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.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.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.

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.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 ea...