Take a moment, if you will, to sit back, relax, and enjoy a good story about turning dreams into reality, and about the little company that could... and still does for that matter.

 

The name Frog Ranch comes from a time when co-owners Craig Cornett and Kristi Hewitt were sitting on the deck of their newly acquired homestead, an old timber-framed "hippie love-shack" in the middle of 40 acres of woods in Millfield OH. Craig was casually lamenting his bleak financial situation and the house that was in great disrepair - though still a good bargain for two college kids. They sipped a few beers, listening to the spring peepers (small chorus frogs) performing their twilight ritual near the pond on the hill, and Kristi made the observation that at least they had purchased a nice "frog ranch." They had a good laugh, and the homestead had a name!

 

A few years later, they began to clear land for a garden. The plot wasn't ready until late summer, when vegetable plants were hard to come by, and the only plants available were some wilting "Buy One Flat for $1, Get One Free" Hungarian peppers. It was an irresistible temptation, and for five bucks they filled up the bed of their truck.

 

That first year, those rather questionable looking pepper plants were so prolific that Craig and Kristi turned to family for assistance. Craig's grandmother provided an old family recipe that yielded about two hundred quarts of pickled peppers. Friends and neighbors beat a path to their door for samples and word quickly got out about the pungent perfection at the "frog ranch." One urging led to another, and it was decided that a sincere effort should be made to further the dream.

 

In the summer of 1994, they leased a small room in the “Millfield Carryout”, purchased a steam boiler and a kettle, planted 700 pepper plants by hand in a nearby field that they also rented and they were in business. The realization soon came that they would have to expand their offerings and get a bigger place. The two loved their homemade salsa recipe made with their pickled peppers and decided to move forward with that line. Then they moved the operation to Glouster Ohio, purchasing the iconic “flat-iron” building (it was 6 ft. wide on one end and 36ft on the other). They later purchased a large beer warehouse on the other end of town, which is where the Frog Ranch factory still is today.

 

Over 24 years of hard but rewarding work have passed and Frog Ranch continues to offer a line of wholesome, high quality, great tasting All-Natural Salsas that sell at a rate of one jar per minute in grocery and specialty food stores throughout the country. These efforts have not gone unnoticed; Frog Ranch has received both regional and national media attention, and has won multiple prestigious awards. Frog Ranch's commitment to meeting the needs of our loyal customers and providing the highest quality products has helped the company become a recognized symbol of quality in specialty food manufacturing.

 

Well, we hope you have enjoyed this little story. If you skipped to the end, here's our version of the moral: Don’t quit until the miracle happens.

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Many thanks to the beauty and bounty of nature, particularly to those little frogs on the hill.