Leo Lopez, Jordan Salvador, Benny Perez and Angel Roque are seniors who were given an assignment to develop a business plan for a hot sauce company. When they typed up their proposal they had no idea it would be anything other than a paper to submit to their teacher.

Now, their hot sauces are available in the following flavors: berry mango habanero, pineapple jalapeño, cucumber lime habanero. Each has a distinct, fresh taste. The sauces were a hit earlier in the year at the Sac Town Veg Fest that was hosted at Sac High, which prompted the team to get serious about making their plan a reality.  Karen Henderson, Edible Sac High Director, quickly put them in contact with a chef who helped them fine tune their recipes, as well as Jason Poole from Preservation & Co.

The students have been surprised about the steps needed to get the company off the ground. They have been working on their permits, licenses and other paperwork over the past few months, and are close to having all of the documents completed and submitted. When they wrote their first recipe, the ingredient list included one large cucumber. Now they are working towards specifying the precise measurements of each product they use.

Most recently, they had the opportunity to use Jason Poole’s kitchen from Preservation & Co. He hosted the students and donated the bottles, labels and kitchen time. The students produced and bottled twelve quarts of each hot sauce. They bottled a sample of each sauce and submitted it to the FDA for approval to begin mass producing the item. Poole remarked, “Expect to see these hot sauces soon, as these guys are very dedicated and excited to see their company begin to rise!”

This talented group of students each agrees they want to see their product grow to the point where it is available at any grocery store and are looking forward to getting support from people in the St. HOPE family. To stay up to date on the company’s progress, follow them on Facebook and Instagram @sangredeldragon. The students can be contacted at sangredeldragon17@gmail.com.