Paul Lehmann and Carl Starkey, former coworkers at West Chester’s Westtown School athletics department, are hoping to disrupt the condiment market with their environmentally friendly alternatives, writes Jenn Lad for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The pair wanted to reduce the plastic waste left over after using condiments, so they came up with the idea of removing water from the sauce. They started working on their first sauce in January 2021, and by June, they had started their new business, West Chester-based AWSM Sauce. The company reproduces several favorite condiments in a space-saving powdered form.
All consumers need to do is pour a packet of AWSM Sauce into a jar of water and shake it. What they get is five ounces of fresh sauce. So far, the available options include ketchup, honey hickory barbecue, and Chesapeake fire sauce.
The pair have so far raised $760,000 in funding and are working on more recipes to add to their product lineup.
“We try to make as much as a clean label as possible,” said Starkey. “It’s challenging. Our ketchup and fire sauces are gluten-free, but the barbecue has a barley base. And the ketchup is vegan, but the barbecue has honey powder.”
Read more about AWSM Sauce in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in September 2022.
