On the quest for the perfect nonalcoholic Old Fashioned, Firoz Khimani took to heart the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” In fact, it took him over 100 taste tests to land on a recipe deemed just right.
Khimani founded Fitchburg-based Mock and Co. in 2024 with a narrow focus and high standards for quality control. The company’s sole product, the Wisconsin Old Fashioned, is produced in small batches, and Khimani tastes each batch himself.
Launching a small canned beverage business hasn’t been easy, but Mock and Co.’s goals for controlled growth, slow expansion of its product line and prioritization of local and regional relationships are paying off.
Mock and Co.’s signature product was largely inspired by Khimani’s personal experience seeking nonalcoholic beverages that were both tasty and easily enjoyed in social settings — beverages he said there is a dearth of right now.
“In Wisconsin, we have such a culture of drinking as a social event,” he said. “When you’re supposed to meet people, you meet them at a pub or a bar. If you’re meeting someone for dinner, you’re having a before-dinner drink … and an after-dinner cocktail.
“There weren’t many choices I observed in terms of good, flavorful, complex mocktails in the market.”
Mock and Co.’s Old Fashioned is a nod to the classic Wisconsin version of the cocktail, with ginger mimicking the burn of brandy. The product is also vegan and gluten-free. Khimani said one of his earliest challenges was perfecting its flavor.
“It took me an entire year to get the taste and the flavor of the product satisfactory for the people that I’ve been using to taste test my product,” he said. “As you know, Wisconsin people are extremely, extremely picky about their Old Fashioned.”
The next hurdle was production. Khimani contended that small beverage companies face particular difficulties in this arena. For example, like small food businesses, these beverage companies may start with small batches and limited capital, but unlike food businesses, he said, beverage startups don’t typically have access to resources like shared kitchen spaces to ramp up production.
“The beverage business has a high barrier to entry, especially if you’re canning on a small scale,” Khimani said. “If you are going to produce 1,000 gallons of product, then you can go to one of the bigger facilities and ask them to can for you. But I think that starting out small, you don’t have a lot of capital, and you don’t want to take a big risk. So for small businesses, that’s a challenge.”
Mock and Co. found two Wisconsin companies that fit its needs and scale. The startup teamed up with Brewfinity Brewing Co. in Oconomowoc to craft its mocktails, and Milwaukee’s WilCraft Can provides mobile canning services there once per month.
Khimani isn’t bothered by the fact that Mock and Co. is a small operation — in fact, it’s a point of pride.
“I’m planning to micromanage this,” he said. “It sounds like a bad word, but I do not want to scale up and then lose control of the flavor of the product. Every time the product gets produced, I am there to monitor production, to taste it, and then to package it. The first batch did not taste exactly how I wanted it, so we took a hit of $3,000, and we let it go.
“I want to be hyper-vigilant … so we will only be doing small batches in the near future.”
The company has so far produced 100 cases, or 2,400 cans of its Wisconsin Old Fashioned, and has sold nearly 75% of them. Several area establishments carry the mocktail, including Madison’s Harvey House; Nitty Gritty locations in Madison, Middleton and Sun Prairie; Madison restaurant 107 State; HyVee in Fitchburg; Cambridge Market Cafe; and others as far as Marshfield and Edgerton.
“We are thrilled to be working with a local company,” said Mylee Schrank, assistant general manager and beverage manager of The Harvey House. “As a small business ourselves, it’s extremely important to us to support other local, small businesses whenever possible.
“Partnering with a company that not only produces a high-quality product but also shares our vision — offering a modern twist on a beloved Midwestern classic — felt like the perfect fit. … Many of our guests have commented on how closely this spirit-free version captures the flavor of its traditional Wisconsin-style counterpart. We have certainly seen an increased interest in nonalcoholic offerings over the last few years.”
Khimani said word about Mock and Co. has been spreading organically, and his goals for the startup are now centered on crafting its next product.
“We got a lot of demand for a sugar-free version,” he said, “so the next product that we will work on, which hopefully will be ready by July, will be a no-sugar version sweetened with either Stevia or monkfruit. We are working on the product right now.”
He credits much of Mock and Co.’s early success to a local environment conducive to small business success, and he advises other prospective entrepreneurs to take advantage of resources like the ones that helped him, including the Small Business Development Center, the Small Business Administration, the Food Finance Institute and Merlin Mentors.
“The Wisconsin and the Madison community are very supportive of startups.… Just keep reaching out to all the resources that we have.”
Mock & Co.
mockandco.com
