Or, how ranch love conquered the world

It was 1954. Steve Henson, a cowboy from Nebraska, and his wife Gayle purchased 120 acres of sprawling land nestled in the mountains outside of Santa Barbara, California, and started a dude ranch. Over the years, Steve had been perfecting a salad dressing recipe and would mix up the tangy blend of buttermilk, herbs and spices for his guests. The result: They loved it — and Hidden Valley Ranch dressing was born.

It wasn’t long before the guests were asking Steve for jars of his ranch dressing to enjoy at home with their friends and family, and the word spread. Pretty soon, Steve was sending perfect little packets of Original ranch all over the country. Eventually, we purchased the mail-order business, so we could carry the bold, tangy flavor flag to even more ranch-loving fans.

We first introduced bottled Hidden Valley® Ranch dressing in the ’80s. We created the seasoning shaker so our fans could bump up the ranch flavor anytime, anywhere. And we started creating bold new flavors — like Cucumber Basil and Jalapeño Bacon — so people could love ranch in even more ways.

Over the years, the love of ranch has grown from a salad dressing to America’s most iconic condiment to something bigger than we ever imagined. Today Hidden Valley has become part of the culture. People across the country proudly dunk their wings, chips, fries, burgers and pizza. They drizzle ranch on tacos, pasta and potatoes. They rub it on roasts, stir it into stews, bake it into casseroles and shake it onto popcorn.

Nowadays, Hidden Valley® Ranch, also known as HVR, shows up everywhere from fast food to fine dining to popular TV shows and movies. Our fans are buying it by the keg and including ranch fountains at their weddings. They’re getting HVR tattoos and wearing Ranch holiday sweaters. They’re tweeting and posting about their love of ranch like never before.

Hidden Valley has become more than America’s favorite ranch dressing. It’s a point of view, a proud, zesty stake in the ground that proclaims you can never take your love of ranch too far. Because some people love the cool tangy deliciousness with every fiber of their being…and some people really love it!