By Benjamin Rothstein

DOVER — Millsboro-based spice company Shore Smoke Seasonings’ flavor is spreading.

To mark its expansion, the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting Wednesday at its office.

Owner Ryan Stevenson develops the recipes himself, discovering a knack for it while cooking for his wife, Nicole Stevenson.

“Nicole and I had just moved from Maryland to Delaware and kind of just gotten the house together,” he said. “So, money was short. We had enough to get steaks and celebrate, and she was like, ‘Well, we don’t have enough for seasonings, ... just mix up some stuff that you have in the cabinet.’ I’m like, ‘OK, (I’ll) mix up some stuff.’ (It was) amazing seasoning. It became our flagship seasoning, Game Day.”

Then, during the pandemic, Mr. Stevenson left a career in cybersecurity to pursue the seasoning business full time. And it’s since exploded.

He said he continues to come up with new varieties, simply out of a need to change up his home cooking.

“It goes on what food we were having for dinner,” he said. “(I was told,) ‘We’re gonna do chicken tonight, but we’re tired of using our Game Day all the time with chicken. Come up with something else.’ So, it led to an Italian blend and then a seafood blend (and) a jerk seasoning blend.”

That number has now passed 60 types, which rotate in and out of production.

While he sometimes begins with just a single dish to pep up, Mr. Stevenson said he often tweaks the blend over several iterations, so it works well with a number of foods.

He estimated that it takes two years to go from a grain of an idea to a completed product.

Last year, he hired Paul Seibert, who had previously been involved in the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce, to be the company’s sales director. With his help, Shore Smoke Seasonings can be found in over 300 retailers across 28 states.

Its spices are free of genetically modified organisms, monosodium glutamate, gluten, nuts, preservatives and sugar.

They can be found at shoresmokeseasonings.com or on Amazon, as well as at every Food Lion in Delaware and Maryland, and some Ace Hardware stores.

Mr. Stevenson also plans to open a brick and mortar store in Millsboro.