For the better part of the last 50 years, Don Svedman has been cooking up a special marinade for his family and using it on everything, be it fish, chicken, beef, pork or veggies.

The now 91-year-old Colorado State University graduate and Colorado's former deputy commissioner of agriculture was "messing around with a marinade to use on salads" when he combined brown sugar, soy sauce, water, olive oil and corn syrup. "People thought it was tremendous," he said. Over the years, Svedman would make a batch to use at home, give away or sell to friends.

It was always a popular addition to meals, said Svedman's son, Al Svedman.

In the 1980s, Don thought he had landed a contract with a national food company to manufacture and sell the sauce. But after signing the contract with a representative, the company went radio silent, he said. When he called to check in, he was told the rep no longer worked for the company, and they couldn't find any contract.

Eventually, the contract surfaced but the company said "no thanks," it wasn't interested in the product, according to Don, who grew up in Windsor and moved to Fort Collins in 1991.

Fast forward a few decades, and Don's sons, Gary Heath and Al, formed a company called Dad's Own Products in Fort Collins after retiring from their respective careers. The company pays homage to their father's creation with a few tweaks to prolong the shelf life and allow it to be stored at room temperature, even after opening.

"Dad has always wanted to market it, that’s been his dream," Al said. "He passed the dream on to me and Gary." Both sons are listed as managing directors of the company that formed last year but had been in the back of their minds for years.

Al retired in 2019 and his stepbrother retired in 2021, "but he's such a go-getter he couldn’t sit idly by," Al said. "It took about a year for him to convince me to do this."

The company launched in January 2023, but it took another year to find a manufacturer/bottling company and get a sellable product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The first run of 500 bottles "was a learning exercise," Al said. The second run produced 2,022 bottles, which are being sold through the website dadsownproducts.com.

Gary's sons-in-law own auto dealerships in Kansas, which are giving away a bottle of Dad's Own cooking sauce with every car they sell. "It helps us and helps their business," said Al, whose home doubles as the Dad's Own office and warehouse.

Dad's Own cooking sauce is manufactured and bottled in Wisconsin and sold locally at Alpine Arts, 1112 N. College Ave., and through the company's website. The company is working to place its product in other small stores throughout Fort Collins.

Interested?

The cooking sauce is gluten free and vegan is available on the company's website, dadsownproducts.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins company Dad's Own Products sells family marinade recipe