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Winging It

Terry Brown, the owner/founder/sauce creator of Wing-Time, talks about surprising successes, growing the business and unusual ways to use his hot sauce.

By Susan Segrest

So why wings?

I grew up in upstate New York and that is the home of wings. We’d go out to the bars and then hit the wing joints afterwards and consume massive quantities of them. During college I transferred out west where wings weren’t so available and began making my own sauce. I knew the basic recipe—hot sauce and butter—and began playing around with different heat levels. I started getting my friends hooked on it. I was planning on opening my own wing joint, but there is so much involved with owning a restaurant. I thought, “Why don’t I just bottle the sauce. I’ll have unlimited market potential, I don’t have to rely on a local customer base, and if I want to move the business, we aren’t stuck in one area.” It was one of the best decisions I made.

Have you heard of any unusual uses for your sauces?

People use it for all kinds of things in the kitchen. But a surprising one is as a dog chewing deterrent. A friend put up a dog gate between the kitchen and living room and the dogs wouldn’t stop gnawing on it. So, he brushed some of the Super Hot sauce on the wood gate, and the dogs don’t chew it anymore.

What were your launch products?

There were four: Mild, Medium, Hot and Garlic Parmesan. I wanted to offer an entire line. And we still have those four plus a Super Hot sauce. We’ve played around with others but those are the strong sellers. Our goal from the beginning was to be a one-stop shop where restaurants or retailers could get their sauces, and we continue to be though now we’re working towards deeper market penetration. Until we are in every store and every restaurant in the country we have a ways to go.

What percentage of your business is foodservice vs. retail?

It is about 60 percent retail, 40 percent foodservice. Our private-label business is growing, and we continue to develop our export business. Our sauces have a great demand overseas, whether the customers are expats or just restaurants with Americanized food. There is unlimited potential. We aren’t interested in adding new products but we do think about how we can offer more programs with the products we have.

Have you had any surprising successes or challenges?

I met my wife at a consumer show back in California. She laughed when I told her I was going to say this, but that has been both a success and a challenge.

If you knew you were eating your last meal, would wings be a part of it?

Absolutely. I’d start with extra crispy, extra saucy wings made with our Garlic Parmesan. Then have a Greek gyro with a killer tzatziki sauce slathered all over it with saffron-flavored basmati rice with even more tzatziki. And for dessert, a hot fudge sundae. |SFM|

Susan Segrest is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine.

This article was featured in the January/February 2011 Issue of Specialty Food Magazine. See other articles in this issue at:
January/February 2011 Specialty Food Magazine.