Kevin Carbone, Founder of Sauce Bae: The “Hottest” Entrepreneur on the Rise

Most people diagnosed with an auto-immune disease make adjustments to their lifestyle to stay healthy. For entrepreneur Kevin Carbone, there was Sauce Bae. 

At the age of 21, Carbone was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis: a chronic, inflammatory bowel disease that causes painful inflammation in the intestines. When the prescribed medicines made Carbone too sick to leave his room, he started searching for all-natural foods. As he searched, he discovered an unfortunate truth about the health food industry.

“I eventually came to the conclusion that the so-called ‘health foods,’ like flavored oatmeal, would destroy me.” 

What is often labeled as “all-natural” in the grocery store can actually be loaded with processed foods that only technically qualify as “natural.” 

The Journey to Turmeric

Most people recognize turmeric as “the yellow stuff.” Turmeric is a member of the ginger family and is native to Southeast Asia. It can be used to treat a variety of conditions including digestive issues like ulcerative colitis. Carbone noticed something on his health journey and specifically with turmeric: an opportunity. 

“I noticed there weren’t really any products that incorporated turmeric.”

In 2016, Carbone created an LLC and the ideas began to flow. Eventually, he settled on hot sauce. He scanned the shelves and all the major brands: Frank’s, Chilula, Crystal, Sriracha. Not one bottle on the shelf contained turmeric. Carbone knew he had something special. Something unique. A niche. 

“How do you differentiate yourself in a market with thousands of other brands, hobbyists, people making small batches. For me, it’s turmeric, it’s all-natural and clean, and it’s low sodium.” 

So, Sauce Bae was born: A turmeric, pineapple, habanero hot sauce with low-sodium and all-natural, clean ingredients. Carbone’s turmeric-based hot sauce certainly stands out from the crowd. But to succeed in business, it takes a whole lot more than a good product.

Some Persistence, and A Little Bit of Luck

“There’s a misconception that if you make something good that people will line up. No, far from the truth. You have to go out and gain everything. You have to go out store-to-store, hat-in-hand.” 

A ton of persistence, with a little bit of luck, is what led Carbone’s sauce to land on the hit YouTube series Hot Ones. A fan of Carbone’s sauce encouraged him to send Sauce Bae to Heatonist, a popular hot sauce store and the main seller for Hot Ones. 

“I actually didn’t think I would be considered. But this is a moment where you should shoot for the moon. I sent it and they got back to me and said they were interested.” 

Next thing you know, millions of eyes are watching celebrities try Sauce Bae. Celebrities like Kristen Bell and Trevor Noah have tried Carbone’s sauce with rave reviews. In just five years, Sauce Bae had gone from an idea and an LLC to a celebrity-endorsed hot sauce on a hit YouTube series. 

“I had already laid the groundwork. I knew the branding was perfect by doing events and going to stores. They liked the turmeric. It’s different. No one was doing that. That was the biggest thing: you need to differentiate yourself. You need to have a good product. As long as you do that with persistence you can grow.”

Money, Money, Money

To create a business and a brand, it takes everything you have. It takes time, energy, heart and soul, and, most importantly, finance. 

“Don’t be afraid to spend money. You have to and a lot of times it’s very scary. Whether it’s advertising, inventory, maybe it’s software that helps you prove something. You have to spend money where it makes sense.” 

It’s remarkable what you can accomplish with a strong vision and drive. You, as an entrepreneur, have to believe in your whole heart that your product is the product.

“I knew in my heart that I’m going to get there. That’s why I’ve been able to push through ups and downs. There definitely are a lot of ups and downs. Good news followed by terrible news and you’re the only person you have to figure it out. Come up with a solution, there’s no one else, there’s just you.

“I went into this not as a hobbyist, but I’m going to be on the shelf next to Sriracha one day. I looked at the shelf and said, ‘[Sauce Bae] could be there.’

“I had registered the LLC in 2016 and knew what I wanted to do which was incorporate turmeric with something that was better for you. I saw an opening in the hot sauce market. That, to me, made the most sense.”

What’s Next for Sauce Bae and Kevin Carbone?

Sauce Bae isn’t the end for Kevin Carbone. An entrepreneur from a young age, the health-conscious hot sauce creator has the entire health foods industry on his radar. 

“My real goal is to start going into different categories. I want to go into something that’s yogurt-based. Or maybe even a hummus sauce. I have an idea for ice cream.”

Perhaps in a few years time, you’ll see Cold Bae, Health Bae, or Bae Foods in your grocery store. Carbone doesn’t want to just fill the gap in the health foods market. He wants to affect the industry and push it to a more honest area. 

“I think transparency and trust is kind of missing [from the health food industry]. You’ll see a lot of highly processed foods have their buzzwords on the front saying, “all-natural low this low that.” The only real solution is to have more genuine brands going into the market to make an honest, very clean product. At least as clean as it can be.”

Carbone specifically wants his products to taste homemade. As we have gradually tried to turn away from processed foods, the larger industry has fallen into “greenwashing.”

Carbone isn’t just trying to make something delicious, he’s offering a product consumers are literally hungry for: real food. 

“I found that my body and a lot of other people’s bodies work very efficiently if they just eat real food.”

Radical idea, right? 

The Hottest Thing In Business

Right now, Kevin Carbone and Sauce Bae are perhaps the hottest things in business right now. Pun intended. A natural-born entrepreneur, Carbone has a knack for predicting changes in the market. His meteoric rise in just five years reflects that.

With a product like Sauce Bae already impressing local grocery stores and celebrities, it’s no wonder Carbone has been featured on Forbes 1000. 

We haven’t heard the last of Kevin Carbone and Sauce Bae. Of all the entrepreneurs out there, Carbone is certainly the hottest.