Made by Mom: Raleigh-based jerk marinade grows in popularity

On our list of 13 "made by mom" businesses this year, Austin Williams stands alone as the single dad. But I thought there were plenty of reasons to update Go Ask Mom readers on the growth of his business - The Shizzle, a line of authentic jerk marinades.

Posted 1:27 a.m. Nov 22, 2018 — Updated 7:12 p.m. Nov 24, 2018

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

, Go Ask Mom editor

Editor's note: Check back regularly over the next couple of weeks for closer looks at the businesses featured in our Made by Mom Gift Guide.

On our list of 13 "made by mom" businesses this year, Austin Williams stands alone as the lone dad. But I thought there were plenty of reasons to update Go Ask Mom readers on the growth of his business - The Shizzle, a line of authentic jerk marinades. As I wrote last year, Williams, who lives in Raleigh with his wife and two kids, fell in love with Jamaican jerk-style grilling more than 20 years ago, a passion that's turned into a business. Williams, who also has a day job, offers an original recipe marinade along with a "voodoo hot" version.

Business has been good, he tells me.

"As we wrap up our second year on the shelves at Publix, we have seen our fan base grow tremendously throughout the southeast. We are proud to be the only jerk marinade available in the main sauce and BBQ section at Publix, and many of our new customers are 'Que' grillers looking to try something unique," he tells me.

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The products also are now available on Amazon Prime, which allowed the company to break cost barriers of shipping out the marinades to customers on the West Coast.

"Before landing with Amazon Prime, our West Coast customers would actually pay more for shipping than for the product," he said. "Now any Prime customer in America can get a jar in their hand for less than $10 including shipping, or just $6 per jar if buying in six packs."

And, he's switched up the recipe, based on requests from customers.

"By popular demand, we made some minor tweaks to our recipe in 2017 to be gluten free," he said. "Doing so has boosted our sales at Whole Foods in particular, and further broadened our customer base."

For more about The Shizzle, which would make a great stocking stuffer for the foodies in your life, check out The Shizzle's website.

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