Gran's Remedies Ltd accountant and chief executive Jim Reay went to a play several years ago and there was the familiar pottle on stage. Not only was it a prop, but there was also some dialogue around it.
"It's almost invasive. Everybody knows about it," he said, laughing.
The "Gran" in Gran's Remedy was the grandmother of one of the company's shareholders and directors, Wayne Nicholson, who solved the problem of smelly feet with an old recipe that had been handed down through the generations.
Years later, Mr Nicholson was working on the wharf at Port Chalmers, where Bill Galer was his boss, and the two men got chatting. They decided the recipe might have commercial potential and the two families got together.
In those early years, the foot powder was mixed in sterilised concrete-mixers, put into pottles and hawked around local pharmacies.
Then Jim Davis, from Pharmabroker Sales in Auckland, heard about it and added Gran's to his product range. Since then, it had gone from "strength to strength", Mr Reay, who has been involved since the 1980s, said.
"It's become an icon for New Zealand, really. There wouldn't be too many that haven't heard of Gran's foot powders. It's a trusted thing that people buy."
Feet perspired naturally and produced fatty acids and, in the warm damp atmosphere of footwear, bacteria on the feet fed off the fatty acids, multiplied and gave off the bad odour, he said.
The bacteria got into the footwear, making the footwear smell. Gran's worked by eliminating the bacteria that caused the smell.
Manufacturing of the product shifted from Dunedin to Auckland about seven or eight years ago. Previously a "backyard cottage-type industry", it got too big and "mixing in a concrete mixer was not going to work", Mr Reay said.
Most of the overseas shipments left directly from the factory in Waiuku, while the local market was supplied from Dunedin, where Mr Nicholson ran the warehouse and distribution market.
Sales in New Zealand had dropped in the past couple of years due to the recession. The pharmacy sector, in particular, had suffered.
While not considered a luxury, the product was certainly discretionary but it still had a "tremendous" following. About 50,000 pottles a year were sold in New Zealand.
The export market cropped up nearly 10 years ago and the first major export market was Japan. That was still a significant market and Mr Reay believed it would grow.
The company had also been exporting to Australia for quite some time and he believed that market also had the potential to "really mushroom".
An exciting development was a foray into Europe. About two years ago, a contract was signed with a company based in the UK but with "tentacles" spread throughout Europe, selling under the Odaban brand.
It had an anti-perspirant product that had a strong and loyal following and it saw Gran's Remedy as a good complement to that. However, it wanted to market it under its own label, focusing initially on the German market. Apparently, "Gran's" did not translate very well into German.
The company had made several shipments and the product had been very well received, with the market predicted to grow dramatically. There was potential to sell "many times" what was sold in New Zealand, he said.
Gran's Remedy was about to be featured on the Korean television home shopping network and there was significant inquiry from Israel.
Mr Reay joked the future was "scary". Last year, the company produced more than 120,000 pottles, "but, gee, it could be many times that in four to five years' time".
Looking ahead, if the company had to rely on the local market, he was not sure it would survive in the way it had. The international market gave critical mass.
The original recipe is still being used. The main active ingredient is zinc undecylenate, which kills the bacteria. It also includes potassium aluminium sulphate, talcum powder and zinc oxide.
In recent years, manuka oil and kawakawa have been added. Both have a soothing and remedial effect on the skin.
While Gran's Remedy was a familiar name, the company was very conscious of the need to keep marketing the product, Mr Reay said.
It was in the process of revamping its website and was always thinking about how the market could be widened.
Financially, the company was profitable and debt-free and, despite offers, the shareholders had declined to sell.
