Bruce Neff of Ben's Mustard shows frozen jalapeno peppers.
According to the wall clock in the Ben’s Mustard cannery, it’s 1 p.m., but owners Bruce and Karen Neff have already put in a full day’s work.
The South Central Power Company members live in the Ross County village of Kingston, in a Civil War-era house that’s only steps away from the cannery they built in the backyard in 2005. In addition to helping some longtime neighbors move and getting shipments ready for a UPS pickup, the Neffs spent the morning making 80 gallons of their signature product, Ben’s Sweet & Hot Mustard. They were in the middle of pouring it into jars when three women searching for Ben’s Mustard showed up.
“We always tell people to call before they come because we’re not always here,” says Bruce. “Luckily, we were able to help those ladies because they said they like our mustard so much that they drove from Columbus just to buy some.”
When the Neffs finally take a break, they settle into chairs on their home’s back porch, a shady and inviting spot lavished with old-fashioned latticework straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Their son Shawn, who works in the cannery and handles sales and marketing, joins them as Karen prepares snacks garnished with golden dollops of the family business. “We put jalapeno peppers in the mustard, but use just enough to make it tantalizing,” she says. “You get two flavors in one bite: first sweet, then a bit of heat.”
Karen created Sweet & Hot Mustard at the campground near Circleville that the Neffs purchased in 1984. Because Bruce worked full time at the Kenworth truck plant in Chillicothe, Karen ran the campground while raising Shawn and his younger siblings, Nathan and Natalie. Although she is an accomplished home cook who routinely cans tomatoes, beans, and other foods, it took Karen five years to refine the mustard’s recipe.
“We called the first batch I made the ‘towering inferno’ because I used 40 jalapenos, which was way too much,” Karen recalls with a laugh. Because she dislikes strong, vinegary mustard, Karen developed a mellow-tasting version and gave it the acronym “Ben’s” by combining the first letters of her husband’s full name — Bruce Edward Neff. The sweet-hot condiment quickly became a hit at picnics with their campground guests. “When you put the mustard on a hot dog or brat,” says Karen, “it’s a perfect combination of salty and sweet that everyone just loves.”
After operating the campground for 18 years, the Neffs sold it and moved to Kingston. Instead of slowing down, however, they decided to turn Karen’s homemade mustard into a business by building the 960-square-foot cannery and obtaining the required commercial kitchen license and canner certifications. The whole family pitched in to make the mustard a success. While Nathan served samples on hot dogs at trade shows, county fairs, and festivals, Shawn and Natalie took a plastic container packed with meat, cheese, crackers, and mustard to independent grocers and asked them to taste it. “On our very first day,” says Shawn, “we got Ben’s Mustard into 10 local stores.”
Today, Ben’s Sweet & Hot Mustard is available in the made-in-Ohio section of Kroger stores, as well as numerous Amish markets and regional grocery chains. With Karen’s culinary input, the Neffs have introduced additional specialty foods — including Ben’s Meat Rub and Ben’s Sweet & Hotter Habanero Mustard — and sell their company’s entire line to customers around the world via their website. Ben’s Sweet & Hot Mustard is still their most popular item, and they not only produce 8,400 gallons annually, but also grow all the peppers needed to make it. This year alone, the Neffs will harvest peppers from 300 plants.
“We don’t use pesticides, insecticides, or herbicides,” notes Shawn. “They’re grown with sunshine, dirt, and a little bit of God’s love.”
