VOICE(V): How was the business takeover like?

 

Stephanie(S): We kept everything pretty much the same for the first few months while we found our footing. Then we slowly started changing the operation and recipes—reducing the sugar and salt, switching from white sugar to organic cane sugar, and reworking some recipes to reflect our values and our focus on using local, healthy ingredients more clearly.

We also expanded what we offered in the shop, adding meat, cheese, and more local products and brands that aligned with our values and our commitment to supporting the community. We really wanted to support small businesses and farmers and keep things as local and community-minded as possible.

Nancy had also used local ingredients wherever she could, but we really wanted to push that further. We replaced non-local ingredients with local alternatives whenever we could, as long as it was affordable. For example, we get all our mustard seeds from small farmers in the Prairies rather than using something mass-produced. And overall, we try to keep our ingredient lists as simple, healthy, and concise as possible.

 

V: What elements did you want to keep from the previous Mustard Lady?

 

S: Her integrity. Being part of the community and being there for the community. Nancy was an icon. She was the Mustard Lady.  When we first took over, it was a little intimidating. We were the new Mustard Lady, and we wanted to make sure we were doing something the community could be proud of.

Even sometimes to this day, someone will say, “You’re not the Mustard Lady.” And we’re like, “Well, we are now—we’ve been doing this for four years!” She really left a lasting impression on people, and that’s something we wanted to honour and carry forward.

 

Brody(B): I work at 99% of the farmers markets, and I’ll get people saying, “You don’t look like a mustard lady.” I always take the temperature on how they say it! And I’ll say, “No, my wife and I are the Mustard Lady together.” I mean, the Mustard Family sounds like a cult! Sometimes customers come into the shop, point at Stephanie, and say, “You must be the Mustard Lady’s wife!” It’s just such a joy to see it become a family business.

 

V: How did your customers react when you started making changes?

 

S: Some long-time customers were pretty upset that we got rid of some of their old favourites, or when we changed the labels to reflect our personality better. Change can be hard sometimes. But overall, people in the community have been really supportive and overjoyed that we’re taking it on and keeping the legacy going.

 

V: How would you describe the Comox Valley community?

 

S: It’s mixed, but it’s great. If you’re going to be vocal about your values, there will always be people who don’t agree with you. But we try to make the store an incredibly safe and welcoming space, so I would rather be vocal about what we believe in than make people who don’t share our values feel like they’re not welcome.

 

B: A lot of people have moved away and then come back with new skills and different ideas that they’ve brought back to the area. It used to be more of a retirement community, but now you have young families and young adults who have lived in bigger cities, experienced that lifestyle, and brought some of that energy back while still keeping things small. That’s what the Comox Valley feels like to me now—a small-town community mentality with an understated elegance.

 

V: How do you work together as a couple, both in the kitchen and in the business?

 

S: We always come up with the recipe ideas together. When it comes to the ingredients and flavour combinations, I take the lead. I grew up in a French family, and we always made things from scratch. I’ve always loved the culinary side of things. If I hadn’t gone to makeup school, I would have gone to culinary school, but my grandmother talked me out of it. Brody also comes from the restaurant industry, so I think we work really well together.

 

B: We’ve been a couple for almost six years, and we buzz around together pretty well in the kitchen. I didn’t really know how to cook until Stephanie got pregnant and couldn’t walk around much anymore. I had worked in restaurants for about a decade, mainly in Toronto, but I had never really cooked for myself. I always had people cooking for me.

So when Stephanie was pregnant with our kids in Victoria, she coached me from the couch, teaching me how to build flavours. Now I cook almost every day, and I love it. Making the transition from front of the house to back of the house has been incredible. I never would have thought in my 40s that I would be back on the Island, cooking food, talking about food, and hanging out with people at farmers markets.

 

S: And we do all the label designs, posters, and everything ourselves, too.

 

B: I used to do a lot of music, and Stephanie used to paint a lot, so this business has become a really nice creative outlet for both of us.

 

V: How many products do you make now?

 

S: We have 20 full-time mustards, plus two that we make semi-regularly, depending on the availability of ingredients. We also have a few seasonal small-batch mustards, along with jams, preserves, and pickles. And we’re currently working on a BBQ sauce, so around 26 products consistently.

 

V: How are your mustards different from any other?

 

S: We don’t make classic Dijon mustard. We like to make something fun and push the boundaries as much as we can.

Every summer, we make a batch of watermelon mustard. It’s so bright, fruity, and beautiful, and it makes an amazing salad dressing. We created it shortly after October 2023 to help raise funds for Palestine. This will be our third summer making it for that cause, and we intend to keep making it every year because Palestine needs support for a long time.

