Nick Quint scoffs at the notion that he’s some kind of hero for the 60-something set, but he has set an entrepreneurial example for people of all ages.
Quint’s Yahara Bay Distillery was among nine family businesses honored during the 12th annual Wisconsin Family Business of the Year Award banquet, earning a special “Spirits of Madison” award. That he launched the business at the tender age of 61 was noted during the award ceremony, but becoming a late-bloomer was not his primary motivation.
“I don’t know about hero, but some people think I’m crazy,” Quint joked. “I had no background or experience in business. I started thinking about it, and my motivation was that I didn’t want to go to my grave wondering whether I could have made it work or not.”
With Yahara Bay, he’s made it work despite the fact that some of the people who thought he was crazy were bankers. When Quint first told people about his desire to come out of retirement and build Madison’s first (legally operating) distillery — investing his life savings into the venture — they laughed at him.
Quint is the one laughing now. In just eight years, Yahara Bay has grown from producing three products to over 40 varieties of rum, vodka, gin, brandy, and other spirits. It now distributes products to 17 states, it exports to Germany and Japan, and sales have grown 25% per year. Once a volunteer-staffed business consisting mainly of family members, the distillery now has 10 full-time employees and up to 10 part-timers.
The owner and founder of Yahara Bay is still conversant with some of the bankers who chuckled at the notion of a distillery, but now the joke is on them. “They’re calling on me, but I still stick with the one who finally believed in me,” Quint said. “That’s where I’m at today.”
Actually, the idea wasn’t that far-fetched. In 2005, Nick’s cousin, Jeff Quint, had set up Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery in Cedar Ridge, Iowa, and Nick saw an opportunity to do the same thing here. Launching this venture required Quint to learn the process of distilling, and he did so by studying at Michigan State University and by attending conferences on distilling.
There were other steps in the process, including family buy-in. Nick also promised his wife and co-owner, Catherine Forde, a former art teacher, that the distillery would serve as an art gallery. Catherine, who once owned Basketree Gifts in Madison, has been an artist for more than 40 years. When the distillery opened its doors in 2007, so did the Yahara Bay Gallery.
As Catherine illustrates, family is heavily involved, as three generations work at the distillery. Quint is the company president, but he can be seen driving a forklift and mopping the floor. Catherine is in charge of both the Art Gallery and human resources. Her son, Lars Forde, is in charge of managing production; Lars’ daughter bottles for the company. Succession planning is still in the works, as Quint won’t even consider numerous offers to sell.
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Liquor lobby
For a businessman, Quint has also been a pretty effective lobbyist. He was among the advocates of allowing half-ounce shots of spirits to be sampled in Wisconsin retail outlets with liquor licenses, and when legislation was finally enacted and signed into law, it meant he could actually have store tastings in his home state. While early, the law has already made a difference for distillers, which comes as no surprise to Quint. Whenever tastings were held in the Yahara Bay Distillery, consumers bought the products.
With a level playing field for alcohol manufacturers — wine and beer sampling had been allowed for years at Wisconsin retail locations — another wave of business development is possible. That’s especially true for Yahara Bay, a small-batch distillery that has gained from consumer insights at its distillery tastings and tours.
“Craft products have to be tasted because they all cost a little bit more than the big name brands, and we can’t afford to advertise the way the big brands do,” Quint explained. “The only thing we can do is sell our products based on taste. People are, right now, still surprised that they can taste them in the stores, but the reaction is the same. Sales are up every time.”
Success also brings more opportunity to give back to the community. Yahara Bay uses locally grown fruit, grain, and herbs in its spirits, and it donates a percentage of annual sales to the Bartell Theatre Group in Madison. The company is involved in more than 40 non-profit organizations in Dane County, and its philanthropic efforts are as creative as its product mix. For the LGBT community, the company developed a “Pride” vodka and donates $1.50 of each bottle sold to a Wisconsin-run LGBT association. One experimental product, a Chai Tea Vodka, was created as part of a March of Dimes fundraiser but became a permanent part of the product portfolio.
No fear
Quint might be a late-blooming entrepreneur, but most of the business people who seek his advice are younger. There are a number of new distilleries in the state, and while Quint admits he’s the “old-timer” of the group, there is no generation gap when it comes to the importance of building the industry. State distillers have launched their own association, the Wisconsin Distillers Guild.
Quint is glad to have some company, and he has bottled some vintage entrepreneurial wisdom. “One of the nice things about starting late in life,” he says, “is the word failure is not around.”
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