Clearwater flavored syrup company Monin sees success serving community during pandemic

CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) – If 2020 had a flavor, it would not be a very good one.

Although the year has left many with a bad taste in their mouth, a Tampa Bay business is turning the sour year into sweet success.

Monin, a French flavored syrup company started overseas, but now calls Clearwater home.

“We flavor just millions of teas, and lemonades, and sodas, and even sparkling water every day,” said Monin’s CEO Bill Lombardo. “We work with everybody from the most independent restaurant to the largest chains. It’s pretty hard to go out to eat and not encounter our product. You’ll never know it’s there, but it’s there.”

Monin got off to an amazing start at the beginning of the year. Sales were off the charts in January and February, but by March, the pandemic had arrived, and with many restaurants, bars, and coffee shops shutting their doors, trucks of syrup were being sent back to the company.

“Our sales in April, after being up about 20% the first couple of months, were down 90% of that in April,” said Lombardo.

The company halted manufacturing and altered their business plan, not only to survive, but thrive.

Workers were sent home, albeit with pay, and management waited. They soon realized there was a need in the community, and began to fill bottles with hand sanitizer.

“We had our employees driving around and drop cases, drop cases, and it felt good. We felt like in a time of crisis we were responding in the right way,” said Lombardo.

They sold to those who could buy, and gave away thousands of bottles to those who couldn’t.

Meanwhile, people at home were still thirsty for their favorite drinks. Monin developed a whole line of ready to drink, easy to pour cocktail syrups. Restaurants and bars could now sell the mixes paired with alcohol.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever done anything that wasn’t a concentrate. All of our stuff is highly concentrated, made for a mixologist to dilute and this is actually made for somebody’s home,” said Lombardo.

Sales climbed to pre-pandemic levels. The company was shipping out 200 to 300 bottles a day a couple of years ago. Now, they ship out about 2,000 bottles a day to people’s homes.

“We’re very much an innovation driven company. So we’ve always looked for opportunities, but this has given us an even bigger, I would say, a bigger vision or wider vision than we’ve ever had before,” said Lombardo.

The company has done so well in the latter half of 2020, they have started up a partnership with Amazon to deliver their syrups, and employees who were just grateful to have a job are getting bonuses to finish off the year.

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