Taco Time for Fayetteville Lawyer

Fayetteville attorney Hugh Jarratt invented the The Taco Plate in 2008, but last week the product enjoyed its signature day.

Jarratt’s product was featured on a segment of NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday. The plate was one of several household items discussed by “Today” style editor Bobbie Thomas in a “What’s Hot in the Kitchen” segment.

“Why did it take somebody so long to come up with this?” Thomas commented.

The oval-shaped plates, available in five colors, are made to hold three hard- or soft-shelled tacos upright. The idea is to eliminate tacos falling over while being prepped, or once they are on the plate.

The plastic plates are divided into three compartments to keep tacos organized and mess-free. The larger section holds the tacos. Two more sections can hold beans, rice and salsa.

Whispers caught up with Jarratt, an in-house attorney with Lindsey Management Co., in Fayetteville, shortly after The Taco Plate’s national debut.

“I’m pumped,” he told us. “It’s like they just showed my kid on ‘The Today Show.’”

Jarrett said he only began selling the product in April 2011, through a network of sales reps and to different catalogs throughout the country.

“This is a before-work, after-work and weekend project for us,” he said. The products are marketed through Jarratt Industries LLC and manufactured by PolyTech Molding Inc. in Prairie Grove.

“Today” producers noticed the item in a Solutions catalog and requested some for the show.

“I’m happy it made it on the air and we’ll take it from there,” he said.

Without giving any hard figures, Jarratt said sales of the The Taco Plate this year have already doubled the number sold in all of 2011. A set of five has a retail price of $19.98.