BioBlend Doubles Distributor Network
BioBlend Renewable Resources (Houston, TX), announces that it has met the first milestone in its goal of greening the American petroleum supply chain. With the addition of ten more participants in the nation's first Green Distribution Network for bio-based and biodegradable products, BioBlend has doubled in its market coverage in the last six months.
The newest members on the BioBlend distributor roster are Sampson-Bladen in North Carolina, Wilcox and Flegel and Snider Petroleum, which are both based in Washington, and Windward Petroleum, headquartered in New Hampshire. They join other major distributors including SHOCO Oil, Suburban Oil, J. B. Dewar, Mid-Town Petroleum, Haycock Petroleum, and Dennis K. Burke, Inc. Currently BioBlend has distributors in 24 states with plans to cover the US in the next 12 months. BioBlend also recently made its first international sale to South America and has international expansion plans underway.
BioBlend president Sam Burkett is encouraged by the rate at which traditional petroleum distributors have come onboard. "They're seeing BioBlend as a natural expansion of their petroleum product lines," says Burkett. "And most importantly, they're getting the products into the hands of their customers which is where the high performance and environmental benefits are recognized."
Distributors say the environmental benefits of BioBlend bio lubricants make them a natural fit in today's economy. One of BioBlend's early adopters, Dennis K. Burke, Inc. is headquartered in Boston-Cambridge, an area known for environmental consciousness. In 1996 Burke became the first retail distributor of biodiesel in the state of Massachusetts and this year became the first in the state to offer E85, which is fuel that is 85% ethanol. "The BioBlend line was a natural fit for us," says Ted Burke, the company's president. "We've always been on the leading edge of alternative fuels and green engineering. The BioBlend line just works perfectly with our traditional distribution patterns and with our company's philosophy."
For Samson Bladen Oil in Clinton, NC., BioBlend products capture a rapidly growing niche market. "The demand was there," says Fred Jensen, General Manager of the Lubricants Division. "But nobody in our area was carrying these types of products. Our customers with elevator installations were immediately converted to BioBlend's hydraulic oil because it's biodegradable in 28 days. We've been very impressed with the rust-penetrating oil and the 2-cycle oil also. And our customers like the fact that BioBlend products are American made."
The BioBlend product line includes oils, greases and bio-based lubricants, hydraulic and metal working fluids and specialty products including aerosols formulated from environmentally responsible chemistries produced from renewable resources. The products, which can replace petroleum-based lubricants, support those companies which have made renewable and sustainable corporate environmental commitments. Moving to biodegradable products is increasingly seen as good risk management strategy for corporate America in reducing the hazards to employees and the liability and expense of petroleum cleanup and reclamation.
