(DAYTON, OHIO) – July 24, 2017 — A small-batch artisan mustard created by Daytonians Kathleen Hanover and her husband Kaden Harris has a new name, the couple announced today. “FireProof Corn Whiskey Mustard” won the 2016 Ohio Signature Food Contest under the name “Indian Creek Corn Whiskey Mustard.”
“The new name recalls the house fire we had to overcome just to enter the contest and eventually bring our whiskey mustard to store shelves,” said Hanover. “It’s also a nod to the key ingredient—Ohio craft whiskey.”
The couple’s home sustained extensive damage in an arson fire that destroyed their garage in April of 2016. Hanover entered her husband’s corn whiskey mustard recipe into the Ohio Signature Food Contest last summer, while their kitchen was still a construction zone. “For the first month after the fire, we didn’t even have electricity at the house. It took almost four months to get our kitchen up and running again,” Hanover explained. “Surviving a house fire with just minor injuries gives you a whole different definition of adversity. We really do feel ‘fireproof’ at this point.”
Hanover and Harris flavored the mustard with whiskey from a local distillery, and named the product in its honor, with the encouragement of the distillery’s owners. “Unfortunately, after using that name with their blessing for over seven months, their attorney raised an objection to it,” Hanover explained. The food entrepreneurs tried to work out a licensing contract that would allow them to keep using the original product name and logo, but in the end the parties couldn’t agree on terms.
“We won the Ohio Signature Food Contest with both our recipe and our business model,” Harris added. “Our goal is to help Ohio’s craft distilleries raise revenues from product sales, earn publicity and name recognition, and generate more foot traffic by highlighting their liquors in our small-batch condiments,” he explained. “It’s a lot harder to generate publicity for a distillery if you can’t prominently feature their name on the label. But like everything else we’ve had to overcome to launch this product, this is merely another character-building experience.”
The couple is launching a Kickstarter fundraising campaign this August to underwrite all-new marketing materials and production of their first batch of FireProof Corn Whiskey Mustard. More information is available at DaytonComestibles.com.
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About the Ohio Signature Food Contest
Sponsored by the Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT) and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF), the Ohio Signature Food Contest recognizes innovative Ohio food entrepreneurs with technical and business assistance to help them take their food product ideas from their home kitchens to retail stores. Included in the prize is free use of the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (NOCK), a licensed commercial kitchen and processing plant in Bowling Green created especially for food entrepreneurs.
About Kathleen Hanover and Kaden Harris
A graduate of Wright State University, Kathleen Hanover is a professional speaker, gardener, self-described “hipster foodie” and self-taught cook who owns a boutique marketing and public relations agency. Her husband Kaden Harris is a noted Canadian musician and visual artist with chef’s papers who carries his penchant for improvisational fabrication into the kitchen. They live in a vintage house in Dayton, Ohio with three feline sidekicks.
About FireProof Corn Whiskey Mustard
A grainy rustic mustard that features Ohio craft whiskey, maple syrup and apple cider vinegar, plus a secret spice blend, FireProof Corn Whiskey Mustard is a premium small-batch condiment that won the 2016 Ohio Signature Food Contest.
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