It’s not unusual for a business to be a family operation and Traditions Sauces is no exception.
Their first product line is the Brickyard Brand Sloppy Joe sauce which is growing in popularity in the
area. At a recent Perrysburg Farmers market, they sold 87 jars.
Donald Hill Jr., a Navy veteran, who served as a corpsman in Afghanistan with a Marine hospital, founded
the company using his late grandmother JoAnn’s recipe. The recipe dates back to the 1960s.
The idea first came while he was in the service eating less-than-delicious military MREs (meals ready to
eat). Notably a sloppy joe MRE was not up to his standards.
Hill recalled the delicious sandwiches he had eaten his entire life and knew there had to be a way to
market that either for MREs or what has developed – a jarred sauce on store shelves.
"I’ve had this as long as I can remember," Hill’s mother Jackie said of his product.
After being medically discharged in February 2012 (he is considered 70 percent disabled), Hill went to
work on the product which is now manufactured at the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen.
The NOCK is coordinated through the Center for Innovative Food Technology and is located at the
Agricultural Incubator Foundation on Ohio 582, north of Bowling Green.
While he obviously does not disclose the full recipe, the first ingredient listed is tomato soup.
He says by using soup as his base he gets a bolder and fuller flavor than comparable mixes which almost
all start with a catsup base.
"The soup gives it a unique flavor," Hill said.

The entrepreneur prides himself that Brickyard uses all Ohio products.
Currently the product is sold in glass jars and is available in a variety of local stores including
Walmart in Bowling Green and 16 others in the area; Churchill Markets, Andersons, House of Meats and
Kazmaier’s. Kroger has purchased some and should be on the shelves soon, if not already.
The Bowling Green and Fremont City Schools uses his product for its cafeterias and he is also negotiating
to be in Toledo Schools.
While they do package gallon jugs for those industrial lines, the majority of the product is placed in
glass jars. The glass, though slightly more expensive than cans, allows visibility and showcases the
richness of the sauce inside.
"You can see the spices, it’s visually appealing," Hill said.
He added that another selling point for the sauce which sells for approximately $4 to $5 per jar is that
the jar is designed to be mixed with two pounds of hamburger meat, compared to most commercial brands
which only are for only one pound.
When the Sentinel visited NOCK to see the sauce in production, other family members, as is common, were
involved, including Hill’s wife, April, and his father, Don Sr. His mother is often the one who takes
the product to demonstrations and taste tests in various stores.
Last week Hill and his operation celebrated its one-year anniversary of the first production. There has
been steady growth since that first run.
The company has been building its sales regularly. To begin they created one batch every other week, now
they sometimes are making two or three times that.
"We fell into a niche," the owner said. "Things haven’t changed much over the years with
sloppy joes, but we have found a way."
He is currently tweaking a recipe for a hot jalapeno variety of the sauce. However, he has put that
literally on the back burner as so much effort is being put forth to keep up with the demand on the
signature brand.
At each production session there are at least four or five people involved.
Hill praises the cooperation of the people at the NOCK kitchen and CIFT.
"This is a great place, a great opportunity for us," he said. At the same time noting with the
ever-increasing demand for the product, he may have to seek larger scale opportunities.
Online:
www.traditionssauces.com