Nebraska boasts a variety of foods that are decidedly “Nebraskan,” such as Runza and Reuben sandwiches. But delving into condiments, there’s likely no other sauce that elicits as many vivid memories as Dorothy Lynch dressing.
“When I was a kid, my uncle returning to Nebraska for the College World Series and to visit us meant two things,” said Maggie Hinrich, who has called Nebraska home since birth. “We’d eat at Mama’s Pizza and we’d have Dorothy Lynch.” Hinrich said her uncle missed the salad dressing after moving away, so they always had plenty on hand for him when he visited. Nowadays, she can’t eat the dressing without thinking of those visits from her uncle.
“I have fond memories of enjoying a simple side salad of iceberg lettuce and Dorothy Lynch with dinner at my grandparents’ house growing up,” said Lindsey Pate, another Nebraska native with a love for the famous dressing. “When I use the dressing today, it instantly takes me back to those sweet times in the kitchen with my grandparents.” Pate added that her grandmother’s name was Dorothy, so they all thought it was especially fun to use the dressing on their salads together.
It’s quite possible, however, that the person with the most vivid memories of Dorothy Lynch growing up is Marilea Hull, CEO of Dorothy Lynch since 2021. Her grandfather purchased the recipe from the original Dorothy Lynch (a real person, by the way, who created the dressing in the 1940s while working at a Legion Club in a small Nebraskan town). At that point, said Hull, the Lynch family was trying unsuccessfully to get the dressing stocked in grocery stores and was even selling the dressing out of the trunk of their car.
The purchased recipe was passed down to Hull’s father Gordon “Mac” Hull, who went full speed ahead with distribution, opening a factory in the Nebraska town of Duncan, which is still where the dressing is made today. It’s a fairly small crew that works in the factory (around 13 people), and Hull said she oftentimes finds herself filling in with other roles, like bookkeeping, in addition to her CEO duties. “We’re a pretty tight-knit group,” she said. She and her husband also own Dusters Restaurant in Columbus, and yes, they of course serve Dorothy Lynch at the restaurant.
Hull said that everyone at Dorothy Lynch is quite aware of the fond memories Nebraskans have of the product. They frequently send packages of the dressing to military members serving overseas to give them a taste of home. The company gets requests all the time from people who grew up in Nebraska but now live in Asia or Europe, asking if they can send the dressing to them. Dorothy Lynch doesn’t export, though–the only reason they can send bottles to military bases overseas is because the stateside bases help facilitate the shipping.
Dorothy Lynch isn’t confined to Nebraska, however. Hull said she once heard from a Canadian restaurant that was well-known for their potato salad featuring Dorothy Lynch dressing. “They told me they’re famous and that people come from all over to eat the potato salad,” she said. She also recalled when her son moved to Texas for his job and called her from his local Walmart to report that there was Dorothy Lynch on the shelves.
“Any piece of home has got to feel good,” Hull said when asked about why people clamor for the dressing long after they’ve left Nebraska. For many, the dressing simply tastes like fond memories. That’s a powerful position for any product.
To learn more, visit dorothylynch.com.
This article originally appeared in the June/July 2024 issue of B2B Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
