Silver Spring Foods, Inc., is the world's largest grower and producer of horseradish. Founded in 1929, the company is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and also produces an assortment of sauces and mustards. The company was incorporated in 1949 as Silver Spring Gardens.

In 1929, Ellis Huntsinger started growing horseradish and other crops in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. In the early days, he prepared and bottled horseradish by hand. In 1941, Huntsinger discovered that the addition of dairy cream helped further enhance the flavor, heat, and longevity of prepared horseradish. This discovery helped him expand his horseradish sales to markets throughout the United States.

The company has been family-owned since it began. It is currently owned by Ellis Huntsinger’s granddaughter, Nancy Bartusch and her two sons. Around 2000, the company started producing specialty mustards with horseradish as a key ingredient.

Employees of Huntsinger Farm plant horseradish in both the spring and fall using custom-built equipment similar to potato planters. Short sections of root trimmed from the previous year’s crop are placed in the soil, where they will sprout in the spring and grow into a new crop.

Harvesting also takes place in both the spring and fall. Modified potato-diggers reach deep into the soil to remove as much of the root complex as possible. Conveyers fitted with steel bars work to shake off the soil before the roots are loaded into trucks for transport to cold storage. They remain in cold storage until they are used to create prepared horseradish products.

Farm Manager Ken Traaseth continually works to improve horseradish yield and quality at Huntsinger Farms. He routinely inspects the horseradish fields during the summer growing season.

According to silverspringfoods.com