The Vaccaro family founded the company in 1960 as a soda business in Brooklyn, bottling its own brand in glass bottles distributed in plastic crates. By the late 1970s, the family stayed in the beverage industry but pivoted away from manufacturing to beverage logistics and distribution, acquiring a fleet of trucks.
By the 1990s, Bettaway expanded yet again, offering national third-party logistics and a national pallet program for brands (see below).
In 2020, the New Jersey-based company had already added supply chain consulting, a new distribution center, e-commerce fulfillment, and a 300,000-sq.-ft. mega plant in Edison, N.J. As it expanded its services and capacities, it never lost its connections to the beverage industry, with clients including Arizona Tea, Snapple, Monster Energy, and Nestlé.
Bettaway’s next move came in 2021 when it ventured into variety packing—a logical progression given its strategic location near major ports in South Plainfield, N.J.
“We saw that in order to become more valuable to our customers, there was a need for warehousing and repacking,” says John Vaccaro, president of Bettaway and son of the company’s founder. “Most of our customers do repacking, and with our location in the Northeast, there’s a large consumer market around us, so it was the right spot.”
A value-added solution
While warehousing alone can be unsustainable due to its costs, Bettaway wanted to take a value-added services approach, offering a compelling reason for customers to store products in its warehouse.
“No one wants to pay for warehousing—customers want to be in and out as quickly as possible,” says Vaccaro.
Bettaway has multipurposed its warehousing area for repacking operations with two cartoning lines.Infinity Photography Inc.To add value, Bettaway introduced repackaging and variety packing to its portfolio. Not only did this diversify its offerings, but it also strengthened relationships with clients.
“We wanted to provide more services to our long-term customers so that we would be more integrated and ‘sticky’ with them,” Vaccaro says.
The move also made sense for Bettaway’s operations and strategy.
“We weren’t looking to become the biggest or greatest variety packer, but we had this great building, and we wanted to make sure it stayed full,” Vaccaro says.
Igor Katsman, vice president of operations, sums up Bettaway’s one-stop-shop approach for beverage clients like this:
“We’ll store it in our warehouse, and then we’ll do the packaging for them in a variety pack. Instead of dealing with five different vendors, they can just come to us for a customized solution.”
The right cartoner for the job
After opening up their new space and having some discussions with Nestlé, Bettaway landed a contract for repacking Nestlé’s San Pellegrino Essenza mineral water, imported from Italy. To launch its repacking operations—which today make up about 5% of Bettaway’s service portfolio—it needed the right cartoner for the job: a highly specialized and flexible system.
Econocorp’s Dual Infeed Beverage Spartan cartoner was recommended by Nestlé for Bettaway’s repacking operation.Infinity Photography Inc.Econocorp’s Dual Infeed Beverage Spartan cartoner—a model recommended by Nestlé—was chosen for its versatility and reliability. Econocorp partnered with Bettaway to install the machine for one of its two cartoning lines. Katsman praises Econocorp’s support during the setup phase.
“Their team was responsive and transparent, with no hidden costs or agendas,” he says. “They even took us to another facility in New York to see the machine in action.” Smurfit Westrock’s glossy, metallized carton flats, fills them, and seals them for retail. Bettaway’s automated TopTier palletizer then stacks and prepares the cartons on pallets destined for major club stores like Costco and BJ’s.
“Econocorp’s machine is highly flexible,” says Katsman. “It can produce three different package styles: front-load, side-load, and perpendicular.”
Econocorp built Bettaway’s cartoner to handle various configurations, such as 24-, 18-, 15-, or six-packs. The customized cartoner is now running at 18 carton cases per minute, equating to one pallet every three and a half minutes, says Vaccaro. On a single shift, that line churns out nearly 10,000 carton cases.
“From the day we brought the machine in, it’s been running almost flawlessly,” Vaccaro notes.
Previously, Bettaway relied on older, unreliable machines, but the Econocorp cartoner has exceeded expectations.
“When you’re in the service business, you want to turn the key every morning and produce. That’s what’s important,” Vaccaro says.
People power
The variety pack operation has also created opportunities for the 35 Bettaway employees who work in repacking. Many have transitioned from manual roles, such as forklift operators, to skilled positions operating the cartoner and palletizer, Katsman says.
Vaccaro’s commitment to inclusion in the workforce is another hallmark of Bettaway’s repacking operation. With a son on the autism spectrum, Vaccaro saw variety packing as an opportunity to provide meaningful employment for individuals with disabilities. Today, Bettaway partners with organizations like We Make and Rutgers Center for Adults with Autism to offer these opportunities on the repacking line for tasks such as carton preparation.
“We’re proud to have 20 to 25 individuals with mixed abilities contributing to our operations,” Vaccaro says.
Looking ahead
With two variety pack lines running, Bettaway plans to add a third, further solidifying its position as a value-added logistics provider.
“My vision is to make this building more reliant on variety packing and less dependent on traditional storage,” Vaccaro says.
Bettaway’s automated TopTier palletizer stacks and prepares cartons of Nestlé’s San Pellegrino Essenza mineral water on pallets destined for club stores.Infinity Photography Inc.The company’s proximity to New York-area ports and its integrated service model make it a preferred partner for beverage giants like Nestlé.
“We’re positioned well logistically—we’ve got trucking, logistics, repackaging, and palletizing all under one roof,” Vaccaro explains.
It’s an approach that gives Bettaway a competitive edge in the hot Northeast beverage market.
Taking the Headache Out of Sourcing Pallets
Drawing upon its expertise in beverage distribution, Bettaway Supply Chain Services reimagined pallet management when it created Pallet Trader, a platform for buying, selling, and managing pallets.
Unlike traditional pallet systems, Pallet Trader is an online marketplace dedicated to pallet transactions. Operating through a network of 700 depots nationwide, Bettaway’s system ensures that companies can source pallets efficiently without the burden of ownership.
“Pallet Trader streamlines operations by providing a single-source solution for national brands,” says John Vaccaro, who founded Pallet Trader. “We handle everything from supplying grade-specific pallets to retrieving and repairing used ones.”
The closed-loop system is tailored to beverage and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, which rely on standardized pallets for seamless distribution.
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Bettaway has multipurposed its warehousing area for repacking operations with two cartoning lines.Infinity Photography Inc.
