Plummeting temperatures and falling snow are the perfect excuses to jump into a Bullfrog spa.
The Bluffdale-based company, which employs between 130 and 150 people and bills itself as "the only spa in the world with JetPaks," offers eight spa models that seat anywhere from three to eight people.
The high-end spas sell for $4,000 to $12,000.
Yet it is the company's interchangeable JetPak technology, first envisioned by Bullfrog's chief executive David J. Ludlow, that has set this hot tub apart from the competition and launched its popularity among consumers across the world.
JetPaks — removable seat backs that contain 90 percent of the spa's plumbing — eliminate the need for drilling holes in a spa's shell to install jets. That, in turn, eliminates potential leaks, which can be cumbersome and costly to repair.
Keith Cheney, sales manager at Dolphin Pools in Salt Lake, said he has sold Bullfrog spas since 1999. Customers, he said, like Bullfrog's unique design and plumbing.
"Bullfrog is a high-end spa. It competes with any other really good brand on the market as far as quality," Cheney said. "They are very flexible as far as the types of jets and things you can put in the hot tub. I personally haven't sold any other types of hot tubs."
Cheney said the most popular Bullfrog model is the "562," which seats six people and sells for around $6,000, a price that includes five JetPaks.
Additional JetPaks sell for between $250 and $380 each.
Aaron Glauser, marketing director for Bullfrog Spas, said the company has experienced a 52 percent average annual growth rate since 2002. For the past four years, the company has made MountainWest Capital Network's "Utah 100" list, a ranking of the state's fastest-growing companies.
"The uniqueness of our patented JetPak technology has resulted in a huge global boom for us, especially in '05," Glauser said. "In Europe, the hot-tub market is growing three to four times faster than in the U.S."
The company earlier this year signed a private label distribution agreement with Villeroy & Boch, a German company. Under the agreement, Glauser said, Bullfrog manufactures the spa and then ships it to the Netherlands, where it is distributed under the Villeroy & Boch brand in 40 countries.
In addition, Bullfrog granted exclusive distribution rights to Australia-based Signature Spas to manufacture and sell the Bullfrog brand in Australia and Asia.
"The technology has created quite a stir in the industry," Glauser said. "We are approached probably daily by outside investors trying to buy the company or the technology. It's pretty amazing."
Bullfrog is privately owned by 13 individual shareholders, including Alan Ashton, co-founder of WordPerfect. In 2003, Bullfrog completed construction of a 33,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Bluffdale. A second phase currently under construction will increase space to 45,000 square feet and will be completed in early 2006.
E-mail: danderton@desnews.com