Fervor for Firm’s Horseradish Spreading Like Fire

When Rodney Minnier bought Atomic Food Products Inc., he didn’t know much or care much about horseradish.

But in the past decade, Minnier has taken the struggling food-processing company and--thanks to its signature product, Atomic Horseradish--turned it into a moneymaker.

Since 1991, the company has more than doubled its annual sales without the aid of any advertising or marketing campaign. Now, sales average $500,000 a year, up from $200,000 a few years ago.

With a taste about as subtle as a punch in the face, Atomic Horseradish of Ventura has earned a loyal following among restaurateurs, hotels and people fond of the pungent root.

“This is not the kind of horseradish that you’re going to find on the supermarket shelf,” said Minnier. “This is different. . . . This stuff has power and a taste that you’re not going to find anywhere else.”

Minnier uses a blend of ground horseradish, parsnips, vinegar and a secret extract that removes the root’s bitterness while amplifying its penetrating taste.

Although some may consider horseradish an acquired taste appealing to few palates, Minnier, who runs the Golden Egg Cafe and Seaward Fish and Chips with his wife, Eileen, said that demand for the product has outpaced his ability to produce it.

Established in the early part of the century, Atomic Horseradish was first produced by a couple who blended the pungent condiment at home and sold it from their car to area delicatessens, grocery stores and hotels.

In 1952, Challenge Dairy of Ventura purchased the operation and began selling vats of the creamy condiment to bulk buyers such as restaurant chains and hotels.

However, as the market for Atomic Horseradish declined in the late 1980s, the company began looking to sell, and an employee--Minnier--made an offer.

“I didn’t know much about horseradish, and to tell you the truth, I wasn’t that interested,” Minnier said. “But I got a good deal on the company, and since then I’ve gotten really interested.”

Although headquartered in Ventura, the actual processing and packaging is done at a small plant in the city of Commerce, where six employees working 10-hour shifts churn out 400 to 500 gallons a day.

That’s still a small bite of total sales. Tulkoff Products Co. of Baltimore reportedly has 60% of the horseradish market. The rest is divided among a number of smaller producers.

Typically, Minnier goes through 20,000 to 30,000 pounds of horseradish a month supplied by growers in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

Like Challenge Dairy, a majority of Minnier’s business is done with the “quart and gallon” customers such as restaurants and hotels in 11 states across the country.

Current buyers include the California Sizzler chain, Stuart Anderson’s restaurants and several Las Vegas casinos.

He also sells Atomic Horseradish to individual customers through Smith & Smith, a Ventura purveyor of specialty hot sauces and foods.

“I’m looking through a bunch of orders right now and I’ve got some lady in Yuma, Ariz., who wants six bottles right away,” said Ellis Smith, co-owner of Smith & Smith. “It’s been like that ever since we started selling the stuff. . . . We get orders every day.”

In Las Vegas, the local newspaper did some checking after residents and visitors who tasted the concoction at local casinos couldn’t find any bottles for sale.

“In two months after that, we had about 700 orders,” Smith said.

Armoracia rusticana, or horseradish, has been known as a medicine and food ingredient for about 3,000 years, but did not gain widespread use until the 16th century.

Native to Eastern Europe, the herb has been used widely as a medicine said to be effective in treating blood disorders and gastrointestinal problems as well as bolstering immune systems.

“I find that the people who really like horseradish, the people who are really connoisseurs, are people with deviated septums,” Minnier said. “I guess they like it because they can breathe through their nose for a couple of seconds after they eat it.”

Although the success of Atomic Horseradish has come primarily through sales to institutional customers, Minnier said he will begin marketing the product to individual consumers with a penchant for “the burn.”

He is also fine-tuning a few other horseradish spreads, including a high-end mustard and cocktail sauce that he plans on marketing soon.

“So far, all we’ve done is grow, and I think the market still has plenty of room,” Minnier said.

* GRAND OPENING: A luxury fitness center makes its official debut in Thousand Oaks. B6

* MORE BUSINESS NEWS: B6-8