Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Richard DeSimone. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Richard, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

It is a foundational component of our business to support the Denver-area community and the good works many organizations are doing. As part of that, we donate $0.25 from the sale of each bottle. Each sauce has its own organization that we support, related to the sauce itself:

Loca Lola supports Big Dogs Huge Paws, a local large dog rescue. The sauce is named after our great dane, Lola.

Picky Ricky supports Friends Colorado, an anti-bullying organization. Picky Ricky was a mean nickname I had growing up.

Dieselbones supports The Bug Theatre, a local non-profit arts organization. Dieselbones was a nickname I got while performing stand up comedy, and The Bug is one of the places I performed.

BullHeaded supports The Family Tree, a women’s shelter that addresses the cross-section of domestic violence and homelessness. The sauce is called BullHeaded because I am a Taurus, and very stubborn. While I don’t have a personal story regarding domestic violence or homelessness, supporting women who have experienced these issues is a big priority.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Quarantine Project started when I, founder Rick DeSimone, stumbled across a hot sauce making kit while looking for snacks. It was December 2020, most everything was still shut down, and I was ansty. So this long-forgotten gift was just what I needed, not another sleeve of Thin Mints. The kit contained a variety of powdered chiles and spices and two bottles of vinegar. Not very inspiring, so I went shopping. The first sauce, which evolved into Picky Ricky, was made with oven-roasted jalapenos, garlic, onions, and not much else. I filled the 6 bottles from the kit and a Tupperware with the excess, and gifted the sauce to friends and coworkers. The feedback was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. They enjoyed the simple but deep flavor, and the sauce was gone within a week.
I ordered a case of bottles off Amazon to perfect this recipe and try another, a chipotle-lemon sauce that became Loca Lola. My friends enjoyed that one, too, and it occured to me that I might be able to sell it. I began to research what that would entail, and quickly got disheartened by the complexity of the process. Colorado has fairly stringent food laws, so even minor quantities would have to be processed in a commercial kitchen. That didn’t make sense with my schedule, so we looked into the only other plausible option – using a co-packer. That would require a minimum order of 50 gallons per sauce, and I wasn’t confident in committing to that huge of a run.
So, I consulted my friend and eventual partner, accountant Dan Steiner, and we went over the numbers in detail. We decided to run a Kickstarter, not only to raise funds but also to gauge interest and get an idea of what the demand might be. The goal was to raise $5,000 in 30 days. When we hit that goal with 10 days to spare, we knew we had something good. Less than 2 years later, I’ve gone full time and am currently working on our 5th and 6th recipes.
Our sauces are all vegan, sugar-free, and gluten-free. Most are designed to be palatable for the average foodie, we’re not going after the extreme heat that’s all the rage these days. They are savory, simple, and extremely versatile to enhance the flavor of your food without overwhelming it.
We are also very proud to contribute to our local communities. Each sauce has its own cause, and we donate $0.25 from each bottle to a local organization. Details are available on the website at qpsauce.com.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

There are so many lessons that we’ve learned over the past two years, but the biggest is adjusting to our revenue sources. We anticipated that the bulk of our business would come from online sales, and that we’d be lucky to be in 2-3 retailers within the first year. Direct-to-consumer at markets and events dominated our revenue, and we learned that when people try the sauce, they buy it. Over 70% of our samples end in purchases, and we couldn’t be happier.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met Dan Steiner when he hired me at Europtics, a local premium eyewear company, in 2013. He managed one of the stores, and we hit it off immediately. We worked very well together for 3 years before he left to pursue a career with his accounting degree. I was hesitant to take on a partner after hearing so many horror stories, but having worked with Dan for so long gave me a lot of confidence in our ability to do this together. We talked IN DETAIL about the division of responsibilities and expectations before we got started, and that has made all the difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.quarantineprojectsauce.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quarantineprojectsauce/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quarantineprojectsauce