WASHINGTON — Ten years ago, Dan Oliver was working in Louisville as a bartender, when he decided to launch a business. He started selling his Dan-O’s Seasoning at flea markets and trade shows around the country. Then, the pandemic began.

What You Need To Know

  • A Kentucky business owner, who credits TikTok with helping him take his seasoning sales to the next level, said a U.S. TikTok ban would be “horrible” 

  • In March 2020, Oliver posted a quick video showing how to make “Kentucky crabcakes” in an air fryer, using his spicy seasoning

  • The social media site was about to go dark in the U.S. on Saturday, April 5 because of a bipartisan law requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell its stake

  • Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump announced he was extending it another 75 days as his administration works on a deal to keep it going

“I didn’t know if I was going to survive or not,” Oliver said. “I had been on this trajectory of doubling my sales each year by doing all this hard work and getting out there and traveling all over the place, but then COVID hit, and so my only option was to start making TikToks.”

In March 2020, Oliver posted a quick video showing how to make “Kentucky crabcakes” in an air fryer, using his spicy seasoning.

The video went viral and business took off from there, Oliver said.

“It was like, oh, okay, this is what happens when you get 500,000 people to watch a video,” he said. “You get $800 in sales. And then, as it kept progressing, it never went back. It went from $800 to $1,200, $1,500; it never went back.”

Spectrum News talked to Oliver back in 2022 about his booming business. The business had three flavors and 1.7 million followers on TikTok. 

Since then, Dan-O’s has added 10 flavors and gained another three million followers on TikTok.

The social media site was about to go dark in the U.S. Saturday, April 5 because of a bipartisan law requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell its stake.

Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump announced he was extending it another 75 days as his administration works on a deal to keep it going.

Before the announcement, Oliver said a TikTok ban in the U.S. would be “horrible.”  

Spectrum News asked him his message to leaders in Washington. 

“Man, my message would be to figure it out,” he said. “I mean, I’m not a political guy. I don’t get involved in that. But it’s like how it helped me personally in our business and so many other businesses that I’ve seen.”

Dan-O’s Seasoning is in over 20,000 grocery stores and employs 45 people, according to Oliver.

He said the business did $38 million in sales last year, and his goal is to get to over $40 million this year.

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