Considering that it’s the state’s official crustacean, it’s safe to say that Maryland is known for its love of the blue crab. For the past 67 years, one company has been in the business of making this local delicacy even more delicious: J.O. Spice. “J.O. Spice is the flavor of Maryland!” said Kathleen Duncan, one of the company’s enthusiastic employees. “When you enjoy seafood in our state, especially crabs, I can almost guarantee that you are tasting J.O. Spice.”
People in the Chesapeake Bay area ask for J.O. Spice crab seasoning by name. One of Maryland’s best kept secrets, J.O. Spice’s seafood seasonings, spices, batters, breading, and soups are also used in virtually every crab house and seafood restaurant along the East Coast – pretty impressive!
Cracking Into Custom Label Printing …
Whenever there is a special event going on in the Baltimore area, crab lovers want to incorporate their favorite meal into the event. J.O. Spice’s custom-labeled spices and seasonings have become popular wedding favors and are often paired with their personalized crab mallets.
Printing Custom Spice Labels Since 1945
Since their opening in 1945, J.O. has been custom blending and custom labeling their line of spices for restaurants. “We’ve always offered custom labeled seasoning and spices,” explains Duncan, “but as technology has advanced so has the demand for custom seasoning labels.”
When J.O. Spice realized they needed to 
bring label printing in-house in order to keep up with the demand for custom labels, they had some decisions to make. One was to find an in-house label printer capable of printing the kind of seasoning labels they wanted to offer to their customers.
When they discovered QuickLabel Systems, J.O. settled on two of our color label printers: the Zeo! light-duty inkjet label printer and the Vivo! Touch production-capacity label printer. “The Vivo! Touch and the Zeo! label printers have advanced the quality of our label printing needs,” said Duncan.
J.O. Spice’s local sales engineer, Tony Bucci, explains, “the Vivo! Touch was a solution that provided J.O. Spice high quality, full-color labels like their Zeo! but is much faster & less expensive (per label).” Bucci gave an on-site demonstration of the Vivo! Touch at J.O. Spice and they were pleased with what they saw, “as soon as I was able to demonstrate the Vivo! Touch and show them the productivity there was no looking back.”
Old-Fashioned Customer Service
If you’re interested in ordering seasonings or spices with personalized labels or custom-engraved mallets, J.O. Spice makes buying as easy and personalized as their products. All you have to do is make an old-fashioned phone call to 1-800-537-5714 or send an email to Ginger (jospiceginger@yahoo.com), Marketing and Sales Manager, and tell her what you want on your personalized product.
Kathleen Duncan will then come up with a 
design based on what you’re looking for and send you a proof. Duncan is a seasoned (no pun intended!) graphic artist who loves what she does. “Most customers approve their proofs the first time around and are very happy!” Once the custom label proof is approved, payment can be made by mail or over the phone. “It’s old-fashioned personalized customer service throughout the whole ordering process all the way up to the arrival of your products!” Duncan proudly explained.
Duncan loves hearing the customers’ expressions of appreciation when they see the finished product. “The emails and referrals I receive from happy customers is overwhelming and makes my job very rewarding.”
As far as picking her favorite label, Duncan said she can’t – every label she designs is unique in its own right. Duncan strives to tailor each personalized spice label especially for each wedding couple or for each special event. “It’s always fun to let your imagination run wild while designing,” she said. “Seeing the finished product is rewarding. Most times it comes out better than I imagined!”
“It’s amazing how much personality you can bring out in a label by the use of design and color. Now that we have our Vivo! Touch and Zeo!, our color selection is endless.” With “vivid and bold” label colors, Duncan said that she can create label designs from “bold and sassy to simple and understated.”
Luckily, the fact that her QuickLabel printers really deliver makes the time spent designing custom labels for her customers well worth it. “Printing our own labels in-house has allowed us to print a quality label at an affordable price which allows us to offer custom seasoning labeling with a smaller minimum requirement.”
Eat Like a Local, Talk like a Local
Although J.O. Spice has always specialized in 
spices and seasonings, they are “more than just a spice company, for sure!” said Duncan. The products in their store range from spices and seasonings to crab mallets and apparel.
I took a lesson in crab lingo when talking to Duncan about the personalized crab mallets. I referred to them as hammers, which gave her a giggle. She shared, “You can always tell when someone is from out of town with inquiries about custom mallets.” How? Just like me, J.O.’s out of town customers will refer to the mallets as “mallets,” “hammers,” “crab crackers,” and “knockers.” “The term we use in Maryland is ‘mallets,’” Duncan said, “but we enjoy hearing all the other terms that are used!”
JO Spice’s Old Fashioned Customer Service Meets QuickLabel’s Customer Support
Being such passionate advocates for 
customer service, J.O. Spice has high expectations for the service they receive – just as they should! Luckily for us, we have met those expectations.
“The customer service and support from QuickLabel have been great,” Duncan shared with us. “If we ever have a troubleshooting problem everyone at QuickLabel has been great at getting us the support that we need. Our QuickLabel printers have proved to be a great business investment!”
Want A Taste of What J.O. Spice Has to Offer?
You can check out their website and online store at store.jospices.com. Or call Ginger at 1-800-537-5714.
