Dog House
At ballparks and other summer hot spots, wieners are the big winners.
by James E. Guyette
As warm weather arrives and baseball season slides into full-swing, the good ol' hot dog steps up to plates across the United States as the country's hottest hitter for summer mealtime fun.
"Hot dogs are on your mind in the summertime," says Barry Potekin, founder and CEO of Gold Coast Dogs, a Chicago-based chain of nine fast-food eateries.
In April, Potekin began offering nationwide franchises. Each of his Windy City stores brings in at least $ 1 million annually-combined they move an average of 20,000 wieners a week.
Climate does play a role in pitching hot dog sales. Spring and summer are Potekin's best sales seasons."
"Naturally, winter is not as good because people don't walk around as much," Potekin points out.
For picnic fare, the hot dog seems to be blanketing the taste-treat turf.
"Around Memorial Day, there's a pretty good surge (in sales)," reports Jim Power, product sales manager for franks at Smithfield, Va.-based Gwaltney of Smithfield.
Tom Olson, general manager of the Sportservice Corp. operation for the Texas Rangers at the Ballpark at Arlington, points out that the hot dog is the easiest food to sell and cook.
"It's hard to burn a hot dog and ruin it," Olson notes.
Over the years, baseball remains the hot dog's best friend.
"About 66 to 75 percent of the people who go into a baseball stadium eat a hot dog," claims Shamus Dunn, director of purchasing at Harry M. Stevens Inc., a Cranbury, N.J.-based firm that supplies food items to arenas and stadiums.
Other more generous industry estimates place baseball hot dog consumption at one dog per ticket sold.
A hit!
The winning wiener has come a long way since its birth in the old butcher's quarter of Frankfurt, Germany, in about 1500. In 1592, frankfurters were christened "coronation sausages" in honor of the hot dog lovin' Emperor Maximilian II.
The hot dog bun is an American roll-out cooked up by Charles Feltman, who drove a pie wagon on New York's Coney Island during the 1860s. A Feltman's Restaurant was born from this bun.
Then, Feltman's assistant, Nathan Handwerker, began barking at his boss' heels and opened a discount hot dog market that still bears his famous first name.
By 1907, the red-hot treats were being sold at New York Giants baseball games at the Polo Grounds.
Newspaper cartoonist Ted Dorgan gave the hot dog its moniker because it resembled a certain low-to-the-ground, tubular-shaped breed of Deutchland canine, and he, reportedly, was unable to spell the word "dachshund."
Different dogs
Steven Spinner, vice president of New York-based AFI Foodservice Distributors, claims the hot dog is a food of regional preference.
"New York likes a spicy hot dog with a lot of flavoring, and New York likes a natural casing that gives you that 'snap,' he says.
Further west, in St. Louis, food fans enjoy hot dogs cooked on a flat griddle, says Jack Hertenstein, vice president of Sportservice Corp., a Buffalo, N.Y.-based operation that serves food at seven major league baseball stadiums.
"In the east, they like them boiled; in Cincinnati, they like them roto-grilled," Hertenstein observes.
According to Sam Gifford, a Sportservice public relations representative, the preference in Milwaukee is bratwurst
In the Southwest, Garland, Texas-based Decker Foods markets hot dogs to nine states and supplies the Texas Rangers organization with its product.
"The Decker hot dog has a Southwest flavor to it, and it's more spicy," says Barry Christman, Decker's vice president of marketing. "We also make a mesquite hot dog. And corn dogs are very popular in this part of the country."
The corn dogs sell especially well at the Six Flags amusement parks in Arlington, Texas, and Houston, Christman claims.
"They take our hot dogs and cook them in a special batter," Christman says. "They deep fry them on the premises while consumers watch."
Christman has a special knowledge of the hot dog trade. Not only has he spent more than two decades in the industry, his interest dates back to his Pennsylvania childhood.
"We were German and we lived on a farm; we made our own hot dogs and sausage products," he adds.
While consumers continue to select low-fat formulations for eating at home, the low-fat frank still fails to find many fans at stadiums and other public events, despite its healthy appeal.
