Thursday, Aug 27, 2009

Peppers Planted Business Idea

Family Recipe Behind Profitable Proud Product

By Adrian McCandless
Staff Writer

Flower Mound resident Vicki Toothman is the co-owner of the Proud Pepper Jelly Co.

Flower Mound resident Vicki Toothman and her brother Brad Duggan have transformed a family recipe for pepper jelly from a holiday gift into a profitable business.

Toothman, a stay-at-home-mom, said the recipe was developed by her father, Bob Duggan, when his jalapeno and habanero pepper plants thrived one season.

"We told dad he needed to come up with something we could all eat, since we were not brave enough to eat a habanero by itself," she said.

Toothman said her father then came up with the original pepper jelly flavors, "Jalapeno" and "Cranbanero," which quickly became favorite family holiday gifts.

One year Toothman and her father sold the jelly at a craft show in Kingwood, a northern suburb of Houston, soon found that the jelly was a huge hit.

The popularity of the pepper jelly spread to northern Texas when Toothman and her husband moved in 1999 and began selling it at "Fall on the Mound," a craft show held at Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church.
"Every year we made more jelly and continued to sell out at shows in Kingwood and Flower Mound," she said.
When they sold almost 60 cases of pepper jelly in one day, Toothman and her brother decided it was time to create the Proud Pepper Jelly Co. to bring their popular pepper jellies into grocery stores. Proud Pepper Jelly Co. offers four flavors: Jalapeno, Cranbanero, Raspbanero and Peach Bonnet. The jellies are now available at Kroger, Market Street and Central Market stores around the Metroplex.

"I still think of myself as a stay-at-home mom, but now I am a business owner, too," she said. "It is just so rewarding to see dad’s jelly on the shelves where I grocery shop every week."

For details, see www.prouddfoods.com.

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