Grandma Hoerner's roots run deep.

Yes, there was a real Grandma Hoerner. Mabel grew up on a farm in Kansas in the late 1800s. Her family’s farm included an apple orchard, and Mabel became known as a talented cook. Her apple sauce, made with thick slices of fresh apples, was a frequently requested treat from family and friends. Every autumn, she preserved the bounty of the orchard as it matured and ripened. Grandma never used an apple that wasn’t ripe enough. She peeled bushels of crisp apples and added cold spring water, freshly ground cinnamon, and pungent nutmeg. As the sauce cooked slowly over a low flame, the thick slices of apples grew soft and flavorful. The jars of applesauce sitting in the cellar were a vivid reminder of the summer bounty even on the coldest nights of winter.

All natural. The way Grandma used to do it. Mabel’s applesauce recipe was passed down to her grandson, Duane McCoy. Recalling the wonderful flavor from his youth, Duane worked hard to replicate Grandma’s recipe. Cooking batch after batch, he found that Fuji and Pink Lady apples were best at maintaining their firm texture and sweet-tart flavor, and made the sweetest applesauce. As Duane experimented he did make one change to Grandma’s recipe—he replaced refined sugar with natural juice concentrate. Today’s Big Slice™ Apple Sauce provides the health benefit of natural juice while maintaining the wonderful sweetness of Grandma’s tradition.

Duane searched the marketplace for something similar to Grandma’s applesauce but found nothing like it. In 1987, he started producing and marketing Grandma’s Big Slice Apple Sauce. From that first basic recipe, eight more fabulous flavors were developed.

As demand for Grandma’s wonderful applesauce grew customers also began to ask for other foods made with the same high quality, attention to detail, and all natural ingredients. Now, from sauces, jams and preserves, pie fillings, toppings, chutneys, and relishes to premium dry mixes, gourmet coffee, and candles, Grandma Hoerner’s stands for the old fashioned pure products Grandma Mabel would have made herself.

Grandma Hoerner would be proud!