ASU Alumnus Starts Prepared Dirty Martini Business

Sometimes finding the right dirty martini can be a very frustrating endeavor. Jackie Gichner and her husband Eric found this to be true. Eric who graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in business finance discovered that his wife loved a good dirty martini and was simply not able to get this love satisfied. It was then that the pair put their heads together and worked to come up with a solution. After three years of working on concept and getting the concept patented, Vitani was born in Chicago. The idea for the name is actually able to be traced back to the couples three children, David, Taylor and Dani. Two letters from each of the child’s name was used in the product.

Vitani has been so successful that Jackie and Eric sell it in 56 locations in the Chicago area and moved into the Arizona are back in October of this year. Eric Gichner saw Arizona and figured with the warm weather and all of the many resorts in the area, that this was a perfect fit. One thing that makes Vitani so perfect is the fact that the bottles are made from aluminum, which means they can be kept chilled with ice.

Three cities in Arizona carry Vitani as does the Westin Kierland Resort. Of the five flavors that are offered two of them have gone on to win at the 2014 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The cumber Martini and the Elderpear Martini won silver and bronze respectively. Cosmo Martini, Citrus Ginger martini and Dirty Martini are the other three flavors that can be found at select AJ’s Fine Foods in Scottsdale, Chandler and Phoenix locations.


The fact that Eric graduated from ASU helped to make the decision to expand into Arizona very simple. Eric Met Jackie after he graduated in 1993 and moved to Chicago to go to work in the financial district. The couple is hoping that in the near future, they will be able to move into the California, Texas and Las Vegas region soon.