Written on: September 14, 2024
Berico Fuels celebrates 100 years in business this year having started as a one-man operation collecting excess coal that fell from traveling trains into a wheel barrel to sell to neighbors. Today, Berico is a 115-employee operation selling multiple fuels from several locations throughout central North Carolina, delivered from 92 vehicles. Today’s Berico is a much more diversified and robust company not only with fuels, but propane, lubriants, HVAC and Plumbing services. In addition, Berico has a wholesale fuel company, Gateco, operating at multiple terminals in Greensboro.
“My Great Grandfather started the company selling coal,” said Will Berry, Berico’s current President. “His name was William Nathan Berry and as each of 13 of his children were born into his family, a new coal truck was added to the business. The company continues to follow the motto W. N. set; ‘Always Dependable.’ One of the 13 children, Joe Berry, my Grandfather, took over the business and added retail heating oil to the mix. He invested in a terminal in Greensboro.” Berry said that his father, current Berico CEO Tom Berry and a partner, John Fuquay, who was outside the family helped the business grow into propane, motor oil and lubricants in the 1990’s.
“The company acquired a retail propane operation in 2007 which helped us launch into the propane business,” Berry said. “There were also several smaller acquisitions along the way. I joined the business in 2011 after five years 
working outside the business in real estate. We have now expanded into the HVAC business as our fuel oil, lubricant and propane businesses have continued to grow.”
Berry feels that happy employees lead to happy customers. “Twenty percent of our team has been at Berico for over 20 years,” he said. “Our culture has been a family-oriented culture and has helped toward our success.” Berry noted a charity the company has had in place for 18 years, “Gift of Warmth” supports people who cannot afford to heat their home. Berico is proud to have raised and matched over $1.6M for those who cannot afford to heat their homes through the Salvation Army as their partner.
“Technology has been key to company growth,” Berry said. “We have expanded our relationship with Cargas. In addition, P3 Safety has been helpful in numerous ways. We’ve had organic growth as well as growth through acquisition. Tank monitors and formulated KPI’s have helped us be more certain we are getting our desired return on investment.”
As for challenges at Berico, Berry mentions competing with majors, dealing with repair costs, and keeping the culture strong amid a steady stream of day-to-day issues in a growing company, “I’m proud of our team,” he said. “We do take time to break away from the day-to-day and plan for the future. We have managers meet offsite two times a year and we rank priorities for one, three, and five years. We try to keep our family culture and communication strong.” Among many Reader’s Choice Awards and a BBB Torch Award for Ethics, Berico Fuels touts its nomination for “Best Places to Work” accolade by the local Triad Business Journal. This year Berico has also won the Heritage Award by the Triad Business Journal. “We play paintball, ride go carts, fun stuff like that,” Berry said. “The women sometimes go to the beach for the weekend.” There is a monthly $100 bonus drawn from a group of nominations when someone calls in to express appreciation for a particular employee.
“I’m proud of how we’ve built on our growth in recent years as we reach the 100-year mark,” Berry said. The company celebrated earlier this year with an event for 250 people at a local venue which included a 25-minute video documentary.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lusm2Ss162Q&t=1s
2. Documentary (Short): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHlwoQjcX2M
