goal of becoming the premier pantry service in the Bay
Area. In 2018, he hired Kurtis Bosacki, a pantry service
expert with decades of experience in the industry. " With his
experience, we were able to transform the way that we did
pantry, " Owen said. " Now, we are able to offer our current
and future customers a comprehensive, top-of-the-line
service. " The operator's pantry service quickly blossomed
and, by 2019, represented 70% of its business.
GOOD OL' RELIABLE
When COVID-19 hit, C&S lost 90% of its pantry
customers overnight. " I remember very well. It was around
noon, " Owen recollected. " One of my employees came up
and told me that the government had their meeting, and
we were all getting locked down for two weeks inside. "
Only one thing kept C&S's head above water: vending.
With vending machines placed in public spaces and
essential businesses, C&S was able to stay afloat and ride
out the COVID storm. " Vending is what saved us, " he
emphasized. " If it weren't for vending, we would have
probably been out of business or just in very poor shape. "
C&S primarily operates snack machines, and Owen
isn't seeking to reinvent the wheel. " We run older AP
vending machines and renovate them. Tear out the guts,
new boards, new everything. I don't see a real need to
buy expensive new equipment when the older ones work
perfectly fine, " he said. On the beverage side, C&S almost
exclusively runs Coca-Cola machines.
Warehouse lead, Jake, picks products for the day.
A CLEAN SLATE
By April 2020, C&S was forced to let go of all of its 22
employees. " I joke that I fired myself and my dad too, "
Owen said. In the following months, he analyzed their
previous roles and found redundancies and was able to
better restructure the company.
As COVID restrictions eased, Owen was able to rebuild
the company from nearly zero. Since then, he has brought
back employees deliberately and strategically. This gave him
the opportunity to optimize all facets of C&S, including
staff, logistics and technology. Today, the C&S team is
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June/July 2023 * VendingMarketWatch.com 45
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5/19/23 10:24 AM
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June/July 2023

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