OPA'S STORY

Several years ago, Opa (German for Grandpa) was diagnosed with Meniere’s – an inner ear condition that often results in bouts of vertigo.  This can be very stressful and create all kinds of anxiety.  When will the next attack happen?  Will it happen when we are out?  Will it happen while driving?  Believing that knowledge is power, we began researching Meniere’s and found many supportive articles and books.  In one of these books, we found that there are several things a person can do to control Meniere’s (it can’t be cured).    

There’s a useful acronym that explains the factors to control it – SCATS.  These are: Stress; Caffeine; Alcohol; Tobacco and Sodium.  Caffeine was eliminated years ago, and when Opa retired a few years ago, that took care of the stress.  Alcohol and tobacco were not an issue.  That left sodium. Opa was advised by his doctor to consume no more than 2000 mg of sodium per-day. The US Government Guideline is 2300 mg, yet the average American consumes 3400 mg of sodium daily!.   

But the food we made was pretty bland and not very appetizing – and forget about store-bought and restaurant prepared foods - they are often loaded with salt to make them taste good!  We started looking very closely at product labels of things we could add to make our food more “interesting.” There are very few condiments and sauces you can buy that are low in sodium.  So, Oma (German for Grandma) started making some condiments.  Since Opa was retired, he started tweaking the recipes and made several sauces and condiments to his liking.    

Not surprisingly, at our age, we have friends and acquaintances who are also on a low-salt diet for various health conditions and we started sharing our sauces with them.  They loved them!  We shared some with others who aren’t even on low-salt diets and they loved them, too.  Our friends started telling us we should sell these.  Then, one day after dropping off some sauces for our son, he exclaimed “Oh, another Opa’s small batch.”  And that is how Opa’s Small Batch was born.    

Today, we offer 9 products that will be available online, here, and at the Downtown Downers Grove Farmer’s Market:  Barbeque Sauce; Pizza/Pasta Sauce, Steak Sauce; German Tangy Sweet Ketchup; Mustard, Honey Mustard and three kinds of Salsa (Mild, Medium and Hot).  All of these meet the FDA definition of “Very Low Sodium.”  When compared to the sodium content of the various leading brands, Opa’s Small Batch condiments range from 91% ~ 99% LESS sodium than those brands. Check out the comparisons on the Nutrition Facts page. It's an easy and delicious way to add some flavor back into a low-salt diet!