Reno firm's new big idea: Wind-resistant picnic ware

Tony Termini thinks he's got a million-dollar idea.

Termini, co-founder of Food's-On wind-resistant picnic ware with his wife, Lauren Sellyei, says the product could reach sales of a million units a year in five years. The company is headquartered in Reno.

Food's-On picnic ware features Velcro-based plates and drink holders that adhere to a special tablecloth to tame windy days. The picnic ware comes in a small carry sack that holds the tablecloth and tableware for six people. Suggested retail is $39.99.

"We think the product has the potential to do several hundred thousand units in its first full year, which would suggest that over the course of the next five years it could be a million-unit-a-year item," Termini says.

Locally, Food's-On can be found at Carter Bros. Ace Hardware at 1215 S. Virginia St., but Termini is working on placement deals for Raley's throughout Nevada and California and hopes to have the product on store shelves by spring.

Food's-On has contacted several other retailers as well, including Bi-Mart of the Pacific Northwest and Publix Super Markets in Florida. Securing placement in large retail grocery stores is key to the product's success, Termini says.

Food's-On is the brainchild of Ed Royka, an inventor from Carlsbad, Calif., who also has generated inventions for Termini and Sellyei's other business, ConservCo, a manufacturer and distributor of water-saving plumbing fixtures. Food's-On's first manufacturing run was finished in July. Royka had helped ConservCo source many of its other products and used his contacts to secure a manufacturing deal with a factory in Xiamen, China.

Termini is promoting the product through press releases to trade magazines in the grocery, non-food, convenience store, paper and party goods and outdoor products segments as well as general-interest publications. He expects trade magazines to start publishing stories about the product in September and October the same time many buyers will plan spring offerings.

In December and January Food's-On will conduct a PR blast to women's magazines such as Women's Day and Good Housekeeping. It also plans a direct response television ad campaign. Termini also will take the product to large general merchandise wholesalers, such as Orgill and Bostwick-Braun.

"It will help on a grassroots level and help support sales to Safeways and markets like that," he says.

All products in the Foods-On package are made from either biodegradable or recycled materials the tablecloth is made from old plastic water bottles. Termini is applying for a patent for the product.

Food's-On is also looking to add a variety of products under the Food's-On line, such as a beach blanket that won't blow away, to increase the line's marketability in case a larger company shows interested in purchasing the brand.

"A company that has a dozen items that sell in a specific space in a grocery or pharmacy, that is a much more saleable company," Termini says.

Seed money has come from the co-founder's personal funds. Termini's background is in investment banking, while Sellyei was general counsel for an Internet company. The two started ConservCo in 2005.

The experience gained through bringing ConservCo products to market has helped the pair avoid mistakes, such as purchasing too much raw materials and how to best manage relations with their factory in China.

One of the challenges facing the fledgling company is getting the idea across to supermarket buyers.

"As I cold-call buyers at grocery stores chains, which we think will be the biggest distribution channel for us, some of those buyers got it immediately," Termini says. "There are some that get it and others that don't, and the challenge is to get a sample in front of those skeptics that don't get it."