Slawsa owners push product for World Cabbage Day, St. Patrick's Day
Who knew? World Cabbage Day is Sunday.
And leaders of local business and product Slawsa—a combination of slaw and salsa—are taking the day as an opportunity to promote their creation.
Chattanooga electrician Judson Odom has been making the product for years. The recipe is based on his mother's concoction.
In mid-2011, Odom partnered with Julie Busha of Cramerton, N.C., to expand the product's reach, and now, it is sold in more than 3,500 stores across the country, such as Kroger, Publix, Piggly Wiggly and Meijer.
The relish is primarily cabbage-based and can be used to top brats, hamburgers, pork and fish or as a sandwich spread or dip for chips, leaders said.
Creators said the product is a healthy, fat-free, cholesterol-free, gluten-free, low-sodium alternative to other condiments.
“We want to make sure that consumers know about our healthier topper that doesn’t sacrifice flavor,” co-owner Odom said in a prepared statement. “I think we all know we should be eating more cabbage in our diet, but many people find that preparation options are limited.”
The average American consumes a little more than nine pounds of cabbage every year. That is about one-third of what per capita consumption was in the 1920s, according to a news release from Slawsa leaders.
Leaders also said that cabbage demand is highest in March because people eat a traditional corned beef and cabbage meal for St. Patrick's Day.
“I honestly can’t think of a better way to modernize a Saint Patrick’s Day tradition than to spread Slawsa on a nice corned beef sandwich on rye, with a side of beer, of course,” Busha said in a prepared statement.
