“Don’t live life with any regrets” is more than an internet meme for Pacific Beach resident Jennifer Reynolds. It’s advice she followed 17 years ago while spending a sunny day on the beach with her friends. After chowing down on the barbecued ribs that Reynolds made, her friends challenged her: “You should start your own sauce business – don’t live life with any regrets.” She wasted no time. Right when she went home Reynolds began researching sauce businesses. During her search, Reynolds stumbled upon co-packing, an industry where one company manufactures and packages products as though they were made directly by another client company. With this, Reynolds had a method of distributing her wares without having to worry about production, allowing her to focus on recipes. Thus, Sauce Goddess Gourmet was born.
When asked how she came up with the name Sauce Goddess Gourmet as well as the wacky logo, Reynolds laughed. “Before I started Sauce Goddess I was in the printing industry and I had a funny nickname: the Litho Goddess. So transitioning to sauce goddess was easy for me.” As for the logo, Reynolds firmly believes that goddesses deserve to have godlike, flamboyant hair. Indeed, the wild hairdo dominates the aesthetic landscape of the design. One of the first sauce recipes was one passed down to Reynolds from her father, Keith, who took grilling seriously. “You don’t mess around when it comes to grilling a good cut of meat!” Under his tutelage, Reynolds learned to utilize and balance seasonings, peppers, and vinegars. Keith trusted Reynolds with his signature barbecue sauce, which had no liquid smoke. Reynolds continued to develop other sauces, making sure all of them were flavorful, smoke-free, and made with natural ingredients. Even after so many years, those principles hold true with each new product Sauce Goddess puts out. In 2002, Sauce Goddess Gourmet started selling seasonings, which are also a big hit. A few years later, a new line of caramel corn was also released. For eight years, Reynolds had a main job, and only did Sauce Goddess on the side. During that time, she spared no effort expanding and getting the Sauce Goddess name out. Reynolds showcased her product at Costco road shows, food shows, and small markets. She convinced local retailers early on to include her sauces in their inventory, even though she only had a few sauces. Over the years, Sauce Goddess Gourmet has gone some changes. The most notable was the transition of all products to being gluten free. Reynolds decided to make the shift well before gluten-free became a trend, and for good reason. Her sister was diagnosed with gluten intolerance and was devastated that she could not have their father’s BBQ sauce anymore. Reynold’s sister begged her to find a way to remove gluten from the recipe, and Reynolds took the challenge. She toiled over the recipe until she found a way to preserve the original taste of her father’s sauce while still being gluten-free, and today it remains one of the most popular products that Sauce Goddess sells. Multiple products from the Sauce Goddess Gourmet lineup have received awards and/or won competitions. Over the last four months alone, Sauce Goddess sauces, spices, and caramel corns have won 15 awards. Two products, the Moroccan Twist Spice Rub and the Ghost Pepper Caramel Corn, have received three awards and four other products have received two awards each. For Reynolds, her main goal for Sauce Goddess Gourmet is to make cooking easier for people with a product that is all natural and vegan. She wants people to be able to take a cut of meat, slather on any of her sauces or spice mixes, and be able to stick it in the oven without any additional seasoning required. Sauce Goddess Gourmet also partners with the Arc of San Diego, which is one of the largest providers of services to people with disabilities in San Diego, including employment opportunities and partnerships. Reynolds hires challenged adults to do specialty hand work in the copackaging process. They help build the spice tins and gift packs sold everyday and Reynolds greatly appreciates their contribution and efforts. Looking into the distant future, Reynolds’ ultimate goal is to achieve world domination through enticing the people’s stomachs. In the near future, she plans on collaborating with other sauce and spice rub companies to make a subscription box. This “meal enhancing box” will most likely be bimonthly, and Reynolds aims to begin sales as early as July. Moreover, Reynolds is looking to expand internationally. Currently, Sauce Goddess Gourmet is present in around 500 stores throughout the United States. However, to expand, Reynolds needs to cooperate with business partners because her growth is capped by her current available manpower and packaging power. One can say Reynolds has no regrets since she founded Sauce Goddess Gourmet and will continue to have no reservations as she moves forward. To learn more about the Arc of San Diego, visit arc-sd.com. Get sauced To browse or buy products, or find more information on Sauce Goddess Gourmet, visit saucegoddess.com.