By Becky Billingsley

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, North Myrtle Beach - Jerry and Nancy Novak of North Myrtle Beach have worked hard to produce and market their Simply Southern Gourmet mustards, and now they’ve been rewarded for their efforts in a majorly national way.

Out of nearly 500 entries of new products introduced between March 2011 and June 2012, the editorial staff of The Gourmet Retailer magazine selected about 75 to be on their list of 2012 Best New Products, and Simply Southern Gourmet made the cut. The award-winning list is on the Gourmet Retailer Web site and is in the August 2012 print edition.

The editors said they selected Simply Southern Gourmet mustards because, “Sweet potatoes are one of the most flavorful and nutritious superfoods around, so we were intrigued to try them in mustard form. What a delicious surprise! The rich, sweet flavor of the sweet potato works perfectly with the tangy mustard and the subtle heat from the fresh peppers.”

In February 2012, an article about the Novaks and their mustards was published at MyrtleBeachRestaurantNews.com, and you can read HERE about the process they went through to get their products in stores, and how much the couple paid to launch them. At that time the Sweet Potato Pepper, Roasted Peach Mango, Roasted Pineapple Cranberry and Balsamic Sweet Onion Pepper mustards were in several stores in three states and in seven local shops.

Now, seven months later, Jerry Novak reports, “We are now in gourmet shops in 12 states and Whole Foods Markets in the Southern Region,” adding that marketing the mustards was, “…a lot of hard work, but things are going well.”

Simply Southern Gourmet mustards can also be ordered on-line HERE.