Being newly introduced to Wicker's Marinade and Baste, I was pleased to discover that Hornersville MO was only a little over half an hour out of my way on a business trip I had to take this week to Dalton, GA. While I can (luckily) find original Wicker's at my hometown supermarkets, they don't carry the broader line of Wicker's sauces, as listed on their web site. I decided to take a side trip to Hornersville, see where this sauce comes from, and get some of their other offerings.
For those not familiar with Missouri geography, Hornersville is in the bootheel...that funny little bit of Missouri that sticks down on the Southeast corner looking like a couple counties stolen from Arkansas. That is crop land country. Miles and miles and miles of soybeans, cotton and rice. Hornersville looks like it might have once been a fairly thriving community, but these days, farms aren't farmed by farmers, they're farmed by corporations. That means Hornersville and towns like it all over the country are drying up. A former resident of Hornersville (now practicing dentistry in California) owns Wicker's and trusts its operation to a staff of 3. One fella mixes and bottles it, one young lady answers the phones and enters the orders and manager Korey Speaight does everything else. I was expecting a small operation, but not quite this small. Small though they are, they could not have been nicer to a stranger. I got a tour of the place, including the 5,500 gallon vinegar tank that gets filled by tanker truck and the various old downtown storefronts that now warehouse bottles waiting to be filled and bottles already filled.
I bought a half gallon of Original, a bottle of their finishing sauce "Wicker's Thicker" and a bottle of "Black Label", which is their special blend for beef. Then I added a regular bottle of Original as a gift for the customer I was calling on in Dalton. Total expenditure, about 15 bucks. I was out the door and almost back to my car when I stopped to take a picture of the Main street storefront that is their office. That's when Corey came out and offered the tour. After he had shown me around, he told me about the dry rub they're coming out with and gave me a big bag of it to try.
I love little companies like this. In my opinion we need a lot more of them, and we all need to support the ones we have with our business. That's really easy when the product is really, really good.
That's Corey, in front of the office.
For those not familiar with Missouri geography, Hornersville is in the bootheel...that funny little bit of Missouri that sticks down on the Southeast corner looking like a couple counties stolen from Arkansas. That is crop land country. Miles and miles and miles of soybeans, cotton and rice. Hornersville looks like it might have once been a fairly thriving community, but these days, farms aren't farmed by farmers, they're farmed by corporations. That means Hornersville and towns like it all over the country are drying up. A former resident of Hornersville (now practicing dentistry in California) owns Wicker's and trusts its operation to a staff of 3. One fella mixes and bottles it, one young lady answers the phones and enters the orders and manager Korey Speaight does everything else. I was expecting a small operation, but not quite this small. Small though they are, they could not have been nicer to a stranger. I got a tour of the place, including the 5,500 gallon vinegar tank that gets filled by tanker truck and the various old downtown storefronts that now warehouse bottles waiting to be filled and bottles already filled.
I bought a half gallon of Original, a bottle of their finishing sauce "Wicker's Thicker" and a bottle of "Black Label", which is their special blend for beef. Then I added a regular bottle of Original as a gift for the customer I was calling on in Dalton. Total expenditure, about 15 bucks. I was out the door and almost back to my car when I stopped to take a picture of the Main street storefront that is their office. That's when Corey came out and offered the tour. After he had shown me around, he told me about the dry rub they're coming out with and gave me a big bag of it to try.
I love little companies like this. In my opinion we need a lot more of them, and we all need to support the ones we have with our business. That's really easy when the product is really, really good.
That's Corey, in front of the office.
