Spreading success

Naples-based Gold Coast Salads is conquering the seafood market one sample at a time

By Bill Klauber

Daily News Correspondent

Question? Who is the strongest man in the world?

Answer? It’s the man who can eat one chip, one peanut or one cracker with Gold Coast Salads’ lobster spread.

Yes, the same Gold Coast Salads spread you can sample at Costco, Sam’s Club or other food chains and independent grocers.

Depending on season, as many as 3,000 to 4,000 samples of this delicacy, including the crab and smoked salmon spreads, are con­sumed each day. And they are all prepared in Naples.

"Right now, the blue crab is the most popu­­lar," said Marela Padron, who dispenses samples at the Naples Costco at least five days a week.

Padron is one of more than 200 food dem­onstrators employed by Gold Coast Salads in chain stores such as ShopRite, Harris-Teeters, Pathmark, Waldbaums and A&P, as well as independent grocers around the country.

"We hope to expand into several other gro­cery chains as well as adding independent gro­cers throughout the United States," said Gold Coast Salads President Peter Radno Jr.

All of this from the company’s Naples headquarters in East Naples not far from the Collier Boulevard exit from Interstate 75. The 15,000-square-foot building houses not only the administrative offices, but also the food preparation, processing and ship­ping activities.

There is no question the popularity of the seafood spreads is spreading fast. Annual sales last year exceeded $12 million, and the forecast for this year is 30 percent to 40 percent greater.

This will necessitate a new, larger head­quarters in a site already selected across the lake from the current building, said CEO Peter Radno Sr.

Despite the size of the company, Gold Coast Salads is very much a family affair. It was founded in 2001 by Radno Jr. and his father. Two years ago, following his graduation from college in Lebanon, Ill., brother Adam joined the company as general manager.

The senior Radno was a successful con­tractor in the area, while Peter Jr. was in the restaurant business. And therein lies the tale, as he describes it.

"I have always been in the food business. I owned and operated the Beary Patch Café in the Bed, Bath & Beyond Plaza next to the AAA headquarters at the intersection of Pine Ridge and Airport-Pulling roads in North Naples," he said.

It was at the Beary Patch, a breakfast and lunch café, where Rando Jr. created the recipe for the lobster spread.

"I would make enough for the week," he said.

It was so popular with his customers he decided to concentrate on its development in 2001.

"With seafood very popular then, we saw a market and we decided to take the risk and started with three employees. My first ac­count was Publix. But I continued to operate the restaurant as we got up and running and didn’t sell it until 2003."

In addition to the popularity of the product, another key to the company’s success is its unique marketing and distribution system.

"Originally," Peter Jr. said, "people would ask me if it would sell. So I asked for the op­portunity to demonstrate that it would and we all did the demonstrating."

The current demonstrators are paid by the hour and have bonus plans as well as seasonal incentives, said Adam Radno.

"We now have 215 demonstrators, including our five regional managers and eight super­visors. Hiring and training our own people makes a huge difference," he said.

Peter Radno Sr.’s pride and affection for the family team are apparent.

"We have a good program, but we also have had a lot of assistance in getting this business started," he said.

Gold Coast Salads President Peter Radno Jr., from left, CEO Peter Radno Sr. and General Manager Adam Radno at the Naples headquarters. Gold Coast Salads manufactures seafood spreads and dips that are available in retail locations throughout the U.S. Bill Klauber/Special to the Daily News (2)

Workers prepare Gold Coast Salad products at the packing plant in Naples.

He referred specifically to the help the company has received from Alisa Helms, head of commercial banking for Regions Bank; Gavin Gillette of Davidson Engineering, which did the site development plans for the company headquarters building; Pat Pillot, the architect; and Don Ewy, the general contractor.

But it is still the product that counts the most and is the principal reason for Gold Coast Salads’ success.

"Our fish come in to us in frozen blocks. The lobster from the North Atlantic, the hot smoked salmon from Chile and our crab is Asian blue crab," said Rando Jr.

"Our food safety program follows USDA guidelines and we come under the HACCP regulations (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) and only the freshest ingredients are used in the preparation of all of the spreads," he said.

As if to emphasize that, in a recent tour of the facility, visitors and staff were required to wear the same hairnets as workers just to enter the preparation area, where employees also wore white smocks.

Quality is definitely emphasized by Gold Coast Salads in all they do, but it is the taste that sells the product.

Next time you are in one of the stores that demonstrates the spreads, see if you are strong enough to try only one.

If not, says food demonstrator Padron, "It’s OK if you come back for more."