My name is Jane Wyatt and I'm the co-owner of Mesquite Country Seasoning (www.mesquitecountryseasoning.com).  I have a question to ask of AnySoldier members.

Our all purpose seasoning is sold at arts & crafts shows, etc.  A few weeks ago, I was approached by a customer who said "What do you have that would make MRE's taste good?"  While she bought some seasoning to send to her son, it made me start thinking about what I could do to help other soldier's MRE's taste better.  We are a very small company and I wish I could send out free jars of our seasoning.  Just can't afford to.  But I did come up with the idea of putting together a sample pack.and think that I could gather the money to send out 1-2,000.  Do you think that this is a good idea?  If I put the sample in a small zip lock bag with a label that it comes from our company, will that meet the safety standards?

Any information that you can give me will be appreciated.

I assume that you have standards that must be met to sell your seasonings commercially, right? State inspections, permits, whatever? But it would be difficult for someone who didn't know you are a commercial business to know you have met these requirements. That would put you in a different class from someone who is creating their own mixes and labelling them. However...

I'm thinking of why I don't send bakery goods from our supermarket, for example. It would be impossible for the recipients to tell I hadn't tampered with the packaging. So sending sample packages that the soldiers couldn't tell were 1) commercial packs or 2) tamper resistant sealed could be a problem. Perhaps you could work with one particular contact, say a Chaplain or food service group, and send documentation as well as the samples? Just a thought.

Good luck.

Thanks, Mom

What a great idea! I know the soldiers my co-workers and I support are always asking for seasonings.  Lately, we have been sending crockpots and the food items and recipes needed to make complete nutritious meals (many soldiers only are provided one meal a day).  It seems to help them physically and mentally.  I would love it if you could send me some sample packs to include in their monthly care packages.  These are soldiers that I have had repeated contact with, so there is not an issue with "tampered" food products.

Thanks so much for thinking about the soldiers - wished more business owners would think the way you do.

Please email if you are able to send me packets - I will help with the shipping costs.

 dwooley@rkk.com

Thank you.

Hey folks.  I got so excited about this project that I just got it started and have been shipping at least two boxs each.  Last week I mailed out packets to a 60 person Marine troop and a 10 person Marine troop, both in Afghanistan.

Yes, we have our product blended and packaged at a commerical kitchen.  And I have all the licenses, etc. that anyone could want.  But for these individual packets, I get the seasoning in bulk and put it together myself, along with a label and back on front giving the ingredients and reminding them to "sprinkle food lightly"...it does have some good peppers in it.  I also enclose a letter in the box telling about my company and wishing them well.  I hope this is sufficient to let them know it's safe.  I certainly don't have the money to put this through my copacker....that estimate was over 30 cents per pack.

Bait, I tried to respond to your email, but something was wrong and the email wouldn't go through.  If you will contact me personally at ejwyatt@hotmail.com, I'll get either you or your soldiers some seasoning.

 I think it's a great idea - I've supported groups from Texas in the past (Texans like spice!), and have seen many requests for "spices".  I would just be sure to include some information on your company, and your website address, so they can look you up if they feel it's necessary.  And you never know, they might have some special requests....