With a focus on Greater Philadelphia small businesses and entrepreneurs, "The Creators" is a weekly feature presented as a part of PHL Inno. Check back each Monday for a new profile on a local business. Have a story you think we should know about? Email associate editor Lisa Dukart at ldukart@bizjournals.com.
Growing up in New York, Marcus Davis was influenced by his mother’s cooking and her use of spices from her native Jamaica. A first-generation American, Davis gained an early appreciation for the nuanced flavors of seasonings that are “just a part of our heritage, a part of our culture,” he said.
That stuck with him throughout his life and over the years he was constantly experimenting in the kitchen, so much so that others would sometimes suggest he create his own line of seasonings. With that in the back of his mind, Davis worked on different recipes using different ingredients, but never landed on quite the right blend.
That changed in December 2018. His wife, Rose Orell Davis, gifted him spices for Christmas – a smoked pimentón, a type of paprika, and a scotch bonnet powder. From those spices Davis got his inspiration for an all-purpose seasoning that could be used on any number of proteins.
Having landed on a recipe, Davis then had to come up with a name. Harkening back to his heritage, he decided to call his business — and its first seasoning — Wah Gwan. The phrase, used as a greeting in Jamaican Patois, roughly translates to, “What’s going on?” or “What’s good?” he said.
Not only does the name have personal significance, but it also addresses the current state of things: “What's going on in Jamaica? What's going on in the world? What's going on in the globe? What's going on with our diet? What's going on with our health? What's going on with food? So Wah Gwan just encapsulates that,” he said.
Health and cooking is a big part of the brand’s ethos. Both Davis and his wife are certified health coaches and creating products that have wellness in mind was important.
To that end, the products are made without the traditional anti-caking ingredients found in many commercially manufactured options. The first one Davis made which kickstarted the business is the Wah Gwan All Purpose Seasoning. It’s made with paprika, garlic powder, peppers, onion powder and other ingredients and remains the brand’s biggest seller.
Davis was so confident in the product that he decided to make it his full-time job, leaving behind New York and his work as a steamfitter. The company launched in March 2019 and a few months later, the couple relocated to New Hope in Bucks County, where Rose is originally from.
From their home, Davis has built the brand and expanded the line to include a dry brine, which is a salt product inspired in part by Thanksgiving. “I know people struggle a lot around the holidays with a bird that's too dry or using a wet brine,” said Davis, who came up with an alternative. “There's something about dry brining and the way that the salt reacts with protein that you get the most amazing product,” he said, noting dry brining helps turkey stay moist.
He’s also introduced a G Salt — a fleur de sel salt sourced from France — and scotch bonnet pepper powder. The latter is in part a tribute to Caribbean cooking, offering spice without the burn. “In a dried form, you get a lot of flavor, this initial heat, but it dissipates because you're not dealing with the oils,” he said.
The individual products sell online for between $15.99 to $19.99.
The products began shipping in March 2020 and Davis estimates they sold about 1,000 units last year. That number quintupled in the first six months of 2021, he said, to almost 5,000 units. He’s expecting another big spike ahead of Thanksgiving, when they saw a boost in sales last year. Based on current projections, Davis anticipates Wah Gwan being a $1 million business by year three.
With sales on the rise, Davis is focused on getting Wah Gwan to more retailers and consumers through a combination of direct sales and wholesale. He’s also currently exploring co-packing partnerships to further scale the business. His hope is that Wah Gwan will one day be stocked in specialty stores like Williams Sonoma that specifically attract those interested in cooking. He also hopes to create seasonings for restaurants to further the brand’s reach.
“That's one of our goals. Hopefully we hit that if we can continue to scale…,” he said.
How long did it take to get the recipe for your first seasoning right?
Quite a few. It probably took months of blending, trying, tweaking and then testing on a wide variety of audiences. I would say over the course of a couple of months, we had a product dialed in that we were ready to put our stamp on, make that our official recipe.
How is healthy eating a part of your business model?
I always had the desire to make us a spice blend that was a lot cleaner and health-conscious, with a lot less fillers and additives. … That was a big part of starting a seasoning line that got us closer to the whole food. Why can we not have a spice blend that is curated with quality ingredients, without things that are going to be in any way detrimental if you eat too much of them? We wanted something that you can reach for at every meal, every day, and it won't spike anything, you won't have any health issues with it.
How would you describe scotch bonnet?
Scotch bonnet is similar in Scoville units [to a habanero pepper], which is how the heat is measured, but the scotch bonnet's flavor is completely different. It's really fruity and you get the heat, but you get this unmistakable flavor from this pepper. Using it on your food in your recipes when it's dry, you don't get the oil content from the pepper or the seed that leave this burn in your mouth that a lot of people don't really like.
What’s next for the brand?
We are engaging co-packers at this point in time so that we can scale up. We hope to have that ironed out by the end of Q4 this year.
