Essential Wholesale, manufacturer and distributor of the largest selection of naturally derived bulk cosmetic bases, aromatherapy and soap making supplies along with its private label contract manufacturing division Essential Labs, has been sold.
November 30, 2011 Dennis and Kayla Fioravanti sold the company they started in their home back in 1998 to their Chief Operating Officer Diane Humke along with a group of managers and investors.
Essential Wholesale’s customers and employees will continue to experience a seamless transition because the leadership team to include Diane Humke, Laura Badcock, Rick Hume, Barry Weinmann and Alex Badcock along with all the other amazing employees have virtually been running the company with very limited involvement from Dennis or Kayla for the last several years. Dennis and Kayla plan to consult with the new company.
Both Dennis and Kayla have already begun new ventures in different industries and are happy to field any questions about how a small business owner transitions to new adventures.
Meet the Owner & Leadership Team:
Diane Humke, President
Rick Hume Executive, VP and Chief Operating Officer
Laura Badcock, VP of Product and Customer Development
Barry Weinmann, VP of Production and Distribution
Alex Badcock, VP of Graphics and Design
The Future of the Company:
In early 2012 Essential Wholesale will be moving to a 58,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Portland, Oregon. This new facility will make it possible for Essential Wholesale and Essential Labs to grow by offering more automated production, higher storage capacity, and more direct buying capability. Essential Wholesale will remain a certified organic manufacturer and handler and FDA registered facility with even more capacity to help you grow your business. The future of Essential Wholesale is extremely bright. The new leadership has exciting plans to make doing business with Essential Wholesale that much better for their customers. You can expect the same great products, amazing customer service and innovative ideas going forward.
“We have loved every minute of our Essential Wholesale journey. We are excited to hand over our baby to our mentor, friend and all around smart business cookie, Diane Humke. We could not have asked for a better team to take Essential Wholesale to the next level. We know that Diane & the management team will make this company a huge success benefiting all the customers that have been our friends over the years and our employees who are like family to us. We are truly blessed.”
Great success! on your company and sale.
But hold on, the new team (smart business cookie) has reached stage in just 6 months, laying off dozen employees and more. May be time to review books to save it.
When we bought the company there were 25 employees including Dennis and Kayla and now we have 40. We also realised that we would need to restructure the company to better suit the layout of the building and processes we had to put in place. Sales have grown and we’re strongly in the black. While we had some growing pains, we appear to be over that hurdle. We’ve recently conducted customer surveys and customer satisfication is high. Morale is excellent with our employee pool and we have spritely weekly meetings with all.
We of course all miss Kayla and Dennis, but are so happy for their new life.
Thanks Laura for the update and answering Devon’s comment. We knew we were leaving Essential Wholesale in the hands of incredibly capable hands. So proud of y’all!