What Veneise George wanted was more time to help her daughter and son with their homework.

As a latchkey kid, with both parents working, the Jamaican-born Scarborough woman “grew up in the kitchen,” and learned to cook early.

Experimenting at home in Malvern, George came up with a jerk marinade she could just put on meat – zero prep time, everything in one jar.

That meant she could be with her children and not worry about dinner.

After much convincing from family and friends, George asked a local grocery store, Rubini West Indian, to sell her marinade – and Yawdi’s was born.

Although finding people to make and label it was daunting, said George, “I believed in the product and I had people who believed in me.”

Since 2015, she’s gone to Christmas markets and trade shows, working to get Yawdi’s – a yawdi is a Jamaican ex-pat – into more stores.

Her products, now including three mustards and a trio of pepper jellies, are in 50 Sobeys across Ontario; most recently, they’ve appeared in 55 Loblaws stores, including some Valu-marts, through an industry-run ‘Ontario-made’ program.”