The Man Behind the Mug: 35 Years of Building the Red Arrow Brand with Ray Duhaime

I have to be honest with you -- I walked into this conversation thinking I knew Ray Duhaime pretty well. We have been doing business together for over 35 years. I have sat in his office for hours. I have watched him deliver cases of soda personally. I know his daughters. I know his dad built my first merchandise display case at the original Red Arrow on Lowell Street.

And still -- sitting across from him in the studio at the Beacon, I learned things I had never heard before. That is a good episode. That is the kind of conversation I started Beyond the Plate to have.

Ray Duhaime is the founder and president of Private Label Specialties in Goffstown, NH. He has been in business since 1991. And if you have ever sat down at a Red Arrow Diner and ordered an Arrow Root Beer, an Arrow Cream Soda, or picked up a Moe Java mug -- you have been holding something Ray made possible. Most people have no idea. Until now. 

 "Anytime you sell a beverage that doesn't have your label on it, you're actually advertising for somebody else." -- Ray Duhaime

Why Would You Advertise for Somebody Else?

That question is at the heart of everything Ray does. And when he explained it to me in the studio, he used an analogy I have been thinking about ever since. He asked me -- have you ever seen a FedEx van? Of course. But here is the thing: you have never actually seen a FedEx van. You saw a Ford or a Chevy with FedEx written on it. And FedEx did not do that to trick you into thinking they make vehicles. They did it because it makes the most business sense to put their name in front of your face every chance they get.

That is private labeling. And that is what Ray has been doing for restaurants and small businesses across the country for 35 years. Instead of serving Pepsi or Coke, you serve YOUR soda. With YOUR name on the bottle. So when a customer goes home and thinks about where they want to eat -- your brand is the one stuck in their head.

I know this firsthand. People do not come into the Red Arrow and ask for a root beer. They ask for an Arrow Root Beer. That is not an accident. That is 30 years of Ray's work sitting on our tables.

From a Cellar in New Hampshire to All 48 States

Ray did not start with a warehouse and a fleet of delivery trucks. He started with a cellar. He was working full-time at Federal Express, developing his root beer recipe on the side, ordering cases from the warehouse, carrying them home in his ex-wife's car, labeling them by hand, and then making deliveries on his lunch break. I mean -- he got to know each case personally. That is how he put it. And I love that.

The root beer itself came out of a collaboration with a chemist and a mixologist from New York. Back in 1992, root beer was a tough sell. Nobody wanted it. He started with sparkling water, moved to flavored waters, and looked around at what was left. Nantucket Nectars had the juices. Arizona had the teas. Coke and Pepsi make a great product. But nobody had root beer. So Ray went after it.

Then 1995 happened. Coke and Pepsi launched a marketing war claiming they made the best root beer. Suddenly everybody wanted root beer. And Ray just said -- here, try mine. He won taste test after taste test. And from there, Private Label Specialties blew up.

Today they operate in all 48 states. Ray almost franchised at one point to cover more ground -- then realized he could do it all from Goffstown. And so he did.

"Root beer has been verry verry good to me." -- Ray Duhaime, closing the episode

The Moe Mug Story -- And Why Ray Is the One Who Put Moe on the Map

This is the part of the episode I am most excited for people to hear. Because this story has never been told publicly before.

Most people know that Moe Java -- the cheery little coffee cup face that lives all over the Red Arrow -- started with a regular customer named Moe Couturier. What most people do not know is what happened next. We used to have plain mugs. Just plain ceramic diner mugs, nothing on them. And Moe -- this regular who was there from the very beginning -- would take a Sharpie and draw a little face on them. Put our names on them. Just doodling.

I saw it and I loved it. And I thought -- can we put that on a mug? Can we actually make that a product? I brought it to Ray. And Ray, with the same brain that looks at a FedEx van and sees a branding opportunity, looked at that Sharpie doodle and said -- I can make that happen.

He started with a small order. And now -- I genuinely cannot tell you how many Moe mugs have gone out the door. They are all over the world. We have 17 people who have gotten Moe tattoos and we give them a lifetime 20% discount. That all started with one doodle on a plain mug and one guy who knew how to turn it into something real.

A 35-Year Partnership -- and What Makes It Work

I think the part of this conversation that hit me the hardest was when Ray talked about what makes a long partnership last. Because we have had our seasons -- there were years where we both slowed down, where life got in the way. I opened a sewing store for five years. Things shifted. And then we found our way back to each other and the creativity just started flowing again like no time had passed.

Ray said it simply: we have creative minds and they align. And I think that is it. When you find someone who gets excited about the same things you get excited about -- the branding, the story, the detail on the back of a T-shirt -- you hold onto that. Those are the relationships that build something lasting.

His general manager Paul -- who has been with PLS for 30 years -- said something that has stuck with me. He told Ray: our customers have no idea what we do for them. And Ray said: that's right. That's the secret sauce. The stuff that happens behind the scenes that clients never see -- that is what keeps them.

I know that feeling. Running a 24/7 operation, you never really clock out. And neither does Ray. He told me his mind is always adapting, always looking at things and finding out why something caught his eye, what motivates him, how he can transfer that into his work. That is not a job. That is a calling.

The Van Halen Moment

I have to share this story because it is one of my favorite moments from the whole episode. Ray was working full-time at Federal Express while building Private Label Specialties on the side. He was listening to WZID driving to work one morning and he said to himself -- I might need a sign here. He was thinking about his mom.

Van Halen came on. "Right Now."

He got shivers. Walked into his manager's office. Asked him how much notice he wanted. And that was it. He was all in.

I love that story because I think most of us who have built something know that moment. The one where you stop asking for permission and just go. Ray went. And 35 years later, he is in all 48 states delivering root beer that people ask for by name.

Watch the Full Episode

This one is worth your full attention. The Moe mug story alone is worth it. But there is also the lightning round, the off-script food conversation at the end where Ray recommends Moo in Boston and now I have to go, and the closing line that I am going to be thinking about for a long time.

Watch Episode 44 with Ray Duhaime on YouTube now: youtu.be/4-Vcg7q7Fqc

And find Private Label Specialties at plspecialties.com. If you have a restaurant, a pizza shop, any kind of small business -- go see what Ray does. You have probably been advertising for somebody else's brand long enough.

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ABOUT CAROL ERICKSON

Carol Erickson has owned Red Arrow Diner since 1987 -- four locations across New Hampshire, open 24/7. She started Beyond the Plate to tell the real stories behind the people who make New England's food and hospitality scene what it is. Not just what's on the menu. What's behind it.

This article is brought to you by Red Arrow Diner -- 4 locations across New Hampshire, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Manchester, Concord, Londonderry, and Nashua. Come find us anytime hunger hits.
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