Fairfield County Business Report; Crystal Rock and "Catering"

Some of us may take water for granted but not the Baker family at crystal rock. After 73 years it's become the largest independent bottled water company in New England. Way back in 1914 the late Henry Baker started crystal rock with a horse pulled wagon delivering bottled spring water mostly to immigrants who were accustomed to drinking bottled water in their homeland and didn't like the chlorination taste in the city water here in Connecticut as the area grew so did crystal rock crystal rock has been successful a lot of reasons not the least of which is that people love our water. It's delicious good tasting water and they really enjoy drinking it. I think that they also have the assurance that our quality control because we probably have the best record of quality facilities in the country. The bottles are filled enough and kept in that and in the film and when they need it. To come out to be stacked and stored for the next days you. Run around twenty five to twenty five hundred to 3000 a day. The rock is still a family business. It's now run by Henry Baker Jr. and his three

sons who are expanding the flow of their business to of all places. Watertown Connecticut and will leave the Stanford based plan as a distribution center for their bottled water and other refreshments services. We believe strongly in the growth of the rest of Connecticut. We think that it has been plastically in last 10 years now and Fairfield County with us the state and with that we've been also. So a lot of our distribution from here is going there now and it's certainly economically better to to have a branch operation or another distribution location in the Watertown area. Henry Baker will be missed in our community for thirty seven years he's been a volunteer fireman is a board member of the Multiple Sclerosis Connecticut chapter. And last year was named Business Person of the year by the southwestern area of Commerce and Industry Association. I don't know whether ready to retire. I do know that I certainly can delegate more responsibilities once that location set up and I can relax a

bit more and less for him. Stanford Shawn Schaefer the Fairfield County Business Report. No two creators are alike at least not the ones we sampled today Frank or Gallo of gourmet galley does half of this business serving company employees breakfast and lunch right in their own building. And each day no two meals are alike. Oh food here is really good and usually has a great variety with hot food in the salad and also there's really no reason to leave the building. We come in and we designed a program based on the needs of their employees. And they don't have to have any mess whatsoever. We deliver it. We

present it. We sell it for them. We pack it up. We bring it away and we clean up the place. There's no sign of us being here at all. While much of the business of festivities in Norwalk is from the private sector along with home style cooking. Our clients really enjoy our homemade soups and this one is especially good. All the freshest ingredients in it. It's broccoli and carrots onion good. Homemade chicken broth. Here let me taste of it so you know what I'm talking about here. I was there. Just like my grandmother makes what you must to leave home. The bigger then the catering was the 3000 bag lunch for the participants in the weekend walkathons. Potato chips. Fried chicken. And orange. Pepperidge Farm cookies.

And in. Each Walker will get a bag after they finish the walk. There will be a thousand in Bridgeport a thousand in Stanford and a thousand in Danbury. And Norwalk on Sean Shea saying bone up a teat for the Fairfield County Business Report.