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bring family back into the business unless they knew how to work." Domonic succeeded in proving his worth. Gene Biggi was able to concentrate on the creative end, coming up with new con- diment f lavors, while his son handled sales. "Over the last three years we're up 8 to 10 percent overall," Domonic says. "We like to grow a good, solid 3 to 5 percent every year, which is easy for us to manage." Product Development and Pinpointing Trends Areas of growth include developing and identifying gluten-free products, such as the new Sriracha mustard. "I have friends with kids who have gluten issues, so we started taking a look at it," Domonic says. "We realized some of our horseradish was naturally gluten-free—no wheat—so we're letting customers know." More recently Domonic moved into his father's realm, coming up with f lavor ideas of his own for new products, such as Beaver Hickory Bacon Mustard and Inglehoffer Applewood Smoked Bacon Mustard. Bacon happened to be a f lavor profile Gene Biggi was initially against. "We have some very vigorous conversa- tions sometimes," says Domonic. "If you're going up against your dad, you better be right." Both bacon mustards became hits. "If I had failed it wouldn't have been a good conversation. It's okay to disagree and then come to terms and move on." A Family Affair Respecting his father and standing up for his own ideas is part of Domonic's job as CEO, he says. Under his leadership the company has become more attuned to ingredients on the label, paying attention to health trends and hot-button issues like GMOs and high- fructose corn syrup, aspects that haven't necessarily interested his father. "He's the kind of man who likes to eat butter," Domonic explains. "A lot of the company still revolves around my dad's per- sonality, which is big and gregarious. He's quite a character and it's hard when you're the second-most gregarious character in the room. But I've learned to let my dad have the limelight. We get along really well." The biggest challenge Domonic sees coming down the pike is Beaverton Foods' loyal, long-time workforce, many of whom are starting to look at retirement. "They've put in 20 to 30 years and there's a lot of institutional knowledge that will be gone," he says. "I've got to retrain an entire generation." A fourth generation of the Biggi fam- ily is already on board. Domonic's nephew, Jeffrey, serves as Beaverton's foodservice sales manager. Domonic isn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon, however. "I've been with this company for almost 25 years," he says. "What else am I going to do with my life? I'm too independent and opinionated to work for anyone else. Who's going to hire me? At the end of the day I enjoy what I do. It doesn't feel like a job. My grandma said if you love something, it's not work." That she didn't love horseradish turned out to be beside the point. Julie Besonen is food editor for Paper magazine and a restaurant columnist for nycgo.com. producer profile 48 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com