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industry of his past and the
promotional products industry of
his present and future. “Even in the
supplement business, we were still
amanufacturer,” he says. “There
are consistencies between what
wemanufactured there and here
at Lanco.”
Based in Long Island, New York,
Lanco Corporation was founded
in 1985 with the acquisition of a
small company that manufactured
chocolate confectionarymolds.
Since Slade took the helm six
years ago, he has led the charge
for Lanco, initiating a great
deal of growth and change for
the company.
By 2015, Lanco had outgrown
its old office space and decided
to custom-build new office
headquarters with state-of-the-art
manufacturing facilities. Themove
enabled Lanco to create, from the
ground up, a 75,000-square-foot
space “that suited both sides of
the business,” Slade says. Food
products are on one end, while the
health and body products—plus
the print shop—are at the other
end, he explains.
“Since we are an FDA-approved
food facility, we had tomake sure
we built the space to be compliant
with strict regulations,” Slade says.
“We have FDA attorneys who give
us guidance and alert us to any
changes in regulations. It takes a lot
of time and effort, because for every
request for information, you’re
educating somebody along the
way, whether that’s the distributor
or their end-user customer.”
Because the cost of labor is high
in the New York City area, Lanco
has adapted accordingly, evolving
into a hard-pressed diamond of
a company with a laser-like focus
on efficiency. “Technology has
becomemuchmore of our DNA,”
Slade says. “Also, we’ve really
changed our culture since we
moved to the new building. Now if
someone sees something wrong,
they don’t just fix that one problem;
they change the process.”
An Industry Ripe
For Change
As a large industry supplier,
Lanco focuses on three main
categories: Food products,
including chocolate (30 percent);
health and beauty items such
as lip balm and hand sanitizer
(20 percent); and hard goods,
which include everything from
microfiber screen cleaners to gift
bags, as well as a sophisticated
print shop (50 percent).
“What’s growing most for us
now are our microfiber screen-
cleaning cloths and other
technology-related products,” he
says. “Also, sunscreen with SPF
protection is doing very well due
to awareness about skin cancer,
along with our custom-molded
chocolates during fourth quarter.”
Slade believes the promotional
products industry is ripe for
change and expansion. “It’s a
mature industry, and there hasn’t
been real innovation in it for a
while,” he says. “Trends come and
go, yes. But the whole industry
is different now. We have to
look outside the box to find new
opportunities to grow. It’s a hard
game just taking market share
from each other. Why not create a
newmarket altogether?”
Innovation On
The Horizon
Slade sees a wide-open market
of opportunity for the promotional
products industry that links to the
nutritional supplements business
fromwhich he hailed. “There are
some very interesting things on
the horizon that kind of go back
“I see a big
opportunity ahead
for nutritional
supplements in
the promotional
products industry.”
Two years ago Scott Slade relocated the company to new headquarters
with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.
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