From a Garage Kettle to a 50,000 Bottle Ask | Karma Sauce and Los Calientes Hot Sauce
The first batches of Los Calientes came out of my garage. A 20-C licensed kitchen I framed out myself, a 40 gallon steam jacketed kettle, and a driveway that smelled like vinegar and peppers for days after. My neighbors were polite about it. I labeled bottles at a folding table and drove them to the post office myself.
In March of 2018, Noah Chaimberg at HEATONIST wrote this letter on our behalf. I still keep a copy of it. Reading it now, the part that gets me isn't the sales numbers. It's that somebody looked at a guy making sauce in his garage and saw a partner.
Read the full letter text
March 21, 2018
Noah Chaimberg
HEATONIST LLC
121 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11249To whom it may concern:
I have been working with Gene Olczak and his Karma Sauce Co since I started HEATONIST four years ago. Gene impressed me from the start with the unique and delicious sauces he produces. We have carried his products continuously since then, keeping them a central part of our lineup as we've grown from a pushcart doing pop-up events into a multi-channel retailer with the number one hot sauce website in the world and two brick & mortar stores.
In 2017 we worked with Karma Sauce Co to launch a new exclusive product, created in collaboration between our companies, manufactured by Karma, and retailed exclusively by HEATONIST. Going through this process together turned a vendor relationship into a true partnership and showed us Gene's extensive capabilities. He has a rare skill for crafting gourmet, thoughtful products that can sell at scale.
In January of this year we included the Extreme Karma product in the lineup of our Hot Ones show on YouTube, creating a surge in demand. Gene handled the sharp increase in order volumes with aplomb and kept us well stocked.
In light of all this success we've decided to ask Gene to create our newest exclusive sauce licensed with the Hot Ones brand. The sauces licensed in that way account for 80% of our sales volume, and we expect huge demand for the new sauce. The last licensed sauce we launched became the fastest selling new hot sauce in history, selling out the initial batch of 1,000 bottles in 90 seconds, and going on to sell 10,000 bottles (pre-orders) in the first day of online availability.
We've asked Gene to scale his operations to meet an anticipated demand of 50,000+ bottles per month. We're excited to be taking these next steps together to bring delicious, healthy and exciting products to an eager global audience. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly if I can provide any information or assistance towards securing The Karma Sauce Co the resources needed to make this happen.
Stay spicy,
Noah Chaimberg
President
HEATONIST LLC