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Pet food business tries to be 'diamond in rough'

Wheeling's Evanger's thriving after 70 years

BY CASEY M OFFITT
STAFF WRITER

Joel and Holly Sher, a Lincolnwood couple, have doubled Evanger's sales since they took over the company in October 2002, and they expect business to double again as the company expands into new markets with new product lines this year.

"We ship food all over the world," Holly Sher said. "But Chicago is one of our weakest markets."

New distribution deals should help fill that void, making Evanger's products more available locally. Private labeling, where Evanger's makes food for other companies, makes up the bulk of the business. That food is shipped all over the Unites States, as well as Europe. The Shers are also expecting to ship into Canada later this year.

Meanwhile, Joel Sher has been working on new recipes to revitalize the Evanger's line of products. Two weeks ago, Evanger's began manufacturing its new Chicken Drumette in Gravy recipe, set for release June 1.

Doggie stew

Joel Sher explained an entire small chicken drumstick, bone and all, is stuffed and cooked in the can with peas, carrots, elbow macaroni and a brown gravy. Opening the can one recent day, Joel Sher revealed its contents, which look very similar to a stew since all the ingredients are cooked in their natural state. The chicken bone is softened during the cooking process to the point where he could mash it between his thumb and forefinger with ease.

Joel Sher is also working on other similar recipes, including one that includes an entire mackerel instead of a drumstick. Joel Sher said he also plans on producing pet food with more exotic meats like pheasant, duck, buffalo and rabbit.

"Nobody has anything like it on the market," he said. "We're looking to fill out (the Evanger's) line. We're expecting sales to take off."

Expectations are so high the Shers are planning on hiring an entire second shift of employees, as well as a new machinist. Currently, Evanger's has about 25 employees.

Wheeling is home

The compact Evanger's plant, which is located on Wheeling Road next to the Metra train station, stands on the site of Fred Evanger's original business. Evanger started the business as way to make food for his championship Great Danes, animals that grow from about three-quarters of a pound at birth to more than 125 pounds in a year. He chose all-natural ingredients after being frustrated with commercially available food.

Evanger once slaughtered horses and used the meat in his dog food. And while that practice is long removed from today's production methods, the old horse barn still stands on the property and is used as the company's warehouse. The water trough and stables are still visible in the barn.

Evanger also lived at the plant with his family. A wrought-iron fence surrounding a second-floor balcony is adorned with Great Dane profile silhouettes. Evanger kept his kennels there and even had swimming pools installed for his championship dogs.

Evanger ran the plant until 1959, when he sold it to the Breuer and Schweitzer families. The Schweitzers eventually bought out the Breuers, and the Shers bought Evanger's from Marge Schweitzer in 2002.

During the 1960s, Evanger's moved into private labeling for other companies.

Joel Sher was supplying Evanger's with raw ingredients for 16 years. When his wife lost her job in 2002, Joel Sher asked Schweitzer if she was interested in taking on Holly as a partner. Instead, Schweitzer offered to sell the company to the Shers.

"We looked around and saw a stable business here," Joel Sher said. "The Evanger line had been neglected, but it was still in demand. Right now, we're trying to build back the Evanger line."

The plant needed quite a bit of work, too. Joel Sher said he spent about six months repairing the machinery so it can run continuously for a full shift. Holly Sher took over the sales aspects of the company, finding new distributors and customers.

Other plans to renovate other parts of the building are on hold due to the village's plans to redevelop the area around the train station.

"They're saying we might have to move anywhere between two and 10 years," Holly Sher said. "We're just going to ride it out until the time is right to leave."

Going 'Gold'

Since taking over the company, the Shers have developed a full product line called Super Premium Gold, which includes new products ready to be shipped June 1. The Super Premium Gold food has been certified by the Chicago Rabbinical Council as suitable for kosher events and homes.

While Evanger's and other pet food companies pride themselves on using no artificial ingredients, foods containing all-natural ingredients are not necessarily more nutritious, said George Fahey, a professor of animal nutrition in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Other ingredients can be quite nutritious," Fahey said. "Some customers prefer all-natural ingredients, but it's probably not any more nutritious."

Fahey said all pet food is inspected by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, which requires all food sold to offer a complete and balanced diet. Feeding a pet food with natural ingredients is simply a matter of choice, he said.

"The consumer has a plethora of choices," Fahey said. "There are different trends. Right now we have a movement in the country to feed pets raw food. Those people don't want any process in their pet food."

The Shers hope to attract new customers by continuing the Evanger's tradition of using human-grade ingredients to produce their dog and cat food, without preservatives, additives, powdered vegetables or meats processed with fillers. The Shers said they believe the customers who use their products take comfort in knowing what, exactly, they are feeding their dog or cat.

"We really thought we'd be a gold nugget in a haystack -- a diamond in the rough," Joel Sher said. "We're trying to do things a little differently."