November 2022 - 22

T E AMS
2022
Fixturelite
Team leaders: Steve Orlando, Co-founder and President,
and Troy Geis, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Determining the perfect space, finding the right solution and
getting everything ordered and shipped takes time that most
businesses don't have. With more than 8,000 micro market,
pantry, OCS, business dining and café installations, Fixturelite's
experienced designers, project managers and industry experts
take the work off its customer's plate with a proven process. That
same team understands what it is like to be in the operator's
shoes. The Fixturelite team consists of a group of former vending,
micro market and OCS operators who serve as strategic
partners to operators and their customers and start each
project with the customer experience in mind. Fixturelite is a onestop
partner for a successful convenience retail environment.
Pot O' Gold Coffee Service
Team leaders: Larry Jones, President/CEO, and
Blake Jones, Vice President
Pot O' Gold is the largest independent office coffee service in
Washington state and has been in business since 1986. They
have a team of 25 who are pros at what they do and have come
a long way to be recognized as leaders in the industry. Pot O'
Gold is a small family-run business and plan to stay that way.
They strive to keep installs to one or two per day to not overwork
their tech team and to not put too much strain on routes. Pot O'
Gold is growing extremely fast since offices have started opening
back up. Right now, they are 5% down from pre-COVID sales. " In
the year ahead, we are going to try our best to stay ahead of the
game as more people come back to the office and more of our
customers come back. "
Smile Compostable Solutions
Team leaders: Michael Sands, CEO and Co-founder,
and Frankie Schuster, Co-founder
With co-founders Michael Sands and Frankie Schuster being members
of ASTM International, US Plastics Pact, US Composting Council,
Biodegradable Products Institute, Compost Manufacturing Alliance,
and the Plant-Based Products Council, Smile Compostable Solutions
has sustainability expertise and industry connections. As committee
members, Sands and Schuster stay up-to-date on compost industry
intricacies while influencing and advocating industry development.
Through trade shows and industry awareness and outreach, the pair
are positioning Smile and the industry for the significant challenges of today's business climate. Smile offers a fully
certified compostable turn-key pod system. Its patent-protected product is rigorously tested by independent third
parties. Smile's material easily composts and can be used across many food categories. " We are committed to helping
companies with plastic and carbon reduction and offer a viable solution that works. Smile believes educating buyers
and sustainability officers on the real opportunity of composting will be our biggest challenge in the coming year. "
Honorable
Mentions
John Goerke, CEO, Bona Fide Brewing Company
Lance Wharton, CEO, Imperial Companies
Trolley House Refreshments Team: Nolan Moore, Service Manager;
Michael Fromal, Service Technician; Chris Reese, Service Technician
22 Automatic Merchandiser * November 2022

November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022