Thanksgiving Ranch, a working cattle ranch and luxury guest lodge in southwest Alberta, creates a range of homemade sauces inspired by its commitment to quality, scratch-made food. From Bustard’s Mustard and habanero jelly to fudge and caramel sauces, each product has its own unique story. Little Rock Printing helps bring these products to life with high-quality custom labels that showcase the ranch’s brand as it looks to expand across Alberta and into international markets.
"I own and operate Thanksgiving Ranch, a working cattle ranch and luxury guest lodge in southwest Alberta. We recently published a children's book called Barks After Dark, based on the three real dogs at the ranch, and I'm working on a second volume for this spring.
One main thing we use Little Rock Printing for is labels for our ranch-made sauces. There’s a bit of a story behind those products because food is very important to what we do at Thanksgiving Ranch.
We believe in doing things from scratch. Rather than buying prepared food products, we buy ingredients and make our own bread, ice cream, desserts, waffles and just about everything else served to our guests. We put a great deal of effort into the quality of the food, and our sauces grew out of that same approach.
We currently make five sauces: three savoury and two sweet.
The two mustards are both called Bustard’s Mustard, which is an obvious fit with my last name. Our Original mustard comes from a recipe that has been in my family’s bakery for about 50 years. It has been popular in the area for decades and continues to surprise people. We regularly have guests tell us they don't like mustard, only to try ours and discover they love it. We use it in dishes such as mustard-crusted salmon, where people are often amazed at how good the combination is.
The second is a Parlour Gin Dijon, made at the request of Eau Claire Distillery in Turner Valley, who asked if I could develop a mustard using their products. It turned out to be a great addition to the line.
Our third savoury product is habanero jelly. It has a lovely sweetness followed by a proper kick of heat from the habaneros. It's excellent with cheese, on sandwiches and with all sorts of other meats and foods. We think it's a considerable step up from the pepper jellies you typically find on store shelves.
The other two sauces are sweet: an Oh, Fudge! sauce and our Fat Ass Caramel Sauce. The fudge sauce makes an incredible hot chocolate and is equally good over ice cream and fruit. The caramel sauce got its name as a joke with a friend who had a jar hidden in her closet and ate it by the spoonful. She said that if she kept going at that rate, she'd end up with a fat ass. The name stuck!
One of my favourite comments about the sweet sauces came from a customer who declared that they were actually good for you because they encouraged her to eat more fruit. Strawberries dipped in fudge sauce, apples dipped in caramel — apparently, it all counts!
We have a relatively small market here, but the sauces have been very well received by our guests from around the globe and people in the surrounding area. This winter, we're working on expanding their reach across Alberta and exploring opportunities to export them to Europe. Having good labels is an important part of presenting these products properly as we take that next step."
Brad Bustard
HAVE A PROJECT TO SHARE?
Send us your business name, the product you ordered and a photo of the finished piece. We may feature it in the gallery.
Email hello@littlerockprinting.com
