Detroit Favorite from page 53

Feigenson Brothers' products were taken to stores in the early years via horse-drawn

Matt Rosenthal, Faygo's director of marketing and communications, holds a 2-liter orange pop.

wagons and open trucks.

Beverages, Inc. was bought by National
Beverage Corp. (Shasta) of Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla., in 1987, and the parent firm is
forbidden by Securities and Exchange
Commission regulations from publicly
breaking down figures for its subsidiaries,
according to National Beverage spokes-
woman Grace Keene. Neither Rosenthal
nor Al Chittaro, who now runs Faygo as
executive vice president, are permitted to
discuss employment figures, production
rates or finances. The company's chief
executive officer/president position is
vacant.
"But it's safe to say that Faygo is doing
well in a highly competitive market, or
they still wouldn't be in business after
100 years:' said Keene. "We feel National
Beverage is the leader in the total soft
drink industry, and Faygo is helping us to
maintain that status."
National Beverage's net sales were $539
million in the fiscal year ending in April,
and gross profit was $173 million, both
increases over the previous year. Its stock
trades at about $15 per share.
Beverage Marketing Corp., a New
York-based industry research and con-
sulting firm, says Americans consumed
an average of 50.4 gallons of carbonated
beverages in 2006, down slightly from the
previous year.
"The reason for Faygo's success in the
past century is that we provide a high-
quality product at a value price, and our
strategic focus is on 'core' flavors centered
around innovation," said Chittaro, in an
office filled with mementoes cans, bottles
and crates from the company's 100 years.
Faygo headquarters and production lines
are in a big plant on Detroit's Gratiot
Avenue, opened by the Feigenson broth-

54

September 13 • 2007

Harvey Lipsky is "chief elixir mixer" and

Gertrude Feigenson Schmittel, daughter of

unofficial Faygo historian.

Faygo co-founder Ben Feigenson

ers in 1935. Industry sources say total
employment there is about 400.
Faygo originally shared the building
with four other bottling companies, but
acquired more space as each moved out,
then expanded on its own to a current
350,000 square feet. The narrow hallways
are a maze, passing offices and the can
and bottle assembly line. Production is
usually done in three, eight-hour shifts.
Chittaro, 51, has a B.S. degree from
Michigan State University and an MBA
from Madonna College, Livonia. He joined
Faygo at the age of 18 as a driver/sales-
man in 1974, lugging pop cases into
small stores around the Detroit area. He
moved up the corporate ladder in a series
of district and regional sales positions
in Baltimore, Md., and Charlottte, N.C.,
before returning to Detroit in 1988 as vice
president of sales, covering distribution in

32 states.
"The whole supermarket system has
changed drastically in the Detroit area,
with the huge chains, like Meijer's and
Kroger's, taking over the small operations:'
Chittaro said. "It's better for us to have
more competition among many chains,
because the bigger the retailer, the less
advantageous it is for our company.
"Faygo is distributed through a hybrid
system in three channels: warehouses of
the large supermarket chains; distributors
to warehouse clubs and mass merchandis-
ers; and "store-door" deliveries to party
stores, gas stations, dollar stores and oth-
ers: "about 3,000-4,000 total stores in the
Detroit area."
Jim Hiller, CEO of the seven Hiller's
Markets in the Detroit area, remembers
his father Sidney "selling Faygo products
when he opened our stores in 1941. They

are the best people in the food and bever-
age industry to do business with. Faygo
is still very popular in the community,
and we sell a lot of Faygo pop. And the
Feigensons always have been a greatly
beloved family in the Jewish community"
Even after a century, Faygo still devel-
ops two to three new flavors each year,
with the current count at 52 flavors, about
half of them diet items, and seven power
drinks under the Rip It label. There also is
Ohana brand non-carbonated drinks.
Besides new flavors, Chittaro hints that
Faygo is looking into developing new
products other than pop, such as enhance-
ment waters, lemonade and teas.
"Our most popular flavors now are red
pop, of course, and rock and rye, cola and
root beer;' said Harvey Lipsky of West
Bloomfield, who joined the company as
a chemist 49 years ago and is now vice
president of research and development.
His family calls him Faygo's "chief elixir
mixer."
Lipsky and his chemist partner, Hoyt
McIntosh, are among the few at Faygo who
know the dozens of soda formulas for the
flavors, using 116 different ingredients,
mixing the flavorings, water and carbon-
ation to manufacture the final liquid. "We
also use the services of a flavorist, who's
an expert in the field, to make sure the
soda has just the right taste Lipsky said.
Lipsky also is the company's unofficial
historian, with tales of Faygo's pioneer-
ing efforts, including a state-of-the-art
water purification system to extend shelf
life, one-way bottles and twist-off caps.
"There's a lot of beverage history in this
building, and we're all proud to be part of
the Feigenson legacy:' he said.
Carrying on that legacy is Matt