Faith, flavor propel mustard company
Staff writer
Resting in a low, unassuming building in the northernmost corner of Hillsboro lies the headquarters of Grannie’s Homemade Mustard.
That mustard tasted by the likes of Boris Yeltsin and shipped as far as Japan and Kuwait should be housed in such a space is surprising.
But the headquarters fits the humble attitude of the company and its proprietor, Eugene Hein.
Hein is the son of founder and “grannie” Lydia Hein.
After 63-year-old Lydia found herself unable to continue as a cook because of health issues, Eugene suggested she sell her homemade mustard instead.
“She thought that I was crazy, and dad thought she was crazy and I was crazy,” he said. “She made some up in a Tupperware bowl, put it in Mason jars, and took it to the Hillsboro crafts fair and came home with 100 bucks, and it just grew from there.”
Lydia grew the business out of the Hein family farm north of Hillsboro. She relied on simple, manual equipment — a hand mixer and a metal filling bowl in the early years.
After she and her husband, Emice, became too old to continue to work, Eugene took over.
Lydia moved into a nursing home, and the family farm was sold.
“We just let it all go,” the younger Hein said.
In 2015, Eugene bought the building in which the company is currently situated.
“It’s been several different things before we got a hold of it,” Hein said.
He has remodeled and simplified the building, removing a bathroom and side wall to give more space for equipment and product storage.
Lydia got to see the new building before she died in 2016.
“We went and got her and brought her over here. She helped put lids on and stuff, even though she was in a wheelchair,” Hein said.
Despite the company’s success, Hein does not run the business for most of the week.
Instead, he works Monday through Thursday for BMG of Kansas, a contract manufacturer based in Hesston.
“Thirty and a half years now,” Hein said.
He prefers the mustard to the manufacturing trade and plans to reduce his hours at BMG next year.
On Fridays and weekends, Hein mixes, packages, and delivers company mustard.
He works alongside his wife; a “distant cousin,” Diane Litwiller; and niece Kimberly Young, who he expects will be next to take over Grannie’s.
Asked to explain the mustard-making process, Hein said there wasn’t much to it.
“We just kind of mix it up,” he shrugged.
Grannie’s purchases mustard powder made from English seeds. Sugar, flour, vinegar, and seasonings are added to produce flavors such as horseradish, Ole Smokee, and jalapeno.
“We try to keep everything as local as possible,” Hein said. “We mix it up over here, and then we put it in the filling machine.”
The filling machine is a beautiful relic which Lydia purchased from a defunct Barkman Honey facility that operated where Yazel-Megli Funeral Home now is on D St.
Hein guessed the machine was more than half a century old.
“I can’t find parts for it, but we’re making it work,” he said.
The machine dollops a perfect amount of mustard into the company’s container of choice — honey bears.
The late Aaron Reimer, who printed the company’s labels, came up with the idea of using honey bears.
Hein said he didn’t know how he got the idea. (One expects Barkman Honey had something to do with it.)
The bears have since become an integral part of the company.
“It’s kind of our little trademark,” Hein said.
The Hein family places the bears underneath the machine by hand, one at a time.
“You have seven seconds to get another one underneath there,” Hein said. “If you don’t get there, you’ve got a mess.”
Business is steady, Hein says, as Grannie’s is sold online and in a variety of stores across Kansas.
The mustard is frequently dropped by some stores and picked up by others. Hein named three stores that recently chose to start stocking Grannie’s.
“One in Strong City, and then one in Cortland, Kansas, last week… and then another one this week in Salina.”
He also sells his product at four craft shows a year, one of which is this weekend.
“I like getting out, talking to people,” Hein said.
For the Hein family’s efforts, Grannie’s Homemade Mustard has been enjoyed far and wide over the years.
Hein recalled one woman from Salina who worked for the Department of Defense.
“She ordered her mustard and took it back to the Pentagon,” he said.
The “From the Land of Kansas” holiday gift box, produced by the Department of Agriculture, features an assortment of products produced in Kansas. It currently includes Grannie’s.
“We’ve been in that gift box deal for quite a few years with them, and it does very well,” Hein said. “I think they bought 700 bears.”
Religion was important to Lydia Hein upon starting her homemade mustard company at the age of 63.
Eugene Hein said faith gave her the confidence she needed to grow her business.
“She started out with nothing, and look where it is today,” Hein said.
He pointed out a Bible verse, Matthew 13:31-32, tacked onto the wall of the shop.
It is the unofficial mantra of his humble company:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becometh a tree.”