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Dave’s Gourmet, Inc.: Masala Marinara

Outstanding Pasta Sauce
sofi Gold Winner 2010

With a company that offers everything from award-winning hot sauces to drink mixes, Dave Hirschkop, owner and founder of San Francisco-based Dave’s Gourmet, is not afraid to try new things. His entry into specialty foods started in 1993, when he created a super hot, hot sauce that he called Dave’s Insanity Sauce, developed in the kitchen at Burrito Madness, the restaurant he owned in Maryland at the time. In the following decade, the now 43-year-old entrepreneur became a hot sauce expert and seasoned business person.

In recent years, he has applied his passion and spirit of innovation to pasta sauce. Last year his Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce took home a sofi™ Gold in the Outstanding Pasta Sauce category, and this year he followed up with another winner: Masala Marinara. “As we evolved we wanted to try some other things. We looked at pasta sauces and noticed there wasn’t interesting stuff going on,” Hirschkop explains. “Pasta is neutral but pairs well with a lot of things. So we started thinking about what tastes great that people would enjoy. What we came up with was a combo of Thai, Indian and Italian influences.”

Because the sauce is so versatile, Hirschkop notes that it goes as well with non-pasta (such as rice, veggies, chicken, pork, lamb or seafood) as it does with pasta dishes. He suggests retailers place it in the pasta sauce section and recommends cross-marketing it during a pasta promotion that might include samples. —D. Moss

More About The Product

This innovative and delicious sauce hits on some of the major current trends—Indian flavors, coconut, gluten-free and healthy. Masala Marinara combines ingredients from all over the world including tomatoes, coconut milk, lemongrass, curry and ginger. Pair with a variety of proteins, vegetables, pasta or rice.

Suggested retail price:
$5.99-$8.99/25.5 ounces.

Contact:
Aline Wolfrom, Dave’s Gourmet, Inc., 415.401.9100

Website:
www.davesgourmet.com