Cultivated since ancient times, mustard adds colour to the prairie landscape and flavour to a multitude of family favourite recipes.
It’s no wonder then that Carly Minish-Wytinck got her bright idea by looking at fields in the Swan River Valley, Man., area.
A red seal chef, Minish-Wytinck was tired of working in restaurants in Winnipeg. As an alternative, she was considering developing food products, and settled on gourmet mustard. Smak Dab mustard was born.
“Mustard is a cool Canadian product,” she said. “It is also a versatile product.”
Minish-Wytinck began doing research and trying some formulations that she gave to family to try. Her parents encouraged her to try selling at farmers markets where her gourmet take on the condiment gathered more fans. Smak Dab is now in more than 400 stores in Western Canada and a handful of specialty shops in Ontario.
Minish-Wytinck’s family has a deep connection to agriculture, which infused her focus on creating a Canadian product. Her grandfather, Glen Henderson, farmed the soil around Minitonas, Man., and when she began producing Smak Dab in nearby Swan River, he became a fixture in the local Veteran’s Memorial Hall’s commercial kitchen.
“Our staff loves Grandpa,” Minish-Wytinck said. “He’s our employee-of-the-month forever.” Henderson recently moved to Winnipeg and had to hang up his “honourary supervisor” hat.
Smak Dab’s ingredients are sourced in Canada with the mustard coming through the Besco Grain elevator in Homewood, Man., beer sourced from local craft breweries, and the maple syrup arriving from Quebec.
The company offers nine flavour varieties in 250 millilitre glass jars and sample packs of four 125 ml jars. Six flavours are offered year round, with some specialty offerings during winter.
Even though its roots remain in the Swan River Valley, Smak Dab is growing and some production is outsourced to facilities in Alberta and British Columbia. Minish-Wytinck lives in Winnipeg where she oversees production and tests new ideas while being a mom to her toddler son.
“I’m living the dream, but it hasn’t been easy,” she says. “We pulled through COVID thanks to our online orders when people were eating at home. But the after-effects have been challenging, with supply chain issues making it difficult to get jars.”
Another big challenge is the mustard market that struggled to meet demand after drought minimized the crop in 2022, leading to skyrocketing prices for mustard seed.
“We are hoping for a regular crop on the Prairies in 2023,” Minish-Wytinck says.
She vows she’ll never forget where she came from.
“I pay homage to my small town whenever I can and I am happy I took the plunge eight and half years ago to start this business,” Minish-Wytinck says.
