Worcester Business Journal

48 Worcester Business Journal | October 28, 2024 | wbjournal.com 35th Anniversary WBJ BY LAURA FINALDI Special to WBJ I t's been 47 years, but Steve Rowse still remembers his first shi at the family business. In the spring of 1977, Rowse clocked in for the first time at Veryfine Products, the Littleton-based juice manufacturer purchased nearly eight decades earlier by his great-grandfather Arthur. Mixing fruit punch was the 16-year-old's task. He poured water into a 1,000-gallon tank and combined it with things like sugar and apple concentrate to make the company's signature sweet drink. Some children of business owners end up working at their parents' companies because they're told to – because mom or dad needs an extra set of hands or a succession plan. But for Rowse, there was no pressure. He never wanted to do anything else. "In second or third grade I did a drawing of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a forkli driver, a goal I have achieved," he said. "It's probably important to say, my father and grandfather were around when I was a kid. The company you keep ... or don't Synonymous with their communities, these businesses have moved on in distinct ways Neither one set any expectations, like 'you're the oldest grandson, you have to be prepared.' It was my decision to join the family business." Founded in 1865 in Somerville, Veryfine was a New England company, through and through. Originally called Standard Vinegar Works, it came under the ownership of the Rowse family in 1900 and moved to Littleton 30 years later to be closer to the apple-rich Nashoba Valley. As the economic climate of the region and the nation as a whole shied over the decades, it became one of the many Central Massachusetts companies to leave the region, blown away by consumer demand shis. Veryfine was sold to Kra Foods in 2004, and its Littleton plant closed in 2015 under the ownership of Sunny Delight Beverages. Veryfine still exists today under Connecticut-based Harvest Hill Beverage Company, which is owned by private equity firm Brynwood Partners. Rowse le Veryfine weeks aer the Kra sale. In 2011, he started New England Apple Products Company in Leominster aer purchasing Harvard- based Carlson Orchards. He wasn't involved with the business when the Littleton plant closed, but he was sad, although not terribly surprised. "I figured it was going to be a struggle without a new product idea that never seemed to happen," he said. Times they are a'changing Technology, consumer demands and cultural trends all influence which companies end up being winners and losers over time. Indoor shopping malls, for example, slowly fell out of favor starting in the 1990s thanks to the internet. In Veryfine's case, Rowse said, it was simple. Large beverage companies wanted to get into the juice and flavored water businesses. Veryfine's Fruit2O flavored water sold well, Rowse said, but the family-owned company wasn't big enough to justify competing with the Coca-Colas of the world. "e large carbonated beverage companies figured out people wanted stuff that's not always brown and bubbly and got serious about distributing juices," he said. "We figured we better get out of the way before we get trucked over by the big beverage guys." In the case of Fidelity Bank, the Leominster-based financial services company, the decision to merge holding Veryfine company time- line under Rowse family 1900: Arthur Rowse purchases the company then known as Standard Vinegar Works. 1930: The company moves from Somerville to Littleton in the Nashoba Valley. 2004: Rowse family sells the company then known as Veryfine to Kraft Foods, Inc. 2011: Steve Rowse purchases Carlson Orchards in Harvard and moves the company to Leominster under the name New England Apple Products Company. Source: New England Apple Products Company. Steve Rowse COURTESY NEW ENGLAND APPLE PRODUCTS Though he left Veryfine in 2004, Steve Rowse still holds memories of his family's legacy close. COURTESY STEVE ROWSE Trucks stopped backing up to Veryfine's Littleton plant in 2015. DAVE BRIGHAM PHOTOS

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