Eight years ago Sam Francovich's friends convinced him that the tasty eggnog recipe his family had been brewing for generations was worthy of public consumption ideally in mass quantities.
But since bringing Francovich Holiday Nog to market, the last eight Christmases in many ways have been anything but merry for the Francovich family.
Sam Francovich, owner of The Grill at Quail Corners on South McCarran Boulevard, admits the venture has not been very profitable despite yearly expansions, including penetration into northern California markets.
This year the family - brothers Sam and Jeff, mother Lillian, sister Deborah, and various spouses and children - predict a more profitable outcome after entering into a select partnership with distributor Silver State Liquor and Wine, Inc.
"This is the first year we have ever had a major distribution company. We have always typically done it ourselves," Sam says while taking a smoke break during a recent all-day bottling operation at West-Pack Industries on East Greg St. in Sparks. "This year will be a real learning process for all of us. If we strike a good partnership and everyone does a good job, I think we have a real future with Silver State."
Expect to see Francovich Holiday Nog in area stores such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Costco, Albertsons, Scolari's, Ben's, Winco, Smith's and Wild Oats Market. Bottles typically are priced from $11.50-$14 and have a shelf life of six to eight weeks.
Sam Francovich says a representative from Silver State called him and asked if he would like to use their distribution channels an easy choice, considering his prior distribution outlet consisted of the family vehicles.
"Silver State has 13 salesman and 14 merchandisers, so we have someone at the store every day moving the product around, making the shelves look pretty and really doing the marketing for us," he says.
Despite a seasonal high of 18,000 bottles sold, the family is still waiting for a good return. Spoilage and a lack of product knowledge and placement have hurt their chances in the past, Francovich says.
"We have got to be located next to the other eggnogs. We can't be in the liquor department, and we can't be with the wine or the beer. But the dairy people can't touch alcohol. It takes a liquor distributor to deal with us, and they don't understand the sensitivity of the dairy product. We cross the line in the store, as well as cross the line in the manufacturing of it."
The Francovichs house their small line of bottling equipment year-round at West-Pack,
a large bulk-foods packaging plant owned by run by Chief Executive Officer Rick Collett, who trained the group in the dairy industry's strict food storage, handling and cleaning requirements. Christmas carols ring out all day as the group bottles its grog, a blend of whole milk, heavy cream, eggs, sugar and spices, Kentucky bourbon and Jamaican rum.
Model Dairy mixes and delivers refrigerated batches of virgin nog to the bottling site, where the booze is added. Alcohol is purchased in bulk from a tanker truck and stored in large containers, where it is doled out by batch. Each batch, or tote in industry terms, is approximately 250 gallons, to which 80 gallons of booze is added for a 14-proof mix. On an average day the team hopes to package about 3,600 bottles.
After filling, bottles receive a decorative label. Then they are stocked into cases and loaded onto a refrigerated Model Dairy truck and parked at Silver State's new warehouse on Pyramid Highway, where the cases are pulled as needed.
For mother Lillian, the operation is hardly reminiscent of the warm days when she brewed batches of nog in her kitchen for family and guests.
"We use to give it as gifts," she says, "but we used to make seven gallons. Now we make maybe 2,300.
"People look at it and think we are making money, but it is a big project," she adds. "It is not as easy as it looks. I see what the kids have to go through every year to try and make it successful, and it is a big undertaking."
Sam Francovich is optimistic that this year marks a turning point in the venture. "We run out every year, and that is our goal. We think there is a value that our family produces everything it can, and it is not enough to satisfy even this market.
"We have no visions of getting rich off of eggnog," he adds. "The goal is to be able to make enough money in two months so that our family can take a nice little vacation and supplement our income. It is a nice little business, but in terms of profitability, it has not shown a real bottom-line profit to this point."
