Local manufacturer Raye’s Mustard has been the recipient of the annual Best Local Mustard award since it was conceived in 2002.
For most outside of the mustard industry, the award gives way to a fleeting headline that barely raises an eyebrow. For Ronnie Douglas, however, it’s another reminder of the monopoly that Raye’s has on mustard production in Washington County.
“Pretty hard not to win when you’re the only mustard mill around. And, when you came up with the whole idea of the friggin’ award.”
Douglas is a seller of small-batch condiments in Quoddy Village, just a short drive away from Raye’s facilities in Eastport. He claims that the award casts his business into the shadows year after year.
“My wife keeps telling me, ‘get snipped, get snipped.’ How am I supposed to pay for that when we aren’t selling any mustard?”
The competition is held and judged by an independent review board, and the results are published in the Quoddy Tides on September 1st of each year.
“I submit my mustard every year, never get any response back. I should’ve been suspicious when the drop box for the contest entries was in the driveway of Raye’s son’s place.”
An insider with close ties to the Raye family told The Lobster that contest entries usually end up in the trash or mixed in with herring to use as lobster bait.
“I don’t know what Ronnie puts in that stuff but my god those bugs love it. Sometimes you pull up a trap and it’s chock full, plus one still trying to squeeze himself into the kitchen.”
