In just more than 18 months, nearly 70 percent of SnackMasters' business disappeared. By 1998, the company was in trouble. He had to lay off some employees and cut back the hours of others, ultimately reducing his work force from 60 to about 40. We were just fortunate we didn't lose all three Costco regions immediately. And it is flourishing once again.
Concentration spells a risk.
When you have Costco as a customer, you only have time to service Costco. It became a valuable lesson, Rekoutis said. SnackMasters no longer allows itself to rely on a few big customers. The more, the merrier. SnackMasters' sales base now consists of about 250 customers.