Sometimes the ideas come from the farmers, too. A couple of years ago, a farmer came to us with an excess of beets, and we created a Beet & Red Wine Mustard. Now people look forward to it every fall. Sometimes it’s not even an idea we have. It’s something that’s brought to us, and we figure out what we can create with it. Ultimately, we want to make mustards that get people excited about local food.

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V: What are some of your summer features this year?

 

S: BBQ Coffee Mustard, Watermelon Mustard, and Black Garlic & Fig Mustard. And then there’s an accidental mustard that Brody made. He was actually trying to make a completely different mustard, but put the wrong spice in it. It changed the whole thing, and now we have this really spicy mustard marinade launching soon! Sometimes we make mistakes, but we do our best to rework them into something new and fun. We rarely throw anything out.

 

V: Is there any mustard that really stands out from the lineup for you?

 

S: It changes depending on what I’m doing, but I would say the mustards we’re most proud of are the ones we created ourselves entirely, rather than recipes we inherited from Nancy.

Gladly Yellow and Mighty Mike’s are the two that are closest to my heart. Mighty Mike’s uses Gladstone Brewing IPA, pickled pearl onions, and fresh cucumber. We named it in honour of my best friend Stephanie’s dad, Mike, who passed away from cancer. Just like Mike, it’s a little sweet, a little salty, and it has beer in it! We donate a portion of the sales to people affected by cancer. It’s one of my go-to summer mustards, but I love it for so many reasons.

I’m also really proud of Zephra, which is a sparkling wine mustard made with local organic sparkling wine from Beaufort Vineyard. I’ve always loved champagne mustard and wanted to create that same kind of feeling using local ingredients, and it turned out wonderfully. It’s really good with cheese and charcuterie, and it adds a little elegance to a salad. Just add oil and vinegar, and you have a great dressing.

 

B: When it comes down to it, my favourite is Gladly Yellow. I grew up on sandwiches, and I never really left that world. We keep making it better and better. It’s a classic yellow mustard made with love. We use the award-winning Cream Ale from Gladstone Brewing as the backbone, along with organic paprika from Gathering Place Trading.

 

V: What are some ways you try to make the business more sustainable?

 

S: We find ways to collaborate with other local businesses and turn things that might otherwise become waste into something new. For example, we make our Hot Honey Mustard using a by-product from a local hot sauce company. After they finish their fermentation process, they dehydrate the leftover product and turn it into a powder, which we use in our mustard. It’s so good with chicken, as a marinade, or brushed onto something on the BBQ.

We also use labels made from recycled ocean plastics, and we take back our jars with a 25-cent return deposit. We really try to make more sustainable choices wherever we can.

 

V: You’re very vocal about your values. Are there other causes or organizations that you support?

 

S: We try to support our community in as many ways as we can. We raise funds directly for nine families in Gaza whom we’re in contact with every day, so the money goes straight to people we know and support.

We also try to support YANA (You Are Not Alone) in any way we can. They support families who need to travel for their children’s medical care. YANA supported us when I gave birth to our twins, and we had to travel to Victoria through Nanaimo. They covered our accommodation and gave us money for food each day while we were there. It’s an amazing organization, funded by the community, and we really want to give back whenever we can.

We also support the local food bank with both financial donations and food, and we give our time as well, because we believe that’s just as valuable. There’s also a new queer centre opening up, and we’re helping with their monthly rent. We do little fundraisers here and there, too. If there’s a way we can support our community, we’ll do it.

 

V: What does food mean to you?

 

S: It means community. Whether you’re growing your own food, knowing what you’re putting into your body, or buying from local farmers, all of that is made possible through community. Buying seeds, saving seeds, creating food, sharing it, and sitting around a table talking about it. It’s all connected.

In the busyness of life, people sometimes forget that. That’s one of the reasons I love making mustard. We’re able to make something that someone can take home and share with somebody else. It’s all intertwined.

 

B: I completely agree with Stephanie. I would say food is an extension of love. Food brings people together. We share it, we give it, and through food, we show respect, generosity, and joy.

When we all work together to create a food web, Vancouver Island is incredible for that. We’re so fortunate to be a part of it. And if we’re able to contribute to that in some small way, I think that’s really an extension of our higher selves.

 

V: What’s your vision for the future?

 

S: We are working toward opening a wine and cheese bar, and hopefully we can make that dream a reality by next year. We are building toward a new store that will be a true community gathering place—a space where people can sit, work, enjoy a cup of coffee, and spend time together. We would love to have a community fund or a pay-it-forward meal program, something that welcomes people from all walks of life and gives back to the community.