1,000 pounds of mustard seeds at a time, Boetje's keeps a condiment tradition going

At any Midwest barbecue there's bound to be a few staples: brats, hamburgers and, for those in the know, Boetje's mustard.

The European-style stoneground mustard is a staple in the Quad-Cities and most of northern Illinois. The company, pronounced boat-chee, has been around since 1889 and is now owned by Will Kropp, who has spend decades making sure the mustard company continues its legacy.

It all started with Fred Boetje, who immigrated from Germany. He quickly decided American food was too bland, and decided to solve the problem for himself.

"So what he did, was he developed the recipe that we currently use today that has water, sugar, salt, distilled vinegar and mustard seed," Kropp said. "And that has never changed since day one."

Using an Old World recipe, Boetje developed his Dutch mustard out of his home in Rock Island, about 10 blocks from where the company's headquarters are today at 2736 12th Street. Once Boetje felt he had the recipe right, he filled up a wooden bucket with the mustard, grabbed a ladle and started walking door to door.

"If you had an empty jar, he'd fill it up for a nickel," Kropp said. "And nickel by nickel is how we got the company started."

The company stayed with the Boetje family for more than half a century, until they sold their interests in 1960. By December of 1983, the Kropp family took over and have been running it ever since.

Robert Kropp, Will's father, had just retired from his job at a coal company in Galesburg, Illinois, when he learned Boetje's was for sale. Robert was living in Davenport at the time and figured it would be a good endeavor to get into with his son, but there was one problem.

Will was a little far away.

"At the time, I was working down in south Florida as an assistant golf pro at the PGA National," Kropp said. "I did that for four years, and my offer came up to continue on with golf, or to come back and be my own boss. And being my own boss is kind of nice."

He moved from Florida back to the Quad-Cities in the dead of winter. His car froze and he didn't have warm clothes, but had an opportunity and his dad by his side. Together, they got to work immediately. 

"When I started, he wanted me to learn how to make the mustard, how to do the repair work, and be self sufficient," Kropp said. "We weren't calling on people or having to spend outside money when we could do it ourselves. I enjoyed it, because I really I missed having him around."

His father retired from the business about 10 years ago, but a third generation of Kropps is already in the building. Will Kropp's son, Harrison helps him make the mustard while his daughter, Whitney, works the online side of the business and his wife Jane does the paperwork.

Production starts on Fridays with 1,000 pounds of seed put into a special stone grinder that helps release the oils for more flavor. Bucket by bucket, the mashed seed is put into a giant oak vat, that's been with the company since the early 1920s.

"That contains water, vinegar, sugar salt and then, of course, the ground up seed," he said, referring to the vat.

The mixture stays in the vats for 48 hours to age. Once the weekend wraps up, the Kropps get to work on the stone grinding process which takes up the entire day.

By Tuesday the two-man team is filling up 9,000 bottles of mustard to be shipped out. Wednesdays are for cleaning and disinfecting and Thursdays are for sales. 

After a few decades in the business, Kropp decided to get creative with his marketing strategies and in 2008 decided to see what the rest of the world thought of his product.

Kropp sent it to the Napa Valley World-Wide Mustard Competition, hoping at the very least he'd get a few orders from West Coast judges who tried the product.

"I sent a case out with all the entry work, and didn't hear anything back for over a month. And then I got a phone call. 'Mr. Kropp, you guys won. Here's the grand champion. You're the gold medal winners,'" he recalled.

It turns out Kropp's product gave a quick 'pardon me' to Grey Poupon and slid into first place that year, though the renown Dijon mustard brand was able to mount comeback and win the gold medal the following year.

That gold medal was sent to Rock Island and was the first of many to decorate the walls inside the building that's been home to the company for decades. Boetje's has continued its success in the mustard championships, walking out with more gold medals in 2023 and 2024 and a pair of silvers in 2025.

Boetje's sells a variety of mustards, including its traditional stone ground, honey mustard, bourbon barrel aged, rum barrel aged, maple mustard and a cocktail sauce they named Sea Sauce. The products are available locally at Fareway and Hy-Vee or for sale online.

Variety packs, multi packs and even Boetje's merchandise are all for sale on the website. The specialty mustards, like the barrel aged or honey mustard, tend to fly off the shelves quickly. Kropp said he's at the mercy of supplies coming in on time, which means they may not be available at the same time, every time. But, they always get made.

"We're fortunate people are pretty nice about it. They understand you're going to get your order. It might be an extra week, but it's coming," he said. "As long as you can communicate to them, they know to keep up the support."

Local restaurants keep Boetje's available for customers, and he's even used his golf connections to have his product available at the John Deere Classic, a local stop on the PGA Tour each summer. Kropp said he completely sold out of the supply he took to the tournament in July and has already agreed to bring a new batch in next year.

It's a good feeling, Kropp said, knowing the family business he took over 40 years ago is still sustaining his family to this day. 

"I didn't think it would do that," he said. "But you know, as I continue working here, I learn more and I feel pretty confident about what's going on. We'll keep it going."

Afterall, a very important person to the industry is close by. Across the street from Boetje's is the Chippiannock Cemetery where the original founder, Frederick Boetje, is buried.

"He's watching over the business. Making sure I'm doing it right," Kropp said with a smile.