NEW HAMPSHIRE, Oh. – It’s been said many times that “variety is the spice of life.” For Scott Gray, co-owner of Wildman’s Spice Company in New Hampshire, Ohio, that couldn’t be more true.

 The spice company was founded by W.H. Wildman in Norwalk, Ohio, just south of Sandusky in 1895. In 1972 the Wildman family sold the business to three engineers who were working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. Those three men ran the company for five years but eventually were looking for a buyer.

 In west central Ohio, Rod Gray, Scott’s father, was operating a general store in the village of New Hampshire. His family-owned store was called Gray’s Orange Barn, a small store that sold cheese, meat and oranges that his uncle grew in Florida.

 Ironically, Rod actually carried the Wildman line of spices, extracts and seasonings. Rod said he never dreamed that succeeding generations would earn their living selling spices. In the mid-1970s the owners approached Rod about buying the company.

 “He told them, ‘absolutely not,’” Scott said. “They kept on dad, until finally, dad offered them a price. They took it and here we are.”

 The spice company is now run by Scott and his son, Isaac. The company offers 150 to 160 different blends of spices.

 The facility that they’re now operating in was built in the 1920s and once served as a stop for the electric line called the Cincinnati-Lake Erie line. It was a stop between Toledo and Cincinnati. “Every 20 miles those electric trains made stops at these kinds of buildings, which once housed generators that powered the lines,” Isaac said. “We now operate in one of those century-old buildings.”

 Scott joined his father in this business after graduating from Wittenberg University in 1981 He focused on upgrading the building so it could function more efficiently. Though they put their attention in the spice business, the entire family was still involved with farming and tending to dairy cows on 500 acres in Auglaize County.

 “It’s been a fun journey with a lot of hard work,” Scott said. “This (spice) business has been very good to me and my family.”

 To this day, they bottle, label and package goods inside the old brick structure. They also create and blend a line of seasonings, including their wildly popular Chef’s Seasoning that flies off the shelf during grilling season.

 “The bottles of spice we produce range from all-spice to vanilla beans,” Isaac said. “We buy our products through importers in the East coast and growers in California. We do use a few herbs from an Illinois farm. The imported products include black pepper from India, vanilla form Madagascar, nutmeg from Granada, cinnamon from Vietnam, thyme from Poland, marjoram leaves from Egypt and clover from Indonesia, to name a few. Most of the spices we use comes from warmer climates.”

 Scott says blending seasonings is bit of an art.

 “There are very strong flavors and very subtle flavors,” he said. “You’ve got to know what percentages to use. It’s pretty easy to get too much or not enough. When you do it right, you can end up with bold, beautiful flavors.”

 These days, Isaac handles much of the blending. He joined the business in 2013 after graduating from Bowling Green State University and working for a short time in marketing. He said learning the business and working alongside his father has been rewarding.

 “We’ve had to transition from father-and-son relationship to more of a co-worker relationship,” Isaac said. “It’s not without its challenges. We end up talking about the business at family get-togethers. It’s a small business so you do whatever needs done.”

 Some of Wildman’s most popular spices and blends include Chef’s Seasonings, Hickory Smoke BBQ, Natural Blend, Peppercorn Steak Seasoning, Basil, Cilantro, Celery Seed, Cream of Tartar, Mexican Blend, Cumin, Dill Weed, Garlic, Blacken Spike, Hickory Smoke Sale, Madagascar Vanilla Extract and Vanilla Beans, Nutmeg, Pumpkin Spice, Cloves, Allspice and Cinnamon.

 “We have some tremendous blends but the number one thing we produce is a product called chef’s seasoning, which is a salt-based, all-purpose seasoning,” Isaac said. “All of our spice jars are hand-filled. On an average day, two or three employees can bottle up to 1,000 jars a day. After bottling, the jars are labeled using a silkscreen process. The labels haven’t changed style in 122 years. We ship to 150 accounts across 17 states.”

 And when they’re not in the century-old brick building filling spice jars you’ll find them back at work on the farm.

 “We still farm,” Isaac said. “I married into a farm family so I’ve always been around agriculture.”