‘Lip-smackin’ good’ sauces stir 30-year success story

Marinades, rubs and more allow business to grow

By M AX B OWEN Special to The Republican

From making sauce for $2 a bottle for friends to starting up a page on Amazon, Chubby’s Sauces has come a long way.

Owner Steve Norwood started the business in 1996 with a recipe handed down from his great-grandfather. That recipe later became known as Chubby’s Grillmaster and, after hearing great things from family, he began making it for friends and co-workers, averaging 4 or 5 gallons every two weeks.

“I charged two bucks and when I went up to three bucks, they’d complain, but they’d still hand me the money,” said Norwood with a laugh.

Norwood describes himself as a “six-day-a-week worker” and always had a day job along with developing the Chubby brand. After working his day job he’d hit the kitchen with his then-wife and two daughters to make the sauce that had become so popular, and credits them with being a strong part of the business’ success.

Chubby’s first location was in Northfield at a former golf course. A few years later, he rented space at the Franklin County Community Development Corp. office in Greenfield. His current location, at

11-B Deacon Parker Road in Bernardston, has been the business’ home for the last 14 years. Norwood’s business got its start with the Great American Steak Sauce, Grillmaster and Firemaster sauces in mild, medium, and hot. There’s also the Old 45, a bourbon steak sauce named in honor of the Harley Davidson 45-degree engine. Norwood’s a motorcycle rider and said the tech side of him came out when it came to the name. He said Old 45 only sees a couple batches a year and has grown in popularity, with new distributors helping get into areas such as the Berkshires. Chubby’s also offers salsa, meat rubs and Big Mama’s pasta sauce.

All this success hasn’t gone without a few bumps in the road. Norwood recalled a time when he had installed a new filler for the sauces. His wife left to get lunch and when she returned, found him staring at the ceiling 12 feet above his head, which was covered in sauce when the equipment malfunctioned.

“We’ve had some interesting stuff happen,” he said.

Another aspect of the busi- ness is the different contracts

Norwood has secured over the years to package sauces, hot sauces and salad dressings for other companies. It’s been part of the business for the last decade and accounts for approximately 60% of its work. The idea came from chef Drew Starkweather, who packaged for Norwood at his Vermont plant.

Norwood said it was a challenge expanding the business this way since different sauces tax the equipment, and he estimates that 3,000 containers are done a day.

“I’m proud of what we’ve done,” Norwood said. “We’ve grown and pushed quite a bit.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered many businesses, Norwood said his wife hoped this meant he could take a break. But since they processed food, Chubby’s was named a “necessary business,” so it could remain open.

Norwood said he kept the employees — three full-time and two part-time — going, but getting materials was a challenge. Most of its sales are in gallon jugs, but since so many were being bought to store hand sanitizer, Norwood found the shelves at his usual suppliers — such as Hillside Plastics — were bare.

“It was difficult not getting the work done, difficult getting the materials,” Norwood said.

This time period forced the staff to be “on your toes” as Norwood put it. Material shortages forced staffers to order from outside New England, and sickness and factory closures were always a problem. Price increases were also a challenge. Norwood sources his tomatoes from Italy, the price for which quadrupled. Though Chubby’s saw a 20% increase in sales, a lot of that went back into keeping stocked on supplies.

“The availability, that made it difficult,” he said. “There’d be so much demand and then there’d be company shutdowns for lack of personnel.”

Though a recession in 2023 is all but certain, Norwood hasn’t paid it much mind. Over the course of his career, he’s only spent $5,000 on advertising, relying more on his custom van and word of mouth.

He said he keeps his ears open for potential cost in- creases and makes sure there is plenty of inventory in stock. Instead, he’s focused on the future — growing his business online, expanding the co-packing part of the business and trying out new products, such as meat rubs.

“We do small steps, but those steps happen every month,” Norwood said. “Slow growth has kept us solid in the marketplace.”

Samble isn’t the only fourth-generation family member involved with the business.

“My sister April (McCarthy) began working in the store when she was just 14 at our retail dry cleaning division. Today she oversees our entire pickup and delivery operation and handles every customer’s garments,” Samble said. That segment of the company’s service also takes the environment into consideration by using eco-friendly Ford Transits.

“It’s a time-saver for people, costs the same as bringing them into our store and is an important part of our business today,” Samble said. “We pick up on Monday and have them back to customers on Thursday ready for an additional pickup if needed.”

Over the years, the dry cleaning industry has weathered many storms. Perhaps the biggest has been the controversy over using what some at the time called a “miracle” cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene, also referred to as PERC. It was developed as far back as the 19th century and went on to become the primary cleaning agent in the dry cleaning business before it was discovered to be a probable human carcinogen as well as an environmental pollutant. Today local and state policies have been established regulating its use and paving the way to identifying safer and more sustainable solvents.

It was Samble — in another example of the leadership and ingenuity that had become synonymous with the Belmont name — who encouraged his now retired father, Robert Samble Jr., who was president of the company at the time, to consider green cleaning as “the only way to go.”

By 2009, Belmont was “PERC-free” and the transition to an eco-friendly business was complete. Today all of their cleaning materials, detergents and starches are organic in nature, biodegradable and environmentally friendly.

“Dermatologist tested and approved, the solvent used in the Eco-Cleanse system is safe on the skin,” Samble said.

Among the many benefits of Eco-Cleanse dry cleaning as listed on the Belmont website include carcinogen-free and halogen-free cleaning, zero “dry cleaner” smell, pollutant-free clothing, safer garments to wear, softer garment feel and a longer garment lifespan.

