Water company taps new items
Nonperishable groceries being delivered to more than 25,000 homes, businesses
Andrew Berliner, president of Watchung Spring Water Co. Inc., walked through the company's Lakewood warehouse earlier this week and pointed out cartons of food and beverages awaiting delivery.
The products are part of a new strategy, he said, a diversion from the water-delivery service that has been the core of the company's business since 1903.
t's a risk, but Berliner said it is worth a try. "To be around 105 years, you just can't stay stagnant," he said. "Change is a necessity."
For Watchung Spring Water, the new business is simply a footnote in its history. The company, now in its fourth generation, has navigated crises, survived competition and avoided infighting that spell doom to most family-owned businesses.
And it has tapped into consumers' willingness to pay for a product � water � that is freely available from the faucet. Watchung delivers bottled water, coffee and, now, nonperishable groceries to more than 25,000 homes and businesses in central and southern New Jersey. It has 60 employees.
Berliner declined to disclose the company's sales. The bottled water industry alone generated $11.7 billion in 2007, up 7.8 percent from 2006, according to the International Bottled Water Association in Alexandria, Va. Joe Doss, the association's president and chief executive officer, attributed the growth to in-creased sales to consumers who are becoming more health conscious. But consumers also are paying on average $30 a month for bottled water, rather than filling up a glass at the tap.
"I think it's probably because there's been so much talk about impurities in the water and lakes," said Lynda Silverstein, a 68-year-old Howell resident and Watchung customer. "I think people are nervous about using tap water. And I got so used to it."
A century ago
Watchung's roots can be traced to the turn of the 20th century, when Reuben Berliner bottled water from a spring in the Watchung Mountains.
Andrew Berliner knows little about the circumstances that led his great-grandfather to start the company � "maybe he was thirsty, I don't know," he said with a laugh � but the company's products quickly expanded to seltzer, soft drinks and, after Prohibition, beer.
In the 1950s, however, the spring went dry. The company stopped bottling water and became a distributor instead, first with Great Bear Spring Co., and later with Nestle, which owns Poland Spring and Deer Park.
Watchung found itself competing with Nestle in northern New Jersey. In 1995, Watchung agreed to give up part of the state and deliver to six southern New Jersey counties, including Monmouth and Ocean. It moved to Lakewood.
"It was better for both companies that we did not have to compete," Andrew Berliner said.
Berliner, 41, lives in Colts Neck with his wife, Jacqueline, and 2-year-old daughter, Lindsay. He is the latest in what has become a long line of family members to operate the company.
His father, Robert, for example, started working there at 6. His first job was using a magnet and a piece of rope to pick up nails from the driveway so they wouldn't puncture delivery truck tires.
Andrew similarly got an early start. He remembers spending summers sweeping floors, taking orders and helping with deliveries. He never considered doing anything else for a career.
"I never thought any different," he said. "I enjoyed it, and I knew that's what I wanted to do."
"He had a lot of natural ability, and it just evolved," said his father, 76, of Long Branch. "He sort of stepped into each different role and took over and did a great job. You can't be a clock-watcher in a family owned business."
"You can't hide," Andrew said.
He has brought a new set of ideas to the table. Watchung purchased technology to help drivers take the shortest route and minimize gasoline costs. It updated its Web site to offer online shopping. And it expanded its product lines to include hundreds of items, such as peanut butter, tissue paper and pet food.
An advantage seen
That puts Watchung in competition with supermarkets that have tested online shopping and delivery services with varying degrees of success. But Andrew thinks Watchung has an advantage: It can provide the service less expensively because it already has a fleet of trucks making deliveries.
"You've got to keep reinventing yourself and making yourself better," Berliner said.
Michael L. Diamond (732) 643-4038 or mdiamond@app.com
