Home About Us Our Products Equipment Markets Served Contact Us About Us OUR MISSION To provide our customers with premium- quality, dispenser-based beverage concentrates dispensed through modern, well maintained, reliable equipment, supported by the best trained service technicians in the industry with the quickest response times, all sold at a remarkable value. COMPANY HISTORY Humble Beginnings ‍Profitime had humble beginnings in a garage back in 1974 when Bert Lane and Sam Benoun started the company. Both men had extensive experience in the food service industry. They originally met in the ‘40’s when they were both working for Best Foods. Both men had a wealth of experience when Sunkist, a world leader in citrus products specifically asked the friends to start up a company to market and manage their dispenser juice program. The name of the newly developed Sunkist juice line was Profit Pak, which led to the company name, Profitime. The company focused on marketing and distributing dispenser juice concentrates and servicing and maintaining post-mix juice dispensers. ‍ Iced Tea ‍In 1978, Profitime took over the master distributorship of Lipton fresh-brewed tea in Southern California. This was a strategic quantum leap for the company. It happened because the Thomas J. Lipton company was aware of Profitime’s ability to effectively market beverage concentrates and support those efforts with an outstanding dispenser service and maintenance program. Profitime went to work to develop and manage the Lipton’s fresh brewed iced tea program for Southern California. Even as Profitime was expanding in other areas, the company recognized a need in the Institutional Market for a quality line of liquid tea concentrates to be used in dispensers. So, in 1980, Profitime began manufacturing and distributing liquid iced tea concentrate. ‍ Like Father, Like Son ‍In 1986, James Lane joined the management team at Profitime. With a background in distributed computing and system analysis, James transitioned the company’s service and beverage distribution programs into electronic databases—improving service efficiency. ‍ New Sales Management ‍In 1992 Profitime chose to expand the marketing scope of the company-- by hiring Ed Sullivan. Ed’s foodservice experience at Campbell Soup, Quaker Oats and McCain Citrus made him the ideal candidate for the job. His strong background in juice programs coupled with his sales and marketing skills brought a new perspective to the company. ‍ New Juice Flavors Introduced ‍In 1993 we were the first dispenser juice company to introduce several tropical juice flavors (Passion-OJ-Guava, Strawberry-Guava and Kiwi Raspberry) into the marketplace. The move was a huge success that others have quickly followed. Sunkist Dumped ‍In January 1994, Profitime made the decision to sever our relationship with Sunkist in order to gain more control over our own destiny. We believed that by developing our own branded juice line(s) and choosing our own suppliers it would remove the impediments that hindered our growth and options. This decision resulted in the creation of our first line named Millennium. Smoothie Bars Begin to Flourish ‍In 1996, Profitime saw the need for a different juice line designed exclusively for the emerging Smoothie Bar trade. The company aligned itself with the premier Smoothie Bar distributor in the country, Southwest Traders. Together they have catapulted Profitime manufactured juice concentrates to the top of the industry. These juices are marketed under both the Rainbow’s End and Millennium names. ‍ Company Acquisition ‍In 2004, Profitime acquired Pacific Western Beverage (PWB), headquartered in Sacramento, CA. PWB was a dispenser juice company that serviced the Northern California marketing area for over 15 years. All of PWB juice customers have been successfully transitioned to one or more of the Profitime programs. ‍ Blue Frog Introduction ‍In 2012, Profitime made company history by developing its’ first line of shelf-stable, juice blends called Blue Frog. These four new flavors were inspired by the best selling Snapple flavors. ‍ Vitamin Waters Introduced ‍In 2015, Profitime developed four sugar-free Vitamin Waters targeted for the Universities and Healthcare markets. This line was health-oriented extension of the Blue Frog Line of products. ‍ Japan Partnership ‍Profitime began working closely with the renowned West Coast restaurant chain named Coco’s Bakery. Coco’s (and Carrow’s) were two chains that were owned by the Japanese conglomerate, ZENSHO. ZENSHO owned close to 5000 restaurants worldwide. Ed Sullivan convinced ZENSHO management to change their juice program for all 560 Coco’s locations in Japan from Coca Cola / Minute Maid to their own custom juice program. The new program was implemented in 2014 after Profitime developed two aseptically packed 100% juice products which were dispensed through ZENSHO’s newly acquired dispensers. Annual sales for this account exceeded $1,000,000. ‍ Hawaii Discovered ‍Profitime joined up with an excellent full-line distributor partner on the island of Oahu called H&W Foodservice in 2018. Now over 15 Profitime-manufactured products are available to hospitality and healthcare facilities located throughout the island. Military Conquered Profitime teamed up with a company called US Dispense in 2019. The principals of US Dispense had a great deal of experience selling and servicing dispenser-based products into the US Military. Profitime modified several juices to meet the specific needs of our Military and was fortunate enough to win the bid (with US Dispense) supplying our forces in Okinawa, Japan. ‍ The Future ‍The future looks bright (after COVID-19 passes) as Profitime continues to develop products and programs to meet the huge demand in dispenser-based beverages and continues to provide indispensable solutions for customers throughout the world. MANAGING PARTNERS ABOUT RUSS Russ Burgess CFO ABOUT ED Ed Sullivan President Get in touch A professional Profitime sales representative is available to come to your location to determine your eligibility and assist you in your specific needs. Send us a message Copyright © 2020 Profitime, Inc. All Rights Reserved.