Frog Rancher Becomes a Prince of Peppers
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 By SAIMI ROTE BERGMANN
Repository food writer
BACK
PUSHING PICKLES, SELLING SALSA. Craig Cornet, owner
of
Frog Ranch Foods, is traveling the state to let folks
know about his peppery products. Frog Ranch Salsas
have won many awards in the Fiery Foods Competition
in
New Mexico, but are relatively unknown in Ohio, where
they are produced.
Once upon a time there was an Ohio University
graduate, working in construction, trying to convince
himself he truly enjoyed putting up drywall. But fate
put Craig Cornett on a different path, a path lined
with peppers and pickles.
In 1986, Cornett heard about a 40-acre piece of
property north of Athens being offered at a sheriff’s
sale.
“My girlfriend, Kristi (Hewitt), and I went to
look at
it, and there in the middle of the woods sat this
timber frame home, a former barn, and I said, ‘Oh,
my
God, this is where I want to live.’ ”
They bought the place and moved in. As they stood
there admiring their new house, woods and pond, they
heard frogs chirping.
Kristi said, “Well, at least we bought a nice
frog
ranch,” and the place had a name.
A few years later, they cleared space for a vegetable
garden, but it was late in the season.
“Everywhere we went, they were out of vegetable
seedlings,” Cornett said. “We finally found
one place,
the guy points to the back corner, and says, that’s
all I have left. There were these Hungarian hot wax
pepper plants — buy a flat, get a flat free. I
had
never grown peppers, but we wanted to grow something.”
They planted hundreds of pepper seedlings, which grew
like crazy.
“So now it’s time to pick them, but I didn’t
know what
to do with them,” he admitted. “I knew how
to can
tomatoes or green beans, but I had no idea with
these.”
They were Hungarian peppers, so it made sense to call
his Hungarian grandmother for advice. She said,
“Pickle them.”
He did (see recipe below), and two weeks later, took
his first taste.
“That first bite — we just flipped out.
It was
validation of our efforts, you know, as homesteaders
—
look, we made food!”
So how many pecks of pickled peppers did Cornett pick?
He made about 500 jars and gave them away to friends.
“Some of our friends took them to local restaurants
and they said they’d buy them,” Cornett
said.
And so an entrepreneur was born.
Frog Ranch Foods, celebrating its 10-year anniversary
this month, now offers a line of pickles and salsa
made with its own pickled peppers. In 1994, they
produced 200 cases (2,400 jars). Last year they
produced 60,000 cases (720,000 jars) in their newly
renovated cannery in Glouster.
“We’re topping $1 million this year for
the first
time. Pretty cool,” he said.
But success wasn’t immediate.
“I knew nothing about selling,” Cornett
admitted. “I
remember that first year I put 100 cases in the truck
and drove off into the sunset. I went supermarket to
supermarket. I came back two days later, 98 cases in
the truck and tears in my eyes.”
Eventually Kroger decided to put his product on its
shelves, and the word began to spread.
“A few years ago I was visiting the Bahamas,
riding
this ferry over to an island, and there, waiting on
the dock for the ferry, was this pasty-white American
couple. The man was wearing a Frog Ranch T-shirt. I
couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘Nice shirt,’
and he
said, ‘Best salsa in the world.’ I said,
‘That’s my
company!’ ”
The couple was from Kentucky. Cornett said his salsa
sells all over the country, but he is still a
well-kept secret at home.
“Twenty miles from Glouster, nobody has heard
of Frog
Ranch,” he said ruefully.
So in this his anniversary year, Cornett is stumping
the Buckeye State, getting the word out. And, happily
for Stark County residents, Frog Ranch is now
available at Giant Eagle stores.
Meanwhile, the accolades continue to pile up. Every
Frog Ranch Salsa has picked up a prize at the
prestigious National Fiery Foods Competition in
Albuquerque, N.M. The latest offering, Chipotle Salsa,
won first place at last year’s competition.
What’s next? Cornett is working on opening a
second
office in Colorado, to push into the Western markets.
And he’s started a foundation ... for frogs.
“We call it ‘Five for the Phibs,’
short for
amphibians,” Cornett said. “Five percent
of our
profits are donated to amphibian research.”
