Utah pepper jelly business takes off in Summit County

Sandra Weese, Pepperlane co-owner, puts cloth tops on each bottle by hand. (Tom Wharton Photo)

Wanship When company founder Michele Trover began selling Pepperlane jellies in 1990, she worked out of small rented kitchens and even in the basement of the Wanship home she and her husband Mike built on the Old Lincoln Highway in this small Summit County town.

You might say the business has grown a bit. Nowadays, the Trovers and company co-owners Rod and Sandra Weese produce

14 varieties of the pepper-based jelly in a new state-of-the-art facility near the Trovers home.

Despite the new facility, each jar of jelly is produced by hand.

Rod Weese often begins his shift at 5:30 a.m., mixing 15 to 20 batches of one of the "condiments with a kick" the company produces.

On a recent day, after employee Elma Portillo hand-poured each batch into small glass jars, Rod quickly screwed on lids. Sandra, who is also the companys marketing and sales manager, labeled the jars and draped each one with the signature piece of hand-cut cloth.

Michele Trover said her 84-year-old neighbor Dot Young cuts each of those cloth squares.

The facility can produce about 500 bottles an hour, Rod Weese said. It uses about 5,000 pounds of sugar and 1,200 pounds of jalapeos each month.

On a normal day, the company produces 15 batches, but on this late December day, 20 were needed to meet demand from Associated Food Stores throughout Utah, other grocery stores in 17 Western states and catalogues such as Williams and Sonoma and Jackson and Perkins. The company also fills orders on its website, http://www.pepperlane.com.

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Utah pepper jelly business takes off in Summit County