Hot Sauce Business

6 Hot Sauce Business Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: October 6th, 2024

Hot sauce is one of the most popular condiments in the world, and it's easy to see why: it's versatile, delicious, and can add some serious flavor to almost anything you put it on—and not just for people who like spicy foods! Hot sauce can be used to create complex flavors that are perfect for anyone looking for a little extra pep in their step.

So, if you love hot sauce and you also love money, it turns out, you can start and run a hot sauce business! You can make it yourself or you can buy it in stores and resell it to earn some good profit.

If you are planning to make the hot sauce yourself you’ll need some initial capital to purchase ingredients and equipment for making the hot sauce, as well as packaging materials such as bottles and labels.

The average hot sauce lover will try and consume about 2-3 unique hot sauces in a week, which means there's a lot of money to be made in this industry!

In this list, you'll find real-world hot sauce business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a hot sauce business that makes money.

1. Huy Fong Foods ($150M/year)

David Tran’s journey to creating Huy Fong Foods stemmed from his personal experiences and love for spicy food, which began in his childhood helping his father farm chili in Vietnam. Upon arriving in the United States, Tran noticed that the hot sauces available were not up to his standards. Fueled by a desire to recreate the bold flavors he missed, he began making his own sauce in a small bucket and selling it from his van.

Tran's initial product was well-received within his community, inspiring him to continue refining it. He kept the recipe simple but authentic, using fresh jalapeños, garlic, vinegar, salt, and sugar. By observing the enthusiastic response from his growing customer base and focusing on maintaining high-quality ingredients, Tran validated his idea and gradually increased production.

One of the early challenges Tran faced was scaling up production without compromising on quality. He rented a modest space in Los Angeles to produce the sauce on a larger scale and ensured consistency by sticking to his straightforward recipe. Throughout the process, he learned the importance of staying true to one's passion and focusing on product quality, even when expanding.

How much money it makes: $150M/year
How much did it cost to start: $20K
How many people on the team: 350

How This Refugee Built a $1.2 Billion Hot Sauce Empire

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2. KPOP Foods ($2.4M/year)

Theo Lee, co-founder and CEO of KPOP Foods, came up with the idea for the business based on his love for Korean food and the desire to share it with others. Along with his co-founder, Mike Kim, they wanted to create a Korean food brand that not only offered delicious products but also represented the vibrant and energetic atmosphere of Korean culture. They launched their first product, KPOP Sauce, through a successful Kickstarter campaign, which funded within the first eight hours and ended with nearly $40,000 from over 1,200 backers.

How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How many people on the team: 5

How Two Students Made $100K Bringing Korean Hot Sauce To America

KPOP Foods, a Korean food company, generated nearly $100,000 in revenue since last year through its successful Kickstarter campaign and Amazon's Choice badge; they have entered over 90 specialty stores throughout the west coast and are currently raising an investment round to expand their distribution into major retailers and are launching new sauces later this year.

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3. Frag Out Flavor ($1.5M/year)

Patrick Flynn, founder and CEO of Frag Out Flavor, came up with the idea for his spice blends and BBQ rubs after returning home from a deployment to Afghanistan. His passion for great food and BBQ, combined with his desire to reconnect with the veteran community, led him to create a lineup of high-quality blends that have been loved by family and friends. With a strong focus on customer loyalty and giving back to the veteran community, Frag Out Flavor has grown to generate around $125K/month in revenue.

How much money it makes: $1.5M/year
How many people on the team: 1

This Veteran Built A $1.5M Spices & Rubs Brand

Frag Out Flavor, a veteran-owned spice blend and BBQ rub company, generates around $125k/month and is backed by a loyal customer base while also giving back to the veteran community through various initiatives.

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4. Small Axe Peppers Hot Sauce ($1.02M/year)

Small Axe Peppers was founded by John Crotty, who saw the potential in an empty lot in the Bronx and decided to turn it into a community garden. Realizing that peppers were the ideal crop for the small space, he came up with the idea to make hot sauce as a way to support the garden and create a commercially scalable product. With the help of Executive Chef King Phojanakong, they developed the Small Axe Peppers line of sauces. Since then, the company has grown exponentially, partnering with over 200 community gardens and distributing their sauces nationwide.

How much money it makes: $1.02M/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
How many people on the team: 3

How We Started An $85K/Month Hot Sauce Brand

Small Axe Peppers is a thriving hot sauce manufacturing business that partners with over 200 community gardens in the United States, growing locally sourced produce and producing an impressive 70,000 bottles of hot sauce per year; the success is the result of a genuine mission, a great story, an online business, and active social media channels.

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5. Flaming Licks ($156K/year)

James and Erika came up with the idea for Flaming Licks when James made his own piri-piri sauce as a Christmas gift in 2014. After receiving positive feedback, they launched Sidekick sauces and opened a chili shop in Dorset. They later acquired the hot sauce subscription box, Lick My Dip, and decided to focus their strategy on the subscription business. They now have around 500 active members and plan to grow to 1000 members by the end of next year.

How much money it makes: $156K/year
How many people on the team: 3

How We Started A $13K/Month Hot Sauce Online Store And Subscription Service

Flaming Licks is a hot sauce subscription club and chili shop based in the UK, finishing 2019 with around 500 active members and planning to grow to 1000 members by the end of this year, with sales at around $13k/month split 2/3 subscription and 1/3 retail, mostly sourced from social media traffic using Cratejoy checkout.

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6. Trini Pepper Sauce ($27K/year)

Mustafa Mannan, co-founder of Trini Pepper Sauce, came up with the idea after his family's pepper sauce recipe from Trinidad and Tobago received much praise from friends in North Carolina. To bring the sauce to a wider audience, Mustafa launched a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $32,000, enabling them to import the peppers, manufacture the first batch, and distribute the sauce domestically and internationally.

How much money it makes: $27K/year
How many people on the team: 3

How We Started A Successful Hot Sauce Brand

Trini Pepper Sauce co-founder and co-owner, Mustafa Mannan, shares how he successfully imported and manufactured his family's unique pepper sauce recipe and launched it through a Kickstarter campaign, now selling an average of $3,000/month in revenue.

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