The way it spreads causes many a jam.

• Position: Thomas Gourmet Foods

You can't fight it, so make it into jelly. That's Dwight Thomas' take on kudzu. But the owner of Greensboro-based Thomas Gourmet Foods was still surprised when kudzu jelly took off like its plant of origin.

He cooked up a batch from the purple flower three years ago, over his wife's objections. Before you could say "voracious Japanese plant strangling Southern landscapes," it was a hit. People bought it as a joke, he says, "then found out it was good." Like it says on the label, it grows on you. He has a waiting list for 6,000 5-ounce jars and estimates he churned out 20,000 in 1996. They wholesale at about $2 to specialty food stores such as A Southern Season in Chapel Hill.

But kudzu jelly and a sister line, honeysuckle jelly, are novelty items. He spends most of his time on his Thomas Sauce, Thomas Thick Sauce (the Incredible Spreadable), Thomas Marinade and Thomas Dressing. "We're shooting for the A.1. sauce market," he says. His tomato- and vinegar-based products are in more than 100 stores of six East Coast chains, including Harris Teeter and Hannaford Bros. Boston Market buys 75-100 tons a month to flavor meatloaf in its 1,070 restaurants.

The Asheboro native cooked as a child "only because I was one of seven children." After getting a bachelor's in biology and chemistry from Guilford College in 1962, he worked for Greensboro...