Local Seasoning Company Todd's Dirt Expands

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By Hayley Gable Bowerman

Todd Courtney, the Severna Park man behind the Todd’s Dirt seasoning business, has quite a lot to celebrate. Recently, his products were picked up by three major supermarket chains – Giant, Whole Foods and Ingles Market. His seasonings are sold at 173 Giant food markets in Maryland (including the Severna Park location), Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., 35 Whole Foods locations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio and D.C., and 150 Ingles Market stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.

"We have come a long way in the four years since we started this business,” stated Courtney. “We established this company during the worst economy since the Great Depression, but we are holding our own and have been growing. We have gone from being in 80 stores at the end of 2010 to over 680 stores in 2011.”

Not stopping there, Courtney is already setting goals for next year. “We are hoping to be in 1,500 stores or more by the end of 2012, including up and down the East Coast, Texas, Arizona and parts of the Midwest,” he explained.

A self-proclaimed grilling enthusiast, Courtney explains that he has enjoyed cooking and being creative in the kitchen for as long as he can remember. Though he had no formal training or educational background in the culinary arts, in the early 1990s he began trying to re-create a family-favorite seasoning a friend secretly concocted and then suddenly stopped making.

After many years of experimenting with different herbs and spices, Todd came up with a mix in 2001 that he believed was even better than his friend’s. He combined 14 different natural spices and recruited friends and family to test it out on different kinds of foods – everything from beef and pork, turkey, fish and crab, to potatoes, vegetables, rice and pasta – and the mix proved to be a savory success.

Soon after, he began packaging his seasoning in jars, labeling it as “Dirt” and giving it as gifts to family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. “Everyone who tried it kept asking for more,” said Courtney. “A lot of people suggested I start selling ‘Dirt’ as a full-time business.”

Courtney then went to his wife, Holly, with the idea. “I said to her, I’m really going to get this started and would really like your support,” he said. “She is now my business partner who helps me out with all the food shows and is also a great inspiration to me.”

Several local stores took interest in selling Todd’s Dirt, including Dawson’s Liquors and Victoria’s Fancy Foods in Severna Park. “One of the first stores to carry Todd's Dirt sold their first bottle within 12 minutes of delivery of the first case,” noted Courtney.

Since propelling himself full-time into the business of food seasonings, Courtney has sold his products on the shelves of more than 30 retail shops across the country including stores in California, Colorado, Oklahoma and Florida. Locally, his seasonings can be found at Graul’s Market, Lucky’s Superette and Roy’s Kwik Korner in addition to Dawson’s and Victoria’s.

This year, Todd’s Dirt was awarded a Silver “Sofi” from the National Association of Specialty Foods (NASFT) for their Crabby Dirt in the Flavor Enhancer Category. Sofi, which stands for “Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation,” is the highest honor in the specialty food industry. Crabby Dirt won against 1,700 other products, including marinades, sauces, hot sauces, seasonings, rubs, olive oils and vinegars.

Courtney’s seasonings were also showcased at the Fancy Food Show in Washington, D.C. “One of the White House chefs came up to us to tell me how much he loves Todd's Dirt Seasonings. Not only does he use it personally in his home, but the White House has used them, and President Obama loves the Crabby Dirt on his fries,” Courtney noted.

There has also been a new addition to Courtney’s collection of seasonings. “We came out with a new seasoning called ‘Low Down Dirt,’ which is an all-purpose salt-free seasoning that is great on everything,” he said.

Courtney also produced a new 40-recipe cookbook this year, called “Dirty Girls’ Cookbook,” which has recipes using three of their seasonings.

For details on Todd’s Dirt, visit their website at www.toddsdirt.com.

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