Prepared for Ferrellgas / Blue Rhino
SaltTap
Turning Winter Into Revenue
"Your cages sit idle 6 months a year.
We change that."
February 2026 · Confidential
The Storm Problem
"It's 6 AM. The forecast says 8 inches by noon.
You need ice melt. Right now."
Here's what happens — every storm:
- Home Depot: sold out since yesterday
- Lowe's: sold out
- Amazon: 3-day delivery
- Hardware store: one brand left, premium panic pricing
February 2026: Morton told Massachusetts contractors "no more salt." Not because salt doesn't exist — because the logistics broke.
The retail supply chain can't surge
(Google Trends "ice melt near me")
Home Depot orders when they run out.
SaltTap orders before winter starts.
The Insight — Perfect Inverse Seasonality
You already solved this problem for propane. Now do it for salt.
Same cages · Same locations · Same payment systems · Year-round revenue
Phase 1 — Buckets in Your Cages
Near-zero capital. Uses your fulfillment infrastructure. Proves demand.
How It Works
- 5–10 grocery & convenience store locations in Greater Boston
- All three product tiers (Basic, Pro, Pet) in existing propane cages
- Blue Rhino's existing route drivers can restock on winter runs
- SaltTap handles all product sourcing, pre-filling, and staging
- No cage modifications required
Why Grocery & Convenience?
- We target locations where ice melt ISN'T a core category — grocery stores carry 2–5 SKUs vs 30–50+ at Home Depot
- Gas stations & convenience stores carry zero ice melt — pure incremental revenue
- No competition with indoor sales = zero channel conflict
- Winter foot traffic drops ~30% at grocery stores — SaltTap helps drive visits
$0 capex. Near-zero incremental opex.
New winter revenue from underutilized snow belt infrastructure.
Phase 1 Is a Data Machine
"Every bucket sold writes the Phase 2 business plan."
- Demand curves by location type
- Storm-event demand multipliers
- Restock frequency → machine capacity specs
- Price sensitivity data
- Repeat purchase rates
The pilot answers the only question that matters: do consumers want ice melt at these locations? If yes, Phase 2 is operational scaling.
The Product Line — Three Tiers From Day One
Every tier in the pilot. Real market data on price sensitivity from week one.
| Product | Formula | Weight | Price | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SaltTap Basic | 100% NaCl rock salt | 40 lbs | $10.99 | 61% |
| SaltTap Pro | Rock salt + liquid CaCl₂ performance boost | 40 lbs | $14.99 | 77% |
| SaltTap Pet | MgCl₂ + CaCl₂ pet-safe blend | 30 lbs | $32.00 | 77% |
vs. Big Box (Basic & Pro)
| HD rock salt (50 lb) | $11.97 |
| Lowe's ice melt (40 lb) | $13.98 |
| SaltTap Basic (40 lb) | $10.99 |
| SaltTap Pro (40 lb) | $14.99 |
Competitive pricing — but available 24/7, even when HD/Lowe's shelves are empty.
vs. Premium (Pro)
| Safe Paw (8 lb) | $22.00 · $2.75/lb |
| Green Gobbler (15 lb) | $25.00 · $1.67/lb |
| SaltTap Pet (30 lb) | $32.00 · $1.07/lb |
More product, best price per pound, pet-friendlier, always in stock.
72-claim provisional patent filed — automated bulk granular dispensing system. First-mover IP in an untapped category.
Per-Location Economics
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Blended avg. price | $17.19 (30/50/20 mix Basic/Pro/Pet) |
| Blended avg. COGS | $5.58 |
| Blended GP / bucket | $12.61 (68%) |
| Avg. volume | 15 buckets / week |
| Weekly GP / location | $189 |
| Season GP / location (20 wks) | $2,307 |
Three tiers from day one: Basic ($10.99) for price-conscious, Pro ($14.99) for performance, Pet ($32) for pet owners. Real sales mix data drives Phase 2 product decisions.
Every dollar is net-new revenue from dormant infrastructure. The marginal cost of cage space in winter is effectively zero.
Conservative: 15 buckets/week avg across storm & calm weeks. Premium locations (Home Depot, grocery) likely 20–30+/week during storm events.
Phase 2 — SaltTap Dispensing Machines
"Phase 1 proves demand and collects the data. Phase 2 automates and scales."
