As a 16-year-old girl, Starr Edwards had an idea to create spicy, nut-based dips to satisfy the cravings of a fledgling vegan diet. Five years later, she began selling them at farmers markets around San Diego and had trouble keeping up with demand even before a Costco buyer tasted her products in one of the farmers markets.
They were simple … which also means “clean.” A short ingredient deck: just water, oil, almonds, lemon juice, garlic, gluten-free soy sauce, plus whatever the key flavor was – original (lemon & garlic), chipotle and cilantro. No stabilizers or gums for thickness or consistency. Vegan and gluten-free. But an edgy name: Bitchin’ Sauce.
A dozen years later, Bitchin’ Sauce is a solid success, as well as being our small-company R&D Team of the Year.
Edwards taught herself food safety, developed a hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) plan and eventually moved into her own small plant. “I don’t think she ever knew the brand would grow like it did,” says Mike Noonan, vice president of operations and a key member of the R&D team that helps turn the recipe into a scalable, commercial product. By 2013, Edwards had herself a full-fledged food business.
Today, Bitchin’ Sauce comes in more than 20 flavors in 7 and 8-oz. tubs and this year launched for the first time in 8-oz. squeeze bottles, “so you can drizzle it on anything,” says Noonan, “the perfect companion to burgers, bowls, sides and snacks.” All the products must be refrigerated.
Their first products were sold in glass jars at farmers markets, but transitioned to polypropylene packaging for commercial production. They are now high-pressure pasteurized (HPP) to maintain the delicate flavor profiles. “HPP has been paramount to our success,” says Noonan. “If you cook Bitchin’ Sauce, heat it up, it’s just not the same. Plus we went from a 30-day shelf life to 150 days with HPP.”
Bitchin’ Sauces are found in most Target, Kroger and Whole Foods stores. Why the name? “Starr says she Googled Awesome Sauce and that name was taken,” Noonan says. “She thought Bitchin’ Sauce was the next best thing. The term ‘Bitchin’ is used a lot in California.”
Noonan, who has been with the company six years, has a business degree in operations management and previously worked in food plants, including a cheese factory. “I really like the production side of things, how it has to hold everything together.”
Production was switched over fully to a contract manufacturer a year ago. The R&D team, which used to sit under the Carlsbad, Calif., roof, is now remote and meets virtually. In addition to Noonan, Kristian Jordan is director of quality assurance; Gus Smith is director of operations; and Luis Camacho is manager of logistics and quality control.
“We partner very closely with our co-man,” says Noonan, who expressed appreciation for the relationship with the contract manufacturer.
“The process starts with a pie-in-the-sky idea,” he continues. “Then we create a recipe and start the approval process.” Now married, with kids and 37 years old, Edwards remains CEO and is the leader for all new launches. All the products are based on almonds.
“We scale up from there. It usually takes three or four tries to get the flavor and consistency we want. We’ll tweak the recipe till we feel good about it. Then we’ll come up with packaging and a launch plan.”
Bitchin’ Sauce handles intermediate development steps while commercial manufacturing is done at the co-man’s shop. “We used to do it all on our own, in-house at our own facility. We don’t do external tastings. We can fine-tune things internally.”
Chipotle has become the No. 1 flavor. Original still sells well, as does Spinach Artichoke. There’s even a chocolate sauce, which is a part of the sweet line of sauces. In addition to the tubs and squeeze bottles, the company produces 1.75-oz. portions, Saucy Singles, for foodservice, as it hopes to raise its brand awareness in restaurants and universities.
Sriracha is a new product that has done well. But “I’m really proud of our [new] Hatch green chile,” Noonan says. “It has a really great flavor profile. I think I was able to take what Starr wanted and put it into a product successfully, maybe better than some of the others I’ve done. It’s spicy but not too spicy. It resonates with a lot of tastes across the U.S. and represents our brand well.”
Bitchin’ Sauce is exploring collaborations with other brands – for co-branded final products or using branded ingredients. New products and new flavors are coming down the line regularly, and “we’re getting into new households, new retailers,” says Noonan. “I could see us growing into other categories [salsas are a possibility]. But our core products have always done well, I think they can continue to grow.”
The future is bright, and saucy, with the Bitchin’ R&D team committed to maintaining close oversight to each product as its developed, continually on the hunt for innovative developments to improve processes and packaging.