Papa Tony's Hot Sauce: But Not Too Spicy

Forbes

08-07-2025

Tony Wilson shown with his array of hot sauces, which aren't so spicy.
While showing at the Fancy Food Show at New York City's Javits Center in late June 2025, Tony Wilson who launched Papa Tony's Hot Sauce in Seattle, Wash. explains that one of his goals in developing his product was not making it too spicy. He acknowledges that many of his hot sauces rely on the world's hottest peppers such as Habaneros, Scotch Bonnets (one of the key ingredients in jerk chicken), and Trinidad Moruga Scorpions.
Tame the Heat
But the goal of his hot sauces was to 'tame the heat. Our sauces strike that rare balance between heat and flavor,' he explains. For many American's taste buds, too hot is too much.
Rising Annual Revenue
And Wilson's products are striking a chord with customers. When it launched in 2022, it produced $200,000 in revenue, rising to $360,000 in 2023, $468,000 in 2024, and projected to reach $570,000 by the end of 2025.
Some of its main products include: Jalapeno Dream, a creamy salsa Verde, Garlic Habanero, blended with garlic, Caribbean Crush, consisting of many island flavors, including cinnamon, allspice and Scotch Bonnet.
Many of these sauces have a Caribbean connection, but Wilson emphasizes that many 'are not solely Caribbean' and appeal to a wide variety of customers. For example, Jalapeno Dream is South American-inspired and Garlic Habanero is garlic-inspired.
People put these hot sauces on a variety of items including eggs and omelets for breakfast, also added to rice dishes, chicken, seafood and steak, and marinate their lamb chops in it, and add Scorpion's Kiss, which is strawberry-based to their lemonade.
Started by Happenstance
The origin of starting the company occurred when Wilson prepared a garlic habanero hot sauce for himself and a mango habanero sauce for his wife. He posted its photos on Facebook, and friends and followers started asking about how they could purchase those bottles. He sold 300 bottles in two months, and a business was born. They bootstrapped it on their own, with their own cash, and have no partners or investors.
Wilson also emphasizes that he uses healthier ingredients in his hot sauces including no artificial preservatives or thickeners, and 30% are sourced from local Washington state farms.
Multiple Revenue Streams
It also sells its hot sauces in various ways including via its own website, Amazon, and over 100 retailers, mostly in the Pacific Northwest including PCC Markets, Town & Country Markets and Market of Choice, and offered at multiple Hyatt Regency restaurants in Washington. In addition, it's sold at farmers markets, trade shows and national events, and he runs in-store demos in grocery stores that drives sale.
To reach a more national audience would take 'making the right connections and building the right relationships. We're working on that,' explains Wilson, who is 39-years-old. He's also like to add more hotels to his roster.
Wilson also has taken control of producing the hot sauces rather than using a co-packager. He acquired a bottling machine and stockpots and rents out a facility to manufacture it on its own. That's called enterprising.
Wilson runs it with his wife Guenevere, who retired from healthcare to partner with him. He also has 6 part-time employees who handle production, distribution and marketing. Tony runs the operations while Guenevere focuses on marketing, packaging and design.
It's marketed primarily via social media and a campaign Wilson calls 'Spicy Influencers' and via Amazon ads.
Asked how his product can compete with industry leaders, Frank's Hot Sauce, owned by McCormick, a public company, or Sriracha, he replies that his hot sauce's flavor profile is multi-faceted. It can be used to marinate a dish, be added to a drink, augmenting a dish, more so than the leading brands, which are spicier.
Wilson said the keys to its future success are: 1) Having a detailed plan, 2) Executing that plan, 3) Loving the competition and being in the game against the bigger hot sauces companies.