Corporate Essentials Celebrates 10 years of Success: Coffee Expert Judson Kleinman Turns Gourmet Beverage Trend into Growing Business

In the early 1990s, Judson Kleinman was working in sales and service for a corporate beverage division of Hershey Foods, Inc., when he spotted what he thought was an emerging trend: Corporate workers were becoming disenchanted by the usual break room fare, and began asking for better quality gourmet coffee, tea and other refreshments from their employers. Capitalizing on that shift, and realizing his aspiration to start his own business, Kleinman formed Corporate Essentials ten years ago. Kleinman has established himself over the past decade as one of the leading experts in the office coffee and refreshment industry – and Corporate Essentials as the premiere source for corporate refreshments in the New York metro area.

Fairfield, NJ (PRWEB) July 14, 2005 -- In the early 1990s, Judson Kleinman was working in sales and service for a corporate beverage division of Hershey Foods, Inc., when he spotted what he thought was an emerging trend: Corporate workers were becoming disenchanted by the usual break room fare, and began asking for better quality gourmet coffee, tea and other refreshments from their employers.

"I've always been an entrepreneur at heart," Kleinman recalls. "And I had been in the corporate refreshment business since college, so I knew that what was happening was most likely the beginning of a long-term shift in the industry." Capitalizing on that shift, and realizing his aspiration to start his own business, Kleinman formed Corporate Essentials ten years ago. While the business, like any other, has experienced both challenges and triumphs along the way, Kleinman has established himself over the past decade as one of the leading experts in the office coffee and refreshment industry – and Corporate Essentials as the premiere source for corporate refreshments in the New York metro area.

"Having been in the business for so many years before starting Corporate Essentials, I was certain I knew everything there was to know about the corporate beverage industry," Kleinman explains. "I was right about most of it, but the one thing I didn't anticipate was how long it would take for the business to get a foothold," he adds. Kleinmans advantage at the time was his experience and expertise in the business; relative novices run most competing businesses to the industry.

"I relied on persistence, positive and effective communications with clients and prospects, and creativity in our marketing and sales efforts to build our account base," Kleinman notes. He also counted on his own intuition where new products and services were concerned, bringing them to market early and believing in their success. "Single-cup brewstations is a perfect example," Kleinman explains. "We were one of the first companies to really invest ourselves into the technology, and its now the best-selling product in the industry."

Kleinman started Corporate Essentials with two friends, both seasoned veterans of the business. Ivan Mann, whose background focused on telemarketing and sales, now runs the sales department at Corporate Essentials, and Tim Morgan, whose experience included operations management, now heads that department for the company. "I couldn't have succeeded in starting the business without them," Kleinman notes. "One of the key ingredients of a thriving business is to surround yourself with capable, trusted people, give them responsibility and motivation and vision, and then watch them realize their own best potential," he explains. Its a strategy that continues to pay off: Corporate Essentials now has 15 employees and services more than 1,000 corporate accounts in the tri-state region.

Over the years, Kleinman has developed and drawn on numerous strategies to keep Corporate Essentials growing and flourishing. I recognized while I was in management at a large corporation what a difference the right work environment had on our team members," he notes. Much of our success is built on the foundation of a caring, positive company atmosphere. We really work hard at the management level to create a team spirit and to foster ‘buy-in from every individual," Kleinman adds.

Another critical cornerstone of Corporate Essentials success has been Kleinmans willingness to flex during periods of business growth. "I was a Boy Scout growing up, and I think that experience taught me that I had some natural leadership capabilities. But more importantly, it taught me that leaders build effective teams – whether its your friends, your employees, your vendors, your partners, or most importantly, your customers," Kleinman explains, adding, "In order to work as a team, you have to be flexible enough to listen to the needs of all of these groups and be responsive, be willing to work with them to achieve the goals you've set.

That flexibility is what has allowed Kleinman and Corporate Essentials to establish and reach countless aggressive little aspirations over the first ten years. What's in store for the next ten and beyond? "We aren't the biggest corporate refreshment service, nor do we want to be," Kleinman says. "But we do want to be the best company out there doing what we do, from our products to our client service to the environment we create for our employees."

Bio:
Judson Kleinman has more than 25 years of experience in positioning and promoting refreshment services to professional services companies including law firms, advertising agencies and accounting companies. Mr. Kleinman has been at the forefront of the recent trend by employers to offer their employe's gourmet coffees and refreshment services as a perk to improve job satisfaction and productivity. From his position as a reseller, Mr. Kleinman has a broad view of the many makers of coffees, teas, waters and snacks and is on the cutting edge of the beverage brewing technology and trends. As the founder and president at Corporate Essentials, a New Jersey business to business beverages and refreshment services firm, Mr. Kleinman oversees purchasing, sales and servicing. Mr. Kleinman has been quoted on numerous occasions on the subjects of coffees, teas, waters, and on a variety of topics involving running a small business, customer services and sales management. Mr. Kleinman holds a business degree from State University College at Oneonta.

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