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Dusty's Dust was created over a period of 15+ years and found its way into the general public by happenstance. While originally created as a popcorn seasoning, it quickly became a hit among friends and neighbors for much more.
My family loves popcorn! We were constantly looking for a unique seasoning to put on our popcorn. Grabbing various bottles of spices out of the cupboard and adding them one at a time in rapid succession as the popcorn came out of the pot was our normal frantic process. It produced a good seasoning the family liked. Wanting to make the process a little simpler, eventually a simple confection shaker was used to combine the spice ingredients into one container, and viola, the beginnings of Dusty's Dust was born.
Through years (literally) of trial and error, a set combination of spices was created and the recipe was finalized. This made seasoning popcorn MUCH simpler and created a consistent blend the family loved.
Over time, however, I noticed the kids were using the seasoning in a variety of unintended ways. First it was put on Mac n' Cheese. Then it was on sandwiches. Then vegetables, potatoes, french fries, and more.
In addition, our neighbors began to ask for some. Neighborhood movie nights were a big thing and everyone brought something to share. My popcorn was an instant hit and the neighbors wanted the seasoning, which I gladly supplied in leftover spice bottles. They began to use it on other food as well.
After observing all of this, I decided to formalize things a little more. Fresh bottles and caps were purchased. A label was designed that included FDA compliant nutrients list, UPC symbol, and more. Shrink wrap bottle sealers were purchased. Now the seasoning has a 'professional' presentation.
More importantly, the recipe was converted from a volume base to a weight base. This was necessary in order to move from one bottle at a time production to mass quantities of bottles in production.
Now for the BIG decision. To market and sell, or not?
This is a big step with big costs and risk. It requires state permission, annual state licensing, annual inspection, mixing in a state approved commercial kitchen using state approved processes, and, well, you get the idea. The ease and fun of making it in my little 'ole kitchen is no longer allowed and the state mandated regulations dramatically increase the cost of production and, therefore, the end product. Lastly, will it sell?
Ahhh, the entrepreneurial spirit and risk....
The state mandates, inspections, licensing, etc. are too onerous for this adventure. I have, however, found a spice firm that has agreed to bottle my recipe! They can do it for about the same cost as me, and, more importantly, they deal with all the state mandates and headaches, not me.
Since my current recipe uses 'off the shelf' products from the local grocery, I had to work with the spice producer who uses only wholly natural spices to tweak my recipe to be similar to my 'off the shelf' version. After some trial and error, we settled in on a final recipe.
I worked with a graphics artist to spruce up the label a little to accommodate the new bottle size and make it eye catching when on the shelf.
Dusty's Dust is now available! Check out the Available At tab for more information.
Guess I am going into the spice business....let's see how it goes...
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