
AriZona head honcho spills the tea on his $4 billion beverage business
To celebrate his birthday each year, Don Vultaggio wears his pajamas to work and spends the day flipping pancakes and omelettes on a portable stovetop for his employees.
The sight is unusual — but then again, so is Vultaggio's approach to business.
7 Don Vultaggio, founder of the AriZona Beverage Company, says that remaining private has enabled a degree of nimbleness and flexibility.
Newsday via Getty Images
Advertisement
In 1990, he co-founded AriZona Beverage Company. It's now America's top-selling iced tea company, with upwards of $4 billion in annual sales.
Through it all, the company has remained privately owned and kept the price for its iconic tall-boys the same — just 99 cents.
Vultaggio's credits his business's success, in part, to creating a unique corporate culture and retaining employees.
Advertisement
At AriZona's headquarters in Woodbury, NY, staff not only gather for Vultaggio's annual birthday pajama party, but there are also annual celebrations for Halloween and Cinco de May — the iced tea launched May 5 — and an Italian dinner featuring vegetables and herbs grown on the rooftop by Vultaggio's wife. Families are encouraged to attend.
'The work I do affects the livelihood of everyone that works [here],' Vultaggio said. 'I take that very personally.'
Here, he spills the tea on other strategies that have been crucial to AriZona's success.
7 AriZona's iconic 22-oz tallboy has been priced at 99 cents ever since the cans hit shelves in 1992. Vultaggio has been able to keep the price consistent by slashing nearly every line-item — that doesn't have to do with the product's taste — in the budget.
AriZona Beverage Company
Independence at all costs
Advertisement
AriZona is dwarfed by competitors such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, but those giants' public ownership comes with strings attached: regulatory hurdles, shareholder pressures, compliance costs and layers of bureaucracy.
When something isn't working, executives can spend months haggling with their board.
Being family-owned and privately-run allows AriZona to be nimble and agile.
7 AriZona is a family-run, privately held business. Don (bottom left) founded the company in 1990. His wife, Ilene (bottom right) is an artist and designed the original cherry blossom label. Their sons, Wesley (top left) and Spencer (top right), serve as AriZona's chief creative officer and chief marketing officer, respectively.
AriZona Beverage Company
Advertisement
If there's a problem, Vultaggio said, 'We change it at lunch.'
In an industry where product development typically takes years, Vultaggio and co. are able to roll out between 12 and 16 new drinks or flavors per year.
This month, two of the brand's most unconventional offerings are hitting shelves: a 100-calorie vodka-infused iced tea and a one-gallon boxed cold brew coffee. Vultaggio said they each took about three months to go from conception to store shelves.
7 In April, AriZona is launching a new cold brew coffee product. The drink gives the brand a foothold in the booming cold brew market — forecasted to grow to $16.22 billion by 2032.
AriZona Beverage Company
The vodka drink — an upgrade over a previous malt-based product and AriZona's first premium boozy beverage — has been successful in Canada. It aims to be AriZona's answer to High Noon and other health-conscious hard drinks, an increasingly lucrative market.
Similarly, the coffee beverage will give AriZona a foothold into a booming cold brew market, which was valued at $3.16 billion in 2024 and expected to grow to $16.22 billion by 2032.
Having spent years perfecting a cold brewing process for teas, and with all the requisite infrastructure already in place, the move was a natural one for AriZona.
'Brewing is brewing,' Vultaggio said.
Advertisement
7 In a typical year, AriZona will produce 12 to 16 new beverages — many of which are one-off collaborations with brands ranging from Marvel to 7-Eleven.
AriZona Beverage Company
Let the brand speak for itself
AriZona has never ran a print or broadcast ad, instead letting its beverages do the talking.
'We make [them] taste good and price [them] fair,' Vultaggio said of his simplistic approach. 'Take care of customers and they take care of you.'
7 AriZona doesn't advertise, but through initiatives like a 99-cent pop-up store in NYC — which featured T-shirts, lapel pins, caps, totes, drink bottles, skate decks and more available for purchase — the brand has developed a cult-like following.
AriZona Beverage Company
Advertisement
While competitors blow millions on Super Bowl ads (and cut corners elsewhere to pay for them), AriZona leans on merch drops, organic buzz and partnerships with companies such as Adidas, Marvel and 7-Eleven — all eager to tap into the company's cultural cachet and zealous fanbase.
It's taking that model a step further by launching 'Club Zona' on May 5, a $99-a-year subscription program through which super-fans will get early access to limited-edition flavors and exclusive product drops.
It's marketing by way of community: less about reach, more about resonance.
7 Vultaggio hands out free swag to fans waiting in line at an NYC pop-up event. AriZona will be hosting another similar event in collaboration with luxury eyewear designer Thierry Lasry in NYC May 1 to 3 at 216 Lafayette Street.
