Meet Kevin Carbone | Health-Focused Food Innovator | Founder of Sauce Bae

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kevin Carbone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
When I was 21 (I’m currently 33) I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disease that made me experience rock bottom several times. Being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis was devastating, but it became the unlikely catalyst for my entrepreneurial journey which ultimately led me to create Sauce Bae.

I grew up loving hot sauce and all things spicy. I also had a passion for sports and weightlifting so hot sauce was a key aspect of my diet. When I was younger I never paid attention to the details on product labels, especially the ones that actually mattered, however this all changed after my diagnosis. I noticed that so many food items were loaded with artificial ingredients, even items that were claiming to be “all natural”. This bothered me to my core, so I decided that I would make a health-focused food product that was made only using real ingredients – and I wanted to incorporate turmeric into that product as turmeric was an ingredient that I fell in love with on my path towards better health. – Turmeric is great for inflammation!

One day I was eating my meal prep in my kitchen, and as I grabbed a bottle of hot sauce out of my fridge I had an epiphany that hot sauce would be the perfect product to launch! Most hot sauces were still using xanthan gum and other additives that I was avoiding, plus they were all loaded with sodium. I figured I could do much better, and so I said goodbye to my career in analytics and started hustling in the kitchen for 4 straight months until the original Sauce Bae recipe was born – A pineapple habanero hot sauce infused with turmeric. Made with only real ingredients, and low in sodium!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The story behind Sauce Bae is one that truly helps separate the brand from other brands, and it’s why Sauce Bae is more than just a hot sauce company. Sauce Bae is about creating products that encourage clean and healthy eating. It’s about creating unique and complex flavors from the simplest ingredients to prove to the world that you don’t need all the BS additives that have become so common today.

Hot sauce was just the start of Sauce Bae, but I’m now working on some other really cool products! We just launched a raw Cacao Honey, made with real raw honey, organic cacao, and organic vanilla bean. Think of it as a Nutella replacement. We’ll soon be launching a Raw Hot Honey as well, along with two other hot sauce flavors that are collaborations with some really cool people – one is with a metal band that you’ve probably heard of!

Getting Sauce Bae to where it is today has been anything but easy. Today, Sauce Bae can be found in over 1,000 major retail locations such as Harris Teeter, ShopRite, Giant, Acme, Safeway, and Stop & Shop. Our sauce has also been featured on season 9 of the multi-million viewer show Hot Ones, where it received numerous celebrity endorsements. It’s really just about waking up every day and working towards your goal. If you do that for a week, you may not see that big of an impact, but if you sacrifice and do that for 5 years, then you’ll be surprised at what begins to come to fruition.

Overcoming challenges is just part of being an entrepreneur. As you grow, so do your problems. That’s why it’s okay if your journey takes time because the truth is, if you achieved overnight success, you probably wouldn’t be able to handle the problems that come with such enormous success. Fall in love with the process, and you’ll discover that you can take on anything!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First, we’d go for a morning stroll through Pullen Park, followed by breakfast at Tupelo Honey. Then we’d make a pit stop at my manufacturer’s facility located outside of Raleigh! After checking up on our sauce, we would definitely stop by the Morgan Street Food Hall for some good food, followed by some ice cream from Raleigh Rolls!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to give a shoutout to all my friends, family, and loved ones that have supported me on my journey. At the end of the day, without their support and encouragment I couldn’t have made it this far.

Website: https://www.saucebae.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saucebae/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/saucebae

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saucebae