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6 n e w h a v e n B I Z | M a y 2 0 2 3 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m B i z S p o t l i g h t A t A G l a n c e Company: Foxon Park Beverages Industry: Manufacturing Top Executives: Owners Anthony Naclerio, Jay Brancati and Jessica Caporale HQ: 103 Foxon Boulevard, East Haven Website: www.foxonpark.com Contact: (203) 467-7874 By Jordan Grice T here may only be a few keys to achieving lon- gevity in business if you don't have the luxury of abundant funding from venture capitalists. For Foxon Park Beverages, brand recog- nition and a loyal fan base have been para- mount to the East Haven company's centu- ry-long legacy of making and selling sodas to restaurants and grocers throughout Connecticut. at legacy is getting bigger, as the East Haven company made inroads into the buzzing hard soda industry in March of this year with the help of im- ble Island Brewing Co. "We've been talking about that and milling around for a couple of years, and for that to come to fruition was fantastic," said Jay Brancati, vice president of Foxon Park Beverages. e new spiked sodas, now available in cream and classic white birch flavors, are a first for Foxon Park, according to Brancati, who said the endeavor was meant to "test the waters" with a new product. To his surprise, he said the experiment has "exceed- ed our expectations exponentially." "It sold out within the first week," he said. "We had made a couple of batches of it, and we ran out of cans because we—Justin (Gargano) and I—thought it's March, it's cold, and people aren't looking to go out and drink, but we were wrong. It sold better than we thought." Foxon Park's foray into the hard soda business has been a work in progress for years, according to Bran- cati, who initially connected with imble Island to help the East Haven brand with canning its sodas so they could ship overseas. With the success of their initial launch, Brancati said Foxon Park plans to continue working with the brew- ery while it continues to grow its overarching business. According to Brancati, the business has managed to maintain steady growth through the years despite hur- dles like the pandemic and even the current economic volatility associated with elevated inflation. e company sells its array of sodas wholesale. Fox- on Park charges $20.50, $22.75, and $10.30 for a case of 1-liter, 12-ounce, and 2-liter bottles, respectively. While the company had to shoulder disruptions in distributions to restaurants as sit-down dining took a hit in 2020 and part of 2021, Brancati said the compa- ny was buoyed by its partnerships with grocery stores. "During COVID, we kind of thrived a little bit," he said. "We were allowed to keep going, and these things were flying off the shelves because people were stocking up." e company employs 14 people from its East Haven facility at 103 Foxon Boulevard and has thrived without the help of outside funding, according to Brancati. With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, busi- ness and distribution have picked back up. He said the company has averaged between $2 million and $5 million in annual revenue in the past few years. With its entry into the buzzing hard soda and selt- zer industry, that could be boosted in the coming year. According to market research and consulting com- pany Grand View Research, the global hard seltzer market size is expected to grow into a $14.5 billion industry by 2027. at's roughly a $10 billion jump from 2019, when the industry started catching steam. Century-long appeal Foxon Park's Connecticut roots run deep, going back to 1922 when Matteo Naclerio launched the company in East Haven aer emigrating from Italy. e business started selling bottled spring water in the 1920s before transitioning to soda following the Great Depression, and the brand initially thrived by making home deliveries to customers. According to Brancati, that was merely a stepping stone for the business, which cultivated relationships with other local, family-owned companies that helped the Foxon Park brand gain exposure with consumers. "As restaurants started opening up, they started selling to the delis and the pizza places and other Italian immigrants, and that just kind of snowballed," Foxon Park Beverages creates buzz adding booze to sodas Jay Brancati, VP at Foxon Park Beverages. PHOTOS | JORDAN GRICE

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