Story Behind SAUCE MAVEN & Award-winning Sauces

How I became the Sauce Maven? My refrigerator door was lined with sauces. Yet, none captured the flavors of my childhood growing up in the Bible Belt–juicy peaches, honeysuckle nectar, Vidalia Sweet Onion, and my po-po’s tomato wedges marinated in sugar-vinegar brine.  Using my own taste buds as a litmus test, I set out to fill the gap. Thus began the entrepreneurial journey that would earn me the nickname Sauce Maven.   Sauces make everything better, don’t they? Even though upholding high standards of quality, like being all-natural, using fresh rather than powdered ingredients, and avoiding cheap fillers like high-fructose corn syrup, poses challenges from higher small-batch production costs to shelf-life concerns, I did not want to sell anything that I would not give to Grandma or eat myself, especially since one of the sauces, You Saucy Thing™ Soy Ginger Vidalia stir fry, marinade and braising sauce was inspired by her cooking. All of the sauces must pass the grandma test and, after taste testing in the local school district cafeterias, also be kid approved!

To my delight, my sauces have earned many enthusiastic fans, from ages one to one hundred and from many different backgrounds. And apparently, the fans are sometimes more innovative than I am when using my sauces. My dad concocted his Bloody Sweet Hottie Cocktail by adding My Sweet Hottie™ Sweet Chili Peach Dressing & Marinade to a shot of vodka. My Indian neighbors drizzle my Wild Wild East™ Asian BBQ Teriyaki Pineapple sauce onto their samosas, pakoras--and hot dogs!

I try to make sure each of my sauces is truly a premium, authentic recipe in and of itself—a natural blend of a dozen fresh ingredients and spices all in one bottle, so when you shake it up, you are cookin’ up a storm. The one complaint I get is that using my sauces turns you into a lazy cook! 

-Natalie, The Sauce Maven

Atlanta, Georgia