to serve Silver Spring Foods’ horseradish where bloody Marys are sold in the stadium. Rygg’s grandfather, Edwin Bartusch might not have thought of that. A pilot in World War II, he was carrying on the side business that his father, Ellis Huntsinger, started while selling lightning rods. Literally, he flew product around the country. But in 1972, on one of those flights with his wife, Betty, a cabin fire led to a crash in which they both died. At the time, Eric’s mother, Nancy Bartusch, who remains CEO and board chair, was studying for her MBA at Stanford. She was 22. She partnered with a food industry executive and family friend, Bill Nelson Jr.,
who left Kraft. Eventually, Eric, the first family member to run the company since then, says, “Horseradish became the family’s lightning rod.” Allentown may be perfect as a distribution hub, but it’s not necessarily prime for growing your own horseradish. It’ll grow, but not well. You’ll get leaves, but as Rygg explains, “We want a root.” His growing fields—9,000 acres in Wisconsin and Minnesota— follow a systematic, proven field rotation of corn, soybean, oats, and alfalfa every five years that serves to better prepare fields for growing horseradish. “We need 9,000 acres to support 900 acres of horseradish at a given time,” he explains.
In 2020, those fields will host Wisconsin Technology Farm Days, the state’s largest agricultural show. Think Pennsylvania Farm Show. The three-day outdoor event in July—again, perfectly timed for National Horseradish Month— figures to attract 40,00060,000 visitors. Successful agricultural practice, then, ends in what Rygg calls “a borderline cultism” with a line like Kelchner’s. “People love the brand,” he says, “but for us, it’s simple: We’re a condiment company, and we want to make the world a tastier place—one roast beef sandwich at a time.”
For more information, recipes or serving suggestions, visit besthorseradish.com or kelchnershorseradish.com. 35