Silver Spring Foods, Inc., is the world's largest grower and producer of horseradish. Founded in 1929, the company is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and also produces an assortment of sauces and mustards. The company was incorporated in 1949 as Silver Spring Gardens.
History
In 1929, Ellis Huntsinger started growing horseradish and other crops in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. In the early days, he prepared and bottled horseradish by hand. In 1941, Huntsinger discovered that the addition of dairy cream helped further enhance the flavor, heat, and longevity of prepared horseradish. This discovery helped him expand his horseradish sales to markets throughout the United States. The company has been family-owned since it began. It is currently owned by Ellis Huntsinger’s granddaughter, Nancy Bartusch and her two sons. In 1972, president Edwin Bartusch and his wife, Betty, died in a plane crash. Barbara, the younger of their two daughters, and her husband also died in the crash, leaving the couple’s 22-year-old daughter Nancy to run the company. She enlisted the help of family friendBill Nelson Sr., who resigned from Kraft Foods to run the company. His son Bill Nelson Jr. took over a few years later and ran the company for 25 years. Around 2000, the company started producing specialty mustards with horseradish as a key ingredient. In 2003, the company lost a major client, and 30 percent of its business. By 2006, it had gained back enough market share to be completing a new, highly automated 100,000 square foot plant that doubled its production capacity In anticipation of that, in October 2005 the company bought the Waldorf, Nuevo Sol and Bella Migliore brands of jams and sauces, and in January 2006, it completed the purchase of Thor-Shackel Horseradish Co., the producer of Thor's Hot Horseradish and several other brands. In 2009, the company purchased Kelchner's Horseradish Products of Dublin, Pennsylvania. In 2010 the company moved Kelchner's production to a plant in Wisconsin, keeping open Kelchner's headquarters and a shipping operation in Pennsylvania. In 2011, the company began expanding the area where Kelchner's products were sold, south into the Carolinas, and north into New York and Massachusetts.
Awards
The company and has earned several awards at mustard competitions, with Silver Spring Beer ‘n Brat Mustard winning top awards. At the 2010 Napa Valley Mustard Festival’s World-Wide Mustard Competition, Silver Spring earned a Grand Champion title for its popular Deli Style Mustard, while its Picante Pepper Mustard took home a bronze in the Pepper Hot category. Additionally, its Beer ‘n Brat Horseradish Mustard nabbed a bronze in the Horseradish/Wasabi category, and its Organic Deli Mustard won the silver in the Organic category.
Operations
Silver Spring Foods, Inc. is now the world’s largest producer and processor of horseradish products. Revenue hit $50 million in 2011, and the company now employs over 165 people. The brands of the parent company, Huntsinger Farms Inc., also include Bookbinders Food Products, Atlantic Brand, and Thor-Shackel.
