Call it one of those “good” problems: NYC-based cold-chain DSD house Dora’s Naturals is operating at about 130% capacity from its current warehouse, said head of business development Tanya Seber on a call last week.
That means the distributor’s focus on premium, better-for-you drinks and snacks is working, she noted – and also that it’s going to need some more space.
Those pressures are now the imperative for growth: Dora’s recently purchased two additional facilities that will more than double its current capacity (from 75,000 sq. ft. to around 230,000 sq. ft.) when it completes its move within the coming year, bringing the total workforce to over 300 employees. The new warehouses, one for cold storage and the other for ambient, are located just down the street from the existing one, and next door to the high-pressure pasteurization (HPP) facility.
“It gives us this little compound, you could say, for a distribution network – plenty of parking, plenty of spots for trucks and lots of room for expansion,” Seber said.
The move also reflects the level of regional competition: Rainforest, another DSD specializing in refrigeration, has picked up ground further outside NYC, while the likes of Big Geyser and Gold Coast offer muscular operations built for street battles.
But Dora’s reputation has been built on performance under pressure; while Seber was at her prior gig running grocery for Whole Foods in the Northeast, she said, the distributor “saved me” several times over thanks to its ability to adapt to problems – be it a storm, power outage or other hurdle to surmount. Now just over a year into her role at Dora’s, Seber is tasked with growing its roster of partners and pursuing opportunities in emerging spaces like functional snacks and adult non-alcoholic beverages.
Yet Dora’s has perhaps been most influential in bringing innovative brands outside of natural retailers and integrating those products into the city’s vast array of independents. On the lookout for new business, Seber said she’s excited about “on fire” categories like shots (brands including Suja/Vive, More Labs and Brooklyn-born favorite GNGR) along with “interesting” ones like functional drinks. Even within a once-powerful refrigerated category like kombucha Seber sees some silver lining in brands moving from glass to cans.
“I think anything that’s refrigerated is a really difficult category,” she said. “Distribution is very difficult in this area, and so the opportunity for growth, us wanting to expand our portfolio, is a natural thing in our industry to be able to do. We probably say no more than we say yes, because we want to make sure that we’re rounding out our portfolio in the best way possible.”
Correction: An earlier version of this newsletter misnamed Tanya Seber, head of business development at Dora’s Naturals. Our apologies to Ms. Seber!
Check out the rest of today’s BevNET Daily Briefing issue for details on Jones’ CEO’s exit, Poppi’s new pro sports deal and more news from around the industry.