"When people go to a baseball park, they throw caution to the wind," says Sportservice's Hertenstein.
Adds AFI's Spinner, "If people are going to buy a hot dog, they want a 'hot dog,' not a 'diet' hot dog. It's a treat."
Some claim few people are willing to fork over more than a few bucks for a stadium hot dog. Part of the problem is the increased cost of the low-fat dog, which can run 15 to 20 percent higher.
"Pricing will always be an issue at the ballpark," says Olson of the Texas Rangers.
Dressing the dog
Not only price, but the way a hot dog is presented has a particular hold on those in the frank field.
"There's a very specific order in which I put condiments on a hot dog," Potekin explains. "If you put them on helter-skelter, they'll wind up on your tie."
Potekin strategically places condiments on a hot dog in the following order: mustard, relish, fresh onions, hot peppers, pickles (sliced long), tomatoes and celery salt. And there is more to Potekin's secret recipe.
"I cook my hot dogs in water at a temperature I don't tell anyone," he adds. "If my hot dogs are in the water more than 20 minutes, I throw them because some of the spices get boiled away. If the buns are in the steam table more than 30 minutes, I toss them."
Baseball bet
Even before the first pitch was offered for the 1994 baseball season, a wiener war of sorts broke out.
The first brushback was tossed by Tom Olson, the top marketer of dogdom at the Texas Rangers' new ballpark in Arlington. Forget winning the American League pennant. Olson challenged Kevin J. Redden, his counterpart at the Cleveland Indians' new stadium, Jacobs Field, that the Rangers organization would outsell the Indians in the hot dog category.
Redden says the winner of the hot dog-selling competition will be left up to the level of play on the field.
"People enjoy hot dogs more if the home team is winning," Redden notes.
A Dog Lacks Bite Without Mustard
When it comes to mustard, U.S. consumers are full of zest, spending more than $300 million each year on the product.
At a well-attended baseball game, consumers can reportedly go through 400 gallons of mustard in nine innings.
"Research says that 87 percent of all hot dogs are adorned with mustard," according to Barry Levenson, curator of the Mount Horeb (Wis.) Mustard Museum.
Yes, there is a mustard museum. The seed for such a venture was planted in attorney Levenson's mind after the Boston Red Sox lost the 1986 World Series to the New York Mets.
"I was so depressed after Boston lost," Levenson explains. "I was walking the aisles of an all-night supermarket, looking at mustard, when I realized that I needed a hobby; I needed a life!
"A voice said to me, 'If you give them mustard, they will come.' I've been a recovering lawyer ever since."
Hot stuff
If David Dwoskin has his way, Stadium Mustard will always be the official ballpark mustard. Through his Mayfield Heights, Ohio-based Davis Food Co., Dwoskin spreads his mustard throughout 150 arenas, schools and stadiums in 30 states.
"I remember my first Cleveland Stadium hot dog from when I was 10- or 12-years-old," Dwoskin recalls. "The hot dog was so good. But I went back years later, and I realized that it wasn't the hot dog that I liked-it was the mustard."
Dwoskin liked the mustard so much that he bought the company. He spent 15 years holding part-time jobs while he added some seasoning to the company's marketing efforts. Most sales were made by word-of-mouth.
"There are different grades of hot dogs, and I like them all with my mustard," Dwoskin declares.
No sugar, fat or additives are used in the mustard, and only the freshest spices such as brown mustard seeds are used in Stadium Mustard, according to Dwoskin.
Dwoskin has a stack of testimonial letters, including one from actor Karl Malden. Former National Football League lineman Joe DeLamielleure, formerly of the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills, likes Stadium Mustard so much that he became a distributor when he retired.
Winning at marketing
The marketing of mustard in combination with sports teams can add some definite spice to a food company's bottom line. The Sun and Earth Co. in King of Prussia, Pa., has the rights to be the official mustard of all Major League Baseball and NFL teams. The company markets yellow and brown mustards.
While it is sold in 10 stadiums, the product is primarily a retail promotion, according to Jay Deakins, the company's president. Deakins claims a 60-bottle retail display will sell out in 2 or 3 days.