Cooler company makes, distributes product here

When the Igloo Corporation was founded in 1947 in Houston, it was a metalworking shop with two employees who made water containers for workers in the Texas oilfields, construction sites and Gulf Coast fishermen.

Today, Igloo is is known for its lines of durable, hard-sided and soft-sided coolers made of plastic and foam, all from a giant facility just west of Katy. The 775 full-time and 600 seasonal employees produce 17 million coolers a year inside the 1.4 million square-foot building—the largest of its kind in the world. More than 500 product lines are produced, ranging from personal lunch totes and beverage coolers to giant, 250-quart cooler lockers used by offshore fishermen and big game hunters.

" You can fit a deer in there or a tuna or a large fish," product manager Michelle Stone said.

Igloo's iconic product is the yellow and red beverage cooler which is popular with blue collar workers, sports teams and outdoor enthusiasts.

The company has been through multiple ownerships in the last 65 years, including Coca-Cola at one point. In 2008, Igloo was purchased by J.H Whitney and Company, a private equity firm based in New Canaan, Conn. Since then, product offerings have increased into the soft-side coolers, lunch boxes and even backpacks and tents.

" We're going after the family camper," Stone said.

She said Igloo is also experimenting with the college tailgate crowd by introducing the Ice Cube line in the colors and logos of 15 college teams with plans to expand that in 2013.

Loyalty

Innovation and brand loyalty are hallmarks for the company, where many of its employees have worked for 20 to 30 years.

" Igloo is us," senior distribution manager Carlos Lopez said. "Igloo is the people inside it."

Enrique Cervantes, vice president of operations, agreed that the employees make the difference.

" The people working for Igloo have been loyal to Igloo for a number of years," he said. "I have people reporting to me that have worked [here] for more than 30 years."

Cervantes said it is common to see generations of the same families working at the facility. Alexander Hodges, director of human resources, said it is also one of the most diverse companies around.

" You see every shade and color that God has made here," he said.

Soup to nuts

Inside the walls of the giant facility are 49 injection mold machines for making the solid plastic parts and 51 blow mold machines for the hollow pieces. Each part of the coolers are manufactured, assembled and shipped from the site in Katy.

" We do everything related to the product from soup to nuts," Stone said.

The process begins at the back of the factory where Ernest Jaime manages a state-of-the-art machine shop and maintenance team. Outside his shop, the mold machines begin pushing out parts which are moved to the assembly lines. There, parts are added and insulating foam is injected. The product is heated, which causes the foam to expand and fill the walls of the coolers.

Final assembly, packaging, and storage wrap up that portion of the process. From there the product is shipped to retail outlets around the world.

" We're sold through 100,000 retail outlets, 40,000 of which exclusively sell Igloo," said Chairman and CEO Gary A. Kiedaisch.

Walmart, Target, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Costco and Sams are Igloo's top customers.

Innovation

Kiedaisch said Igloo is the most recognized brand in the cooler industry with a 45 percent market share.

" We're in 90 percent of American households," Kiedaisch said.

He said Igloo had significant growth during the last four years despite the recession, largely by moving into the soft-sided products and expanding on most product lines. Last year the company introduced its high-end Yukon line and in 2013 will introduce a mid-level product called Super Tough.

" It's for the people who would like to have a Yukon but don't want to put out the money," Stone said.

Alexander Hodges, director of human resources, said Igloo's willingness to try new things and adapt to market changes is what has made it the industry leader.

" It's innovation—the one thing that causes Igloo to be premier in our category," he said.

Cervantes called it "consumer-driven innovation."

As an example, Stone said an employee at a little league baseball game noticed players were fastening their 1/2-gallon coolers to the backstop with bungee cords. That resulted in the creation of hooks added to a line of the coolers , which make it easy to hang on a chain-link fence.

" We're seeing the end users and how they use our products to begin with," said Michael Wright, senior industrial engineer for Igloo.

It was that spirit of innovation that led the company to start lining its new rectangular ice chest coolers with plastic in 1960 and eventually ditch its metalworks roots and using plastic exclusively by 1965.

The popular Playmate line of personal coolers came out in 1971 and in the 1990s the first wheeled coolers rolled off the line. They were followed by coolers with extending handles and other adaptations. The company began offering lines of thermoelectric products as well as ice substitutes.

Igloo is also a leading brand at sea. It s Marine line of coolers is designed specifically for use on boats.

" Many coolers are spec'd into the boats," Stone said, noting such brands as Brunswick and Boston Whaler.

Kiedaisch said Igloo is positioned to continue the growth it is experiencing based on innovation and efficiency.

" We have a great brand, a great manufacturing facility and great people," Kiedaisch said. "Texas is a great state to do business in."