Today the number of dry cleaning establishments in the United States is drastically falling. From the first quarter of 2001, to the first quarter of 2022, the number of dry-cleaning and laundry service establishments, excluding those that are coin-operated, decreased from 27,204 to 16,497, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Even Belmont Cleaners has needed to consolidate its operations, which is now 80% commercial, into three current locations. In addition to its flagship on Belmont Avenue, there are two additional locations, one on Wilbraham Road in Springfield and the other on Westfield Street in West

Springfield.

“The Springfield area has less than half of the laundries it did two decades ago. Today it’s a volume business, and smaller cleaners who don’t have the customer base we do are finding it tough to keep their doors open. And that’s on top of overhead, which is driving up prices at the counter for good dry cleaning,” Samble said.

“A box of hangers was $18.99 before COVID, now they are $65 and we use 10,000 a week. Then there is the cost of utilities, which is through the roof, and we have a lot of equipment,” Samble said.

But Belmont Cleaners isn’t going anywhere soon.

“Belmont is always going to be here as a dry cleaner. We are committed to service with a really great team who have been with us for many years,” Samble said. “We have over 100 years of textile cleaning knowledge, and we do the right thing for our customers and when it comes to running our business.”

IBM, and in 1981, he and Sue moved to the Sylvester Road property in Florence where she had grown up.

They settled in, clearing some land on the multi-acre parcel and building a house. Godard started work as a programmer at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance. Subscribers of Mother Earth News, they began beekeeping, raising lamb and sheep, growing apples and blueberries and making honey.

As they raised their five children, they launched a roadside stand in 1985.

“We called it Godard’s Red Hen Farm after the book ‘Little Red Hen’ because we did it ourselves,” Godard says.

Godard was still working in 2008 as an assistant vice president in charge of various engineering teams and had retirement in mind not too long down the road. Then, MassMutual handed him a retirement package and made things clear and easy.

“We got to make the dream a reality,” he says.

The couple began developing the building that would house the winery and put their farm wares under the awning. They started making wine in 2009 and opened the doors in 2010 with 50 cases of wine.

Over the years, they have invested in the business only with earned capital — no loans. As they needed them, they’d buy more and larger stainless steel tanks, barrels, heating and chilling and filtering units, pumps, hoses and clamps.

“That’s how we went from 50 cases to making 1,500 to 1,800 year,” Godard says.

Early on, most of the wines served up by Mineral Hills were on the dry side, the way Godard likes them.

“When people started coming, many asked for sweet wine. It occurred to me that our moniker had to change: ‘Wines to please all palates,’” he says. “Now, we span the gamut from dry to sweet. We try to

please everyone.”

The Godards import the grapes for their cabernet sauvignon because they can’t be grown in the Connecticut River valley, but raise their own Cayuga, itasca, frontenac and petite pearl grapes on their own land and on parcels in Easthampton and Williamsburg.

While the business is closed for a winter break through March, you can buy their wines — from the popular Red Hen Red, frontenac and cabernet sauvignon to May wine and NOHO Blush — online with pre-arranged pick-up at the winery, or from wholesalers such as Big Y, Liquors 44 and Atkins Farm anytime. Doors reopen in April.

Godard is 70 now, and both husband and wife are looking to do less work. They have no interest in clearing any more land on the property to grow and develop. But they have a succession plan: daughter Anna Pearlman, of South Hadley. The 39-year-old Pearlman quit her job in July and is on the payroll in a transition process that will conclude in 2024, when her parents will step down, and she will take the lead. The Godards will keep an eye on the business, though, as they will still live there on the land.

At right, some of Mineral Hills Winery’s wines have

We continue to investigate various technologies – both established and emerging – in an effort to continue to green their power portfolios. This includes offshore wind, energy storage, green hydrogen and advanced nuclear technology.

DeCurzio

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Massachusetts power plants per year.

Six MMWEC member utilities are participating in the project, which will come online this year. The project is ideal for MLPs looking to increase their carbon-free generation, but may not have adequate space within their own service territories to build a solar array.

Despite all of their progress, MMWEC and the MLPs are not resting on their laurels. They continue to investigate various technologies — both established and emerging — in an effort to continue to green their power portfolios. This includes offshore wind, energy storage, green hydrogen and advanced nuclear technology. At the same time, the MLPs are increasing opportunities and incentives for forward-thinking customers looking to decarbonize and electrify. In 2022, MMWEC launched the NextZero program, a rebranded energy efficiency program with a focus on decarbonization and electrification for residential and commercial customers.

In 2023, several MMWEC member light departments will participate in a new residential battery incentive program in an effort to encourage more residents to reduce their carbon footprints at home. MMWEC will continue to investigate and develop programs under the NextZero umbrella that support the MLPs’ objectives of decarbonization.

The economy and the pandemic continue to present challenges to our industry, but MMWEC and the commonwealth’s municipal light departments will forge ahead in our mission today while keeping an eye on the future.

Swift

CONTINUES FROM PAGE L9 simply not be possible without our associates. At Health New England, we take care of our employees so they can better serve you. We have many programs and services available to help with physical and emotional health, and wellness incentives to encourage employees to reach their best health.

Health New England is actively increasing diversity within our associate population. We value the experiences that each one of our associates brings to the workplace and this helps us continue to serve the unique needs of members of all races, sexual orientations, gender identities, socioeconomic statuses, religions and other diverse backgrounds.

Many of our colleagues are your neighbors, your friends and your customers. They care greatly for the people in the communities in which we live, work and play. In 2023, we look forward to reinvigorating and expanding upon our company’s commitment to volunteering with local organizations, efforts that took a hit during the depths of the pandemic. You can expect to see more Health New England employees working with our nonprofit partners to provide basic needs, improve our communities, and help kids get a great start.

Whatever 2023 brings, Health New England remains committed to putting our members and our community first as we adapt to an ever-changing health care landscape.

Richard Swift is president and CEO of Health New England. To learn more about Health New England, visit healthnewengland.org