Suede Sauce Co. Sells Handcrafted Hot Sauces

By David Durrett – a current intern at GreenStar Food Co+op, David Durrett is a lifelong resident of Ithaca as well as a graduate of Ithaca College. He is a freelance reporter whose work has also appeared in Tompkins Weekly and The Ithaca Voice, among other publications. 

Suede Sauce Co., a relatively new business, seeks to provide Ithaca and beyond with quality small-batch hot sauce with its own unique taste.

Evan and Mary Foster, the founders of the company, have long been interested in hot sauce, and have enjoyed experimenting with making their own sauces. They are originally from Ithaca, but have also lived in Boulder, Colorado. They were inspired by the abundance of peppers and hot sauce vendors they saw at farmers markets while living there.

“We just had a lot of fun experimenting with our flavors and formulas,” Mary said. “We wanted to share them with people and felt it was something different from what’s currently out there.”

When Evan and Mary moved back home to Ithaca in December 2019, they decided to start their business, believing that Ithaca was an ideal spot due to its thriving agricultural and small business communities. The process, which included steps such as establishing a limited liability corporation and consulting a local designer, took some time, but they got started a few weeks before the holiday season of 2021.

Suede Sauce Co.’s hot sauces are made with in-house fermented habanero mashes, which are made with home-grown and locally sourced habanero peppers. Evan said this is different from many other hot sauce manufacturers, which usually buy containers of processed mash from large manufacturers, which make salty, non-flavorful, and otherwise low quality finished products.

Unlike other hot sauces, Suede Sauce Co.’s hot sauces are sold in eight ounce bottles instead of five bottles, but are priced the same as many other hand-crafted hot sauces; their Liquid Gold and Half Throttle hot sauces are sold for $10 per bottle on their site. Suede hot sauces lean considerably more mild than most, and because of this Evan and Mary hope people find themselves using it on a variety of foods to enhance the flavor and appeal of any given dish.

“The spice isn’t necessarily the first thing you notice,” Evan said. “There’s a lot of flavor in it- the onions, the garlic- it can really complement anything. We know people like to put it on sandwiches, oftentimes, we’ve heard people say that they like to use our Half Throttle instead of ketchup, it’s kind of like a catch-all dip, a versatile condiment.”

Evan and Mary often shop at GreenStar, buying  products such as five pound bags of coffee and Ithaca Soy tofu, and are members of the Co-op. Because they are Co-op customers, and because of GreenStar’s support of local businesses,  Evan said he knew he wanted their products at GreenStar. As a local partner of GreenStar, which is the first grocery store Suede Sauce Co. has sold its products in, Evan is grateful to the Co-op for being communicative and supportive and looks forward to giving samples out at the store in March. “We can’t say enough about it,” Evan said. “We’re definitely thankful for the support that they’ve given and look forward to continuing to sell to them for years to come.”

Mary said she appreciates what GreenStar does for the community, especially how they, like Suede Sauce Co., source products with local ingredients.

“We love how much they support the local community and taking a chance on smaller local brands like us, it’s really important,” Mary said.

Apart from GreenStar, Suede Sauce Co. sells its hot sauces at the Ithaca Bakery on Route 13, Ithaca Coffee Company, and Finger LakesCider House, Trumansburg Main Street Market, Eddydale, and Sunny Days of Ithaca.

Currently, Suede Sauce Co. only consists of Mary and Evan, both of whom work 9-to-5 jobs in marketing and make and sell their sauces in their spare time. They are interested in eventually expanding their business and selling their sauce in more places, but that will require a kitchen that can accommodate more than two people at a time. Currently, Mary and Evan produce their hot sauces in a small licensed commercial kitchen within their home.

“That’s a big part of why we’re doing this, to be a part of the local business community, to be a part of the local economy, to eventually hire people and be a great employer,” Evan said, “but right now, at this moment, we’re in no need of extra hands necessarily, but we certainly want to scale up some time.”

Evan finds it fulfilling when people give positive feedback on their sauces, from recognizing the qualities he and Mary focus on providing to mentioning how they finished a bottle in a week.

“When we hear that people love the sauce as much as we do, it definitely gives us life and gives us purpose,” Evan said. “It’s been incredible to get that kind of feedback, especially from people whose opinions we really value, people who are great cooks themselves complimenting it has been a great drive to keep making it, and keep making new sauces and keep prioritizing the important things, like our ingredients and our process.”

For more information or to buy Suede Co Sauce, go to https://www.suedesauceco.com/.