Food-safety consulting group establishes its base in Reno

Marketing campaigns don't get much more modest than the 100 press releases sent out by Reno-based GRAS Associates LLC to announce the creation of the company.

But barely more than a month after the formation of the company that specializes in safety review of food ingredients, the mailing generated one paying customer and its founders are talking with a half dozen more.

GRAS Associates works in a tight little niche. Its two principals Robert McQuate of Reno and Richard Kraska of Bonita Springs, Fla. contract with researchers and analysts to shepherd products to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The company's name, in fact, is drawn from "Generally Recognized As Safe" a key legal definition in the federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.

McQuate, the company's chief executive officer, said last week that he and Kraska met more than three decades ago when they were hired in the FDA's food safety program.

They each moved into the private consulting field and decided to join forces last autumn as their businesses were booming. Even after the creation of GRAS Associates, Kraska and McQuate continue to operate their individual consulting practices as financial safety nets.

The company is headquartered in Reno for a simple reason McQuate likes it here.

The former Phoenix resident and his wife traveled often through northern Nevada to visit a son at Mammoth Lakes, Calif., and steadily became more enamored. His office can be located anywhere there's a convenient airport, and so the McQuates pulled up stakes.

The contracts handled by the company will come from food and beverage firms across the world, McQuate said. He's also hopeful that analysis of nutritional supplements planned for use in foods will provide a major boost to the company.

No matter how quickly the company grows, its effects on employment in northern Nevada will be miniscule. GRAS Associates' two founders plan to work with a network of independent contractors across the United States to handle the company's workload.

The modest mailing that announced formation of the company is likely to be representative of its marketing efforts.

Far more important, McQuate said, will be the industry contacts that he and Kraska have developed since the early 1970s. McQuate worked for The Dial Corp. and the National Soft Drink Association before he became a consultant in 1988. Kraska worked for three major chemical companies before striking out on his own.

They'll keep those contacts alive. McQuate said, with presentations at professional conferences.