If at first you don’t succeed…
Crain’s Chicago Business this week, as part of its Crain’s Fast Fifty 2014 piece, profiled Vernon Hills-based Agave Loco, the maker of the popular RumChata spirit.
A mix of rum and horchata – a Mexican milkshake, of sorts, RumChata was not well received by Mexican restaurant owners when first brought to the market by Agave Loco CEO Tom Maas in 2009, according to Crain’s.
“They said to me, ‘We don’t mix rum with horchata,’” Maas explained. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, what did I do?’”
Eventually though, everything worked out for Maas. After targeting “mainstream” bars in River North and Lincoln Park, Maas sold 64,000 cases of RumChata by 2010. In April, Agave Loco sold its millionth case of the product.
PR shop shout-out
Rick Jasculca and Jim Terman, who founded the Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications PR firm in 1981, were honored in Chicago Wednesday.
Jasculca and Terman were presented the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Publicity Club of Chicago’s 55th Annual Golden Trumpet Awards ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton.
“Jim and I feel that the public affairs industry in Chicago is the best in the country,” Jasculca said Friday. “We consider Chicago to be the best of the best, and to be given this honor by our colleagues is very humbling."
Former President Jimmy Carter, who will turn 90 this fall, delivered the event’s keynote address.
Burger glory
Kuma’s Corner’s Kuma Burger has been named the best burger in the country by a popular website for foodies.
The Kuma Burger was named No. 1 in the Daily Meal’s list of the top 101 burgers in the United States, according to DNAinfo.com. Au Chevaul’s cheeseburger placed 29th on the list and the griddled burger from Edzo’s came in at No. 53.
A better place
The Lincoln Park Zoo on Thursday announced the passing of Vicky, a 50-year-old geriatric chimpanzee.
Vicky, who was euthanized Wednesday due to old age and a heart condition, arrived at the zoo in 1971 and was its last wild-born ape, according to a blog post on LPZoo.org. After the death last year of Lincoln Park’s chimp, Keo, who Vicky lived with, she shared spaced at the zoo with her daughters Kibali and Magadi and another female chimp named Cookie.
-Tom Butala