Profile: Kyuka Waters and Karl Strain

Karl Strain: Kyuka Waters, Inc.

Karl Strain is the VP Operations/Co-Owner of Kyuka Waters, Inc. located in Northeast Alabama on 75 acres of family property. Kyuka Waters opened for business in May of 1996. Karl’s father, Bryant Strain, bought the property in the late 1980’s, and a large spring on the property produces approximately 1 million gallons of water per day. After Bryant’s early retirement from the ministry, he began looking for business opportunities. A friend mentioned that he should look into bottling water from the spring site on the property he had purchased. He then began extensive testing on the spring sources, and after two years received permits to bottle water from the spring. Karl was working in the moving industry and came to join the water business in 1996. “Our first employees were all family: my father, my aunt, and myself. My father and I would go door-to-door selling water around our local communities. We developed primarily into a home and office delivery company selling 5-gallon water and PET products.”

From a modest start of three family members, Kyuka now employs 18 full time employees. Over the years they have branched out to an area covering most of Northeast Alabama. Karl has changed roles as the company has grown and now manages production and oversees route operations. “Although we have become a much larger operation, I still enjoy riding along on routes to visit with our customers. I feel the reason for our growth is due to our belief that ultimately we are a service business,” Karl said. Kyuka has recently outgrown the original building and in mid-December 2008 the company will move into a new 15,000 square foot addition housing distribution and office facilities.

Outside of work, Karl spends much of his time with his family and church. He serves dinner at a local soup kitchen every other Friday night with members of his church. He has served on the Finance Committee of his church over the past 2 years and will serve as a Trustee beginning in January of 2009.

“I have enjoyed my years in the bottled water industry,” Karl said. After 10 years in the moving industry, he found water delivery another way to provide service to others. While he has seen the industry’s ups and downs fluctuate over the last 12 years, he believes service has continued to be the key to Kyuka’s growth.

On industry involvement, Karl said, “When we entered this industry we visited many water plants around the south to learn about bottling water. Many of those early visits developed into friendships that continue today. We joined the IBWA & SEBWA very early and used the annual meetings to network and learn from others. The bottled water business has grown dramatically over the last 12 years. There are many more companies bottling in our region and PET has begun to dominate sales. The biggest change to our business came after September 11, 2001. New regulations and concerns over quality control gave us more focus on the production end of our business. Our membership in organizations such as SEBWA gave us contacts and training to adapt and become a better company.”

Karl is proud of the growth of the company size and customer base, but he is most proud of the quality of the company’ production. His aunt, Emily Richey, and he are both CPO’s (Certified Plant Operators) having passed IBWA Certification. The two share duties at the plant and have proudly won eight Excellence in Manufacturing Awards from IBWA. Karl says their plant staff has been willing to learn and work daily to provide a safe, quality product.

“I enjoy being in a family business. It allows us to treat others as we would like to be treated. I believe that the people we hire reflect who we are as a company. They are the face of the company to our customers. Having employees that are happy and who care about their customers is key to our success. We have always stressed that to set ourselves apart we must ‘sell service’, and then deliver water,” Karl said.

On SEBWA, Karl said, “Membership in SEBWA allowed me to develop friendships with bottlers of all sizes and to learn from their years of knowledge. The ability to be on a first name basis with suppliers keeps me up with industry trends and product changes. As the industry has changed over the years these contacts have allowed me to adapt our business to succeed.” Karl was elected President of SEBWA for 2008-2010. He believes the networking opportunities are one of the greatest benefits of SEBWA, and the ability to share one on one about changes in the industry helps everyone. He believes the smaller setting of SEBWA events allows much more interaction than large meetings such as IBWA, and the educational opportunities are also more beneficial because of their smaller size. “In today’s current economic climate SEBWA can find new opportunities to serve our industry,” Karl said. “Tightening budget constraints and declining sales challenge bottlers as well as suppliers. SEBWA can provide a unique environment to share ideas for surviving this economic downturn, he added. Karl believes that by providing a lower cost, drivable destination SEBWA meetings can be a more cost effective option to interact with peers in the industry, and Suppliers can see more bottlers and distributors in one weekend than they could traveling in a month. “Those who need educational opportunities can get CEU’s without long trips across the country,” he said. And, “SEBWA can expand its role in our regional industry, but only with the input and support of those of us in the business,” Karl said.

Karl would encourage anyone entering this business to take advantage of all opportunities to interact with bottlers and distributors. He says asking questions and taking time to listen can help avoid the struggles of a new business venture. He advocated joining professional organizations such as SEBWA to keep up with industry trends and regulatory updates. “The industry has changed much over the last few years, but we can continue to be proud of the quality products we provide for our customers,” he said.