We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Sauchelli a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

John, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission at Jersey Barnfire is simple. Local , local, local!
We aim to keep who we source from as close to home as possible without compromising the quality of our products. After growing our own peppers, we contract grow with other area farms for some of our supply. We also utilize and support other small businesses like Harvest Drop here in New Jersey that goes to farms all over NJ, Eastern PA, and parts of NY State to procure some of the finest produce out there when we can’t get what we need around the corner. It’s important to us to embrace the ‘Garden’ in our Garden State!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We got into this industry because, as spicy food lovers, we felt the need to create something that suited our style and palate more than anything else we had already sampled. So we set our sights toward our own brand. Along the way to making a fine line of multi-award winning hot sauces, we also began applying the knowledge we acquired to help others by copacking. So not only do we make all our own sauces from scratch, but we have grown into the ability to produce, and provide consulting services for others who are either just getting started, or are looking to outsource their production. We can really help anyone at any level of their sauce making vision, from concept to execution. So far we’ve helped over a dozen small companies like ours realize their dream.
And as for our dreams, one of my oldest friends, Austin D’Almeida and I were able to make something significant from just a love of spicy food, gardening, and an idea.
Also in 2019, Jersey Barnfire Hot Sauce won the Grand World Champion Screaming MiMi award for our Indian Summer sauce at the New York City Hot Sauce Expo beating out over 400 other sauces from around the world!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

This is a great story actually! Austin and I met through a mutual friend in high school. We immediately hit it off and became close friends quickly. As time progressed and our opposite work schedules and family life took hold, we lost touch. Then one day his wife Melissa reached out to me on social media looking to reconnect. We met up to discover he was growing peppers, tomatoes, etc and we began making a hot sauce recipe I had been tinkering with together. The kicker is that Austin and Melissa met at a party at my house when we were teenagers. He met her by being at my house and it was her that reconnected us after some years had passed. That’s life working full circle to bring the right people together to do awesome things!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Austin had set money aside to start up an HVAC business of his own for which he had a concept. When we started soaring down the path to legitimacy, he offered to use that to get us the startup funding we needed to get to the next step. Due to our success, he has long since been paid back and we have grown Jersey Barnfire together into an ever evolving and expanding business!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.jerseybarnfire.com/
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jerseybarnfire
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jerseybarnfire
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/john-sauchelli-20368124a

Image Credits
John Sauchelli