YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Made from locally sourced ingredients – including jalapeno peppers harvested by students from campus gardens – College of the Ozarks’ Classic Pepper Jelly can liven up crackers or it can enhance myriad recipes. Developed for use as a topping in the college’s Dobyns Dining Room at the Keeter Center, the savory jelly is available alongside fruit jellies and the handmade apple butter that captured the Voters Choice Award of the 2023 Coolest Things Made in the Ozarks. The C of O kitchen produces 100,000 jars of fruit spreads, apple butters and jellies annually.
SBJ: When people buy your products in the Keeter Center store or online, do you see them as supporting the mission of C of O?
Kiley Hutcheson: We want students to understand that they’re not just making a jelly, they’re not just making a cake – they are making an impact. People know that our jar of Classic Pepper Jelly has a student behind it – somebody that they’re supporting in a fashion. Some people will be able to give donations and student scholarships, but some people use product purchasing as their way of supporting the school. We look at it as just as important as somebody who’s writing a check to the school – it has that much value to us.
SBJ: Aside from help with tuition, what do C of O students get from making products like jelly?
Hutcheson: I wish all students got the opportunity that our students do. They’re super privileged in that they get to see the fruits of their labor: They’re chopping the peppers, mixing all of the product; it’s being labeled, inspected, packed up. From beginning to end, students are so involved in the process that when someone says how much they enjoyed our product, it gives them such pride to know that they were involved in it.
SBJ: How does this learning experience complement classroom learning at C of O?
Hutcheson: The work education program is so well rounded. Our supervisor teams lead by example, and we always tell our students we’d never tell them to do something that we wouldn’t do or haven’t done ourselves. Our supervisors may not be classified as professors, but they’re just as much an educator, teaching practical skills, business skills and experience that comes only through doing labor with your hands. They learn what kind of person they want to be in life and reflect how that’s the type of product we’re going to produce. It’s such a unique place to be able to share something so valuable. It seems like every time we do talk about it, people’s jaws drop, and they wonder why there are not more institutions like that.
SBJ: This product would be a bold choice with peanut butter. Is there anything else it can be used for?
Hutcheson: There are so many things. We want to get everyone out of the mindset of just using this product on toast. You can use it in so many creative ways. We’ve mixed it into our cornbread batter or topped cornbread with it for a Southwest feel. We’ve put it on salmon, where it caramelizes and creates a nice glaze. We’ve whipped it with cream cheese and made a fluffy dip. There are lots of possibilities. You have to think outside the box.
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