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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Sprouts Adds GoodSAM Foods Chocolate Bars to Shelves
GoodSAM Foods’ popular chocolate bars have launched in Sprouts stores nationwide. GoodSAM chocolate bars have been available in Sprouts stores and online as of Oct. 31.
Four varieties of GoodSAM chocolate bars will be available to Sprouts shoppers in flavors including: Caramel Salt, Sea Salt, Original and Mint. All GoodSAM bars are made with Direct Trade, regeneratively farmed ingredients that are non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, keto-friendly, sugar-free, and made without fillers or chemical-laden sweeteners.
GoodSAM is a healthy snack food brand with a commitment to sustainability and regenerative agriculture.
“Every day our team at GoodSAM strives to create delicious treats that feel indulgent but work to flip the traditional food system on its head through transparent supply chain practices and regenerative agriculture that doesn’t exploit but gives back to the farmers we rely on so heavily,” says GoodSAM Founder & CEO, Heather K. Terry. “We are excited about our new partnership with Sprouts as their values so closely align with our own and their plentiful stores offer us a whole new avenue for getting our tasty, impactful chocolate into the hands of consumers in markets around the country.”
More about GoodSAM’s offerings at Sprouts:
- Caramel Salt: 55 percent dark chocolate with a salty caramel finish, this bar is as good for the planet as it is for the tastebuds.
- Mint: A perfect mix of mint and dark chocolate, this rich and smooth bar is made with organic cacao from the Sierra Nevada region of Colombia and organic mint.
- Original: With 55 percent dark chocolate, this trusty original is the best of all things chocolate. Made with Organic Cacao from the Sierra Nevada region of Colombia, this is the first chocolate bar to combine regenerative farm practices, sugar-free, non-GMO, vegan, and Direct Trade practices.
- Sea Salt: A savory twist on the classic, this bar has all the goodness of the Original with a sprinkling of sea salt & nibs.
The Sprouts partnership marks GoodSAM’s continued expansion and upward trajectory as the health food and sustainability leader continues to innovate new products and find mass market availability with new retailers. To find a Sprouts location near you, visit https://www.sprouts.com/stores/.
GoodSAM’s other products are available on GoodSAMFoods.com, Amazon, Thrive Market and select retailers and include various chocolate bars, chocolate chips, nuts, coffee, candy-coated nuts, and more. All products in the GoodSAM line are Direct Trade, non-GMO, contain no added sugar, and are grown using regenerative farming techniques and preserving indigenous and smallholder farmer wisdom. GoodSAM believes in three things: food that’s good for you, good for farmers, and good for the planet. To learn more about the GoodSAM Foods team and shop products, visit www.goodsamfoods.com or follow on Instagram at @GoodSAMFoods. For sales inquiries, contact Kari Janapareddi at Kari@GoodSAMFoods.com.
Read more about GoodSam in the November issue of Gourmet News.