Swamp Dragon Liquor Hot Sauce Aims to Slay More Taste Buds, Expand Reach
The owner of Swamp Dragon, the world’s only liquor hot sauce, is raising funds to grow the brand, which is sold online and in more than 1,000 retail stores nationwide.
“I am now raising capital in earnest to prosecute a major scale-up for Swamp Dragon,” CEO Matt Beeson wrote on his LinkedIn page. “Now that the pandemic problems are easing, opportunities that were on hold are returning, and we need investors in order to exploit those opportunities. And it’s a lot.
“If you don’t know, we make the world’s only liquor hot sauce. Bourbon is better than vinegar! We are ultimately differentiated in the market, and the product is attractive to professional buyers,” he wrote.
Beeson is aiming for a six or seven-figure haul, saying the company has “an incredible foundation laid and enormous mass market opportunities (too many, really).”
Other shelf-stable hot sauces rely on an acetic acid (vinegar) as a preservative. Beeson, a hot sauce lover in Baton Rouge, La., didn’t like the overpowering sour taste and aroma of vinegar.
After two years of research, Beeson found that no other hot sauces are based in liquor. Many are infused or flavored with liquor, but none of them contain alcohol (not enough to get drunk and it’s safe for kids). Swamp Dragon is hot sauce reimagined.
Read more in the January issue of Gourmet News. Subscribe now so you don’t miss it!
Getir Goes Bananas for Its 1-Year Anniversary
Getir, the pioneer of ultrafast grocery delivery, is celebrating one year of launching in the United States in Chicago, New York and Boston. Through its revolutionary last-mile grocery delivery service, the Getir app has been opened in the United States more than 40 million times, saving users over 700,000 hours.
To celebrate, bananas, the most popular selling product on the U.S. app, are available for nine cents. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost of bananas is $0.64 per pound, approximately $0.21 each.
“We are excited to be celebrating our one year anniversary in the United States. We are proud of this accomplishment and all of our teams who have made this first year in the United States successful,” said Langston Dugger, Head of U.S. Operations. “American customers enjoy the convenience and reliability of our service and variety of our products.”
A bunch of stats:
Top Ten Selling Products
- Bananas
- Avocados
- Navel oranges
- Fuji apples
- Roma tomatoes
- Gala apples
- Lemons
- Sparkling water
- Blueberries
- Bottled water
Top Neighborhoods
- Chicago – River North
- Boston – Brookline
- New York – Lower East Side
Distance Traveled
- Getir has fulfilled orders by traveling over 1.4 million zero-emission miles, equating to 402,000 pounds of CO2 emissions saved
- The delivery team has clocked enough miles to travel around the world 57 times, three times to the moon and back
Charitable Efforts
- Donated over 75,000 meals to local nonprofits
- Saved the equivalent of 8.9 million gallons of water through food donations
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Laramore to Retire From Leading Flour Reclaim Company
William D. Laramore, Jr., president of W.D. Laramore Manufacturing, Inc., is retiring effective Dec. 10 from the leading flour reclaim company. Laramore will continue to be a valuable consultant to the Laramore and Shick Esteve teams moving forward. Jeff Willyard, general manager, will take on the daily operational activities.“Although saddened by Bill’s retirement from daily operations, we are pleased that Bill will continue to provide an advisory role to the Laramore and Shick Esteve team as the Laramore product line is integrated into existing ingredient automation solutions,” said Blake A. Day, president and CEO of Shick Esteve, which acquired Laramore in 2021. “Bill has a passion for teaching and mentoring, and we are excited about his continued involvement as he begins to spend more time and focus on his family and hobbies.”
Laramore has been a leader in the flour reclaim industry for over four decades. In 1979, Laramore became the first company to offer a completely automatic dusting flour reclaim and recycling system and to date has supplied hundreds of integrated flour reclaim systems worldwide. As the specialist in roll and bread line reclaim technology, Laramore has developed a reputation for providing high quality solutions that help their customers succeed.
Shick Esteve presented the Laramore brand at IBIE 2022 in Las Vegas. The Laramore team showcased their equipment and joined forces with the ingredient automation side of the company. Being able to provide a global seamless solution to customers all in one location was a goal of Bill Laramore’s – to provide associates and customers a strong future in an ever-growing global marketplace.
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