AriZona Beverage Company
Advertisement
Keep prices consistent
While inflation and other outside factors have forced competitors to jack up prices, Vultaggio's savvy has allowed him to tinker with line items and keep AriZona's iced tea price at a consistent $0.99.
Growing up in Flatbush as the son of an A&P supermarket manager, he worked nearly every rung of the grocery and distribution ladders, even building his own beer delivery service.
This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC's power players (and those who aspire to be).
Advertisement
By the time he launched AriZona, when he was in his 40s, he knew how every part of the supply chain worked and how to fine-tune operations and keep his — and customers' — costs low.
Over the years at AriZona, aluminum has been removed from cans, rail has replaced trucking where possible (and the remaining trucks now drive at night to for better fuel efficiency) and equipment is increasingly built in-house to abate vendor markups.
'If you're a manufacturer who thinks it's easy to just pass price along to a consumer,' Vultaggio said, 'you're kidding yourself.'
Send NYNext a tip: nynextlydia@nypost.com
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
American Airlines Is Giving Onboard Service a Major Upgrade
American Airlines Is Giving Onboard Service a Major Upgrade originally appeared on Parade. Attention all traveling foodies: American Airlines is rolling out a deliciously major upgrade. The airline is celebrating some of its popular summer travel destinations with a new European-inspired in-flight dining menu beginning June 11 for customers flying in Flagship Business, a Flagship Suite Preferred seat, or a Flagship Suite seat on select European routes. Routes that will feature the menu include Paris (CDG) and Nice (NCE), France; Rome (FCO), Venice (VCE), Naples (NAP), and Milan (MXP), Italy; Barcelona (BCN) and Madrid (MAD), Spain; Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC), Germany; London (LHR) and Edinburgh (EDI), United Kingdom; and Dublin (DUB), Ireland. The menu items inspired by France are ratatouille and a porcini short rib paired with polenta and blue cheese, while the Italian-inspired menu features an herbed short rib with pea risotto and pan-seared halibut with fingerling potatoes. Would it be a German menu without schnitzel and spaetzle? American Airlines isn't taking that risk, adding both to the menu with potatoes and blistered tomatoes accompanying the schnitzel, and grilled zucchini, cremini mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes joining the spaetzle. The theme continues with the Spain-inspired menu items, going coastal with a mar y mar paella and a seared sea bass served with squid ink rice, while the U.K. is represented with mustard-crumb lamb served with turnips, peas and baby carrots, and a peppercorn short rib with roasted potatoes and seasonal vegetables. That's not the only change being implemented, as the airline is now giving customers more time to make their pre-order selections by adjusting the pre-order meal window to 20 hours before departure, giving them four additional hours than they currently have to select their in-flight meal. Next: American Airlines Is Giving Onboard Service a Major Upgrade first appeared on Parade on Jun 9, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Beloved Local Italian Store is Closing After Five Decades
The difficulties stores and businesses face each year are tremendous, and one popular and long-standing business in New York is the latest to announce that it will be closing. The Bari Pork Store in Bensonhurst, which has stood in its location since 1969, will officially be closing its doors. The store was operated by Tony Turrigiano and George Firrantello, who say that they've enjoyed the service they've provided for the public. "I loved what I do. And he loves what he does. That's why he's still working," Firrantello said. Turrigiano said that he's been involved with the store in some capacity for the last 60 years. Firrantello and Turrigiano specialized in Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese, items they learned to make when they were teenagers. The two were in partnership for nearly 30 years at the Bari Pork Store, but they simply cannot afford to remain open amid rising costs. "Let's put it this way - our people who eat this food are not around. They moved out of the neighborhood," Turrigiano said, likely a comment of the amount of gentrification that's taken place in New York - especially in Brooklyn where the store was located. Turrigiano noted that his family came to Brooklyn from Italy when he was only nine years old, and he's seen the borough and the entire city change drastically during that time. Customers told ABC 7 New York that they were sad to see the store go, mostly due to the staple it has become to the community during its lifespan. "Twenty-eight years I've been coming here. This is like a family," one man said. "It takes away a little bit of its soul. Authenticity," one woman said. "It's like my kitchen - it's an extension of my kitchen." Another customer described the store and the items on offer as "a taste of a land far away that I've never been to." The store is set to officially close on June 30, giving customers the remainder of the month to make their visits and say their goodbyes to one of the most recognizable staples of their community. Beloved Local Italian Store is Closing After Five Decades first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 9, 2025


Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
Comtech: Fiscal Q3 Earnings Snapshot
CHANDLER, Ariz. — CHANDLER, Ariz. — Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (CMTL) on Monday reported earnings of $33.9 million in its fiscal third quarter. The Chandler, Arizona-based company said it had net loss of 49 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for non-recurring costs and stock option expense, came to 18 cents per share. The communications company posted revenue of $126.8 million in the period, which topped Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $124.1 million. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights ( using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CMTL at