#SauceForGood: Hot sauce makers that are turning heat into help

More Than Just Heat

Hot sauce has always been about flavour, fire and fun. In recent years, rapid growth in the industry has brought a wave of creativity with it. The UK in particular is home to a fabulous array of craft hot sauces, each bringing its own personality and style.

When we started YoYo Laos Sauce, we knew we wanted to give something back, to have a purpose beyond just making a profit. We're not alone in this endeavour. Across the globe, independent sauce brands are donating a portion of their profits, or a fixed amount from every bottle sold, to causes they care about. From mental health charities and animal welfare to mine clearance, cancer support and environmental projects, these sauces are proving that a little heat can go a long way.

Welcome to #SauceForGood — where flavour meets purpose.

What Is #SauceForGood?

We started using the hashtag #SauceForGood to celebrate hot sauce makers who bake generosity into their business model. These brands are showing that food businesses can be both delicious and impactful.

Arguably the first sauce maker to champion this cause was Paul Newman. After around three decades as one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Newman set up Newman's Own in 1982 with his friend and co-author A.E. Hotchner, donating all of the company's profits to charity. Since then, Newman's Own Foundation has given away more than $500 million to good causes, a genuinely remarkable achievement.

While it isn't possible for us to donate all of our profits, we set out from day one to make a donation to MAG (Mines Advisory Group) from every bottle sold.

We settled on 10p from the sale of every bottle in the UK, and 10c for international sales.

To date, we've donated over £5000 to MAG, supporting their work clearing unexploded ordnance (UXO) across Laos, the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world.

We Were Told It Couldn't Be Done

In the early days, when we were first setting out, we met an investor. He’d done very well by all accounts, developing brands in the food and drink industry and selling them on. He said to us, "We need to do well before we can do good." Our thinking was different. If we were able to support a charity from the start and maintain that support, we could prove it was possible and inspire others to do the same. Donations would be small to begin with, but they should, over time, increase as the brand grows.

Why Hot Sauce Makers Are Perfectly Placed to Give Back

We've found that small-batch sauce makers are often:

• deeply connected to their local communities

• transparent about sourcing and production

• values-driven rather than profit-driven

Many, like us, started in a kitchen or at market stalls, very often as a side hustle alongside a main job, which over time may have grown into something more serious.

Examples of Sauce Doing Good

Hask Hells Sauce,  Bristol, England. Founded in 2020 by James Haskell, Hask Hells donates £1 from every order to the mental health charity MIND, which works to make sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone.

Chilli of the Valley, Wales. Started in 2012 in Merthyr Tydfil by Dan Reed, working alongside his father Arwel, the company has always championed small-batch sauces made with home-grown chillies. More recently, Dan's own children have got involved too.

In 2021, as part of a school project, the children were tasked with setting up a business with the proceeds going to charity. This led to the creation of a hot sauce named Santoku, sold in aid of Many Tears Animal Rescue. The sauce sold out within 24 hours, and the children have continued producing it since, donating to different charities along the way.

The latest batch is made with pineapple, mango and 8% Carolina Reaper, a sweet, fruity sauce with a healthy dose of heat. All proceeds go to support Maggie's Cardiff at Velindre Cancer Centre, Whitchurch.

Maggie's was founded on the belief that people affected by cancer live better if they have the right information and support alongside their medical treatment, and a calm, welcoming space where they can find comfort in the company of others going through the same experience. You can find out more or donate directly at maggies.org/get-involved/donate.

Backing Environmental Causes

From reforestation projects to sustainable farming initiatives, certain brands channel profits into protecting the ingredients they rely on, chillies, soil, and ecosystems. In the US, Small Axe Peppers donates thousands of pepper seedlings each year to community gardens in New York, then buys back the grown peppers to make its sauce, turning urban green spaces into a working supply chain.

Funding Community & Social Projects

Other makers focus on grassroots impact, supporting youth programmes, refugee and migrant organisations, and mental health charities, as Hask Hells does with MIND. These sauces often carry deeply personal stories behind them.

Why Buying #SauceForGood Matters

There's an ever-growing selection of hot sauces, whether on supermarket shelves, at a local farmers' market or through online platforms such as Ocado. The vast majority of mainstream brands, however, are profit-focused, and we know that customers are often price sensitive.

But where there is a choice, selecting a brand with strong ethics, one that promotes #SauceForGood means you're actively supporting a small business doing the right thing, as well as turning an everyday meal into a small act of generosity.

How to Spot a #SauceForGood Brand

First, take a look at the bottle itself. Are there clear donation commitments on the label? Second, read the "About Us" section of the brand’s website; a brand that’s proud of its collaborations will communicate its ethics and be transparent about where the money goes. Basically, if a brand is proud of its impact, it’ll tell you.

If you can't support financially, even a like, follow or share of a brand's social media is always welcomed. The impact of this can reach further than you might think.

Final Thoughts: Heat With Heart

Hot sauce has always been about passion, and that passion can extend beyond flavour. The next time you reach for a bottle, consider choosing one that gives back.

Because good sauce should do more than taste good. It should do good too.

#SauceForGood 🌶️❤️