Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/370987
EquipmentWorld.com | September 2014 11 reporter | by Equipment World staff Blame it on Grandma. "My grandmother had a snack mix she called Gravel," relates Daren Rexroad (but please call him "Rex"), "made of peanuts, pretzels, cereal and white chocolate." Using her recipe, Rex started experiment- ing, substituting dark chocolate there, milk chocolate here. Soon he had several snack mixes people were urging him to start selling. But what to call the lineup? Working as an assistant town clerk in Jericho, Vermont, Rex heard the town's road crew foreman's voice come over the CB: "The asphalt's peeling over here, we're gonna' need a load of gravel over there, and the mud is pretty bad … ," the foreman said. Aha. And so Asphalt and Mud joined Gravel, and Rex's Outrageous Road Crew Crunch line was born. There are now eight regular fl avors, including Backfi ll and Pothole, all which go for $7 a bag. Every fl avor – in- cluding the seasonal Mistletow (featuring a tow truck) and Dead End (for Halloween) – have a road theme. "We used to have a roller on our Asphalt label and a dump truck for Mud, but it got complicated, so now we just feature a loader on the label of all of our regular mixes," say Rex, who has never worked in construction. As from the start, he's open to experi- mentation. "I'd love to approach Caterpillar and use a D11 for a Halloween-themed ScareDCat mix," he adds with a laugh. Growing gradually from a 2006 start, two years ago Rex and wife Annette decided to literally take their marketing on the road. Selling their house, they bought a 36-foot 5th-wheel RV, packed up their three boys (who are "road schooled") and have toured the country, trying to stir up interest among distributors and retailers in their gluten-free, all-natural products. Production is handled back in Vermont, where three employees hand-batch supplies. His product has gotten notice from construction companies and associations. Asphalt paver Lakeside Industries with offi ces in Washington and Oregon bought several boxes of Asphalt, asking Rex to attach a company marketing message to the back of the bag, a feature the company actively markets. The Asphalt Institute also grabbed up bags of Asphalt. "It's rare when we don't get someone who doesn't giggle when we talk about our mix names," Rex says. "It works to get a message across and put a smile on their face." – Marcia Gruver Doyle W ith more than 2,800 exhibitors from 38 countries, the 300,000-square-meter bauma China construction equipment show will be larger than the previous 2012 show, say show organizers. The show will take place Nov. 25-28 in the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. The show targets – among others – contractors, construction equipment manufacturers and trade and service providers with exhibits of earthmoving, road construction, pipelaying, mining, and mate- rial production equipment. It is organized by Messe Munchen International, the producers of the massive every-three-year Munich, Germany, bauma show. Currently, the top fi ve international exhibiting coun- tries are Germany (204 exhibitors), the United States (102), Italy (100), Korea (76) and Japan (52). Chinese equipment show registration opens To register, go to www.bauma-china.com/en/visitors/register. For further information, go to www.bauma-china.com Here's Mud in your mouth: How a snack company developed a road-themed lineup