Concept render — containerized self-service dispensing station
How It Works
- Single hopper of bulk rock salt — cheapest available, any supplier
- Liquid CaCl₂ injection at point of dispensing creates the Pro tier on-demand
- Locker array for prefilled Pet-safe buckets
- 2,000 lb capacity — restock every 1–2 weeks
- 24/7 unattended · IoT inventory · Remote monitoring
- Restocked by existing Blue Rhino fleet
- 3–6 month payback
One machine, three products. Commodity rock salt in → differentiated products out. That's the patent.
Phase 1 → Phase 2: Data-Driven Scaling
| Phase 1 Learns | Phase 2 Deploys |
|---|---|
| Which location types sell most | Machine placement priority |
| Storm demand multipliers | Inventory pre-staging algorithms |
| Price elasticity | Competitive formulation pricing |
| Restock frequency needs | machine capacity specs |
| Consumer demographics | Marketing & brand strategy |
"We're not asking you to bet on Phase 2. We're asking you to let us collect the data that makes Phase 2 a spreadsheet decision."
Reliability = The Moat
The value isn't just convenient salt. It's salt that's there.
How Retail Works (It Doesn't)
- HD/Lowe's order through slow wholesale channels
- Stores reorder after they run out
- Replenishment takes days to weeks mid-season
- Morton told MA contractors "no more salt" — Feb 2026
- The 2024–2025 shortage was real and widespread
How SaltTap Works
- Buy raw materials wholesale by the truckload
- Pre-staged in local warehouses before first snowflake
- Cages restocked before the storm hits, not after
- Inventory locked in at summer pricing — lowest annual cost
- Blue Rhino fleet provides last-mile surge capacity
"Home Depot orders when they run out.
We order before winter starts."
Why Blue Rhino
No one else has what you have.
What Makes This Partnership Inevitable
- 68,000+ locations nationwide — ~25,000–30,000 in snow belt
- 50–65% of locations are grocery, convenience & gas stations — the majority of their footprint is LOW channel conflict for ice melt
- Retailer relationships: grocery chains, gas stations, convenience stores, big-box
- Route logistics & restocking infrastructure already built
- Smart vending & payment tech already deployed
Ferrellgas CEO mandate: weather-agnostic revenue diversification. Salt is the answer.
The Fleet Advantage
Salt gives them winter routes at near-zero incremental cost. You're already paying for the trucks, the drivers, and the routing software. SaltTap gives them something to deliver Oct–Apr.
Blue Rhino made propane a branded consumer product.
SaltTap does the same for ice melt — and makes your network produce revenue 12 months a year.
Market Size
One number matters: revenue per location × locations.
The Math
| Revenue/location/season | $5,157 (15 buckets × $17.19 avg × 20 wks) |
| GP/location/season | $2,307 (after $4/bucket Blue Rhino commission) |
| Pilot (10 locations) | $55K revenue · $38K GP |
| Phase 2 (1,000 locations) | $5.5M revenue · $3.8M GP |
| Full snow belt (5,000–10,000) | $27M–$55M revenue |
Why Now
- Morton shortage Feb 2026 — supply crisis is today's news
- Pet-safe segment: fastest-growing category
- Climate volatility = more freeze-thaw cycles = more demand
- MA uses 34.6 tons/road-mile (#2 nationally)
- Zero competition in automated ice melt distribution
Phase 2 SaltTap dispensing machines increase volume and reduce fulfillment cost — on-demand blending eliminates manual pre-filling.
The Ask
A specific, low-risk pilot with defined success metrics.
Pilot Terms — Winter 2026–27
| Locations | 5–10 Greater Boston grocery & convenience stores |
| Duration | Nov 2026 – Mar 2027 (20 weeks) |
| Blue Rhino provides | Cage/kiosk space, restocking via existing routes, signage approval |
| SaltTap provides | All product (delivered to depot), branding, signage, sales data/analytics |
| Blue Rhino CapEx | $0 |
| Blue Rhino incremental OpEx | Near-zero — product added to existing winter routes |
| Commission to BR | $3–5 per bucket sold |
| Success metric | ≥10 buckets/location/week |
| If pilot succeeds | First right of negotiation on snow belt expansion |
Blue Rhino Pilot Revenue
Commission revenue on underutilized winter capacity. Near-zero incremental cost, minimal risk, pure upside.
Timeline
2 weeks
2 weeks
Oct '26
Nov 1
Let's Prove It
"Let's prove it works at 5 locations.
Then let's talk about 25,000 across the snow belt."
Keith Aubin
Founder & CEO, SaltTap LLC
keith@salttap.us
SaltTap LLC — Confidential — February 2026