A Cookeville-based hot sauce company defeated industry giants to claim the title of Best Hot Sauce in America following a national public voting competition.
Harmacy Hot Sauce Company Owner Homero Gonzalez left an engineering career to pursue his own path in the culinary world. The entrepreneur secured the top spot in The64’s Best Hot Sauce In America contest.
“To me personally, it’s a wonderful validation of a, of many years of effort in starting, you know, this small project that was a hobby that kind of spiraled into a business now that has reached people in every state in this country,” Gonzalez said. “And it was born right here in Tennessee. I’m very lucky to now have four employees that help me out and making this possible. It is just been such a cool time in my life. And to see this kind of an award come up, to be able to call ourselves the best hot sauce in America outside of just believing it for ourselves is a really amazing, it’s a really, really cool experience.”
Gonzalez said the company faced stiff competition during the tournament, including a fourth-round matchup against Ed Currie, the creator of the Carolina Reaper. The final round pitted the local startup against Melinda’s Hot Sauce, a brand that sold $45 million worth of product last year.
“But it, what a, what an awesome thing to be able to hang our hat on, that we went up against a hot sauce titan and still pulled away the victory,” Gonzalez said.
The competition relied entirely on public voting to determine the winner of each bracket. Gonzalez credited the community for rallying behind the brand and sharing the message to secure the victory.
“On paper, it was a terrible idea, but the reality of it turned out far better than I could have hoped,” Gonzalez said. “But the option was to, you know, choose a path where I work for someone else or build my own path and walk it, you know, win or lose.”
The company currently employs a team of four and produces all sauces by hand in Cookeville. Gonzalez said the team plans to spend the year developing new flavors to add to their lineup of six award-winning sauces.
“We’re going to nail down sauce first,” Gonzalez said. “But beyond hot sauce, I absolutely have designs on making salsas and dry rubs and snack foods and other kinds of, of delicious eats as we develop and grow and have the space to work on new projects.”
Gonzalez noted that the workplace culture and the fun the team has while working remain their secret weapon for success.