YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR
Local teenager debuts new hot sauce product
GALWAY, N.Y. » One local teenager is ambitiously entering the world of entrepreneurship with the recent debut of his product Van’s Hot Sauce.
Van Horvath, a 15-year-old Galway resident, started making hot sauce in his kitchen at home about two years ago.
At first, Horvath was trying to replicate a specific condiment that he and his family discovered while on vacation in the Caribbean.
“We loved it. We would always buy it and bring it home,” he said.
Then, “All of a sudden it disappeared,” he continued. “We couldn’t find it anywhere.”
So, with one bottle remaining at home, Horvath began trying to recreate the sauce.
This process took approximately two weeks and 30 attempts before he found exactly the right blend of ingredients.
“At one point I was about to give up because I couldn’t get it,” Horvath shared, but with some determination, he finally perfected the recipe, which includes vinegar, mustard, onion, brown sugar, molasses, garlic, cumin, curry powder and habanero peppers.
Not long after this victory, Horvath decided to take this endeavor to the next level by starting a hot sauce business.
Instead of just making the sauce for his family, he wanted to share the flavors of the Caribbean with others.
“I realized how good the hot sauce was,” Horvath said. “There’s not many hot sauces out there like it, and it feels like there could be a new market for it.”
Combining sweet heat with curry, Van’s Hot Sauce is a unique condiment that works well on all types of grilled meats, said Horvath, who recommends using it on roasted potatoes, seafood and crab cakes as well.
In 2020, Horvath consulted the Cornell Food Venture Center and completed a schedule process, receiving all the necessary approvals to introduce Van’s Hot Sauce into the marketplace.
Next, Horvath secured a commercial kitchen space where he now makes the product and procured a license allowing Van’s Hot Sauce to be sold in stores.
Around the holidays, Horvath made the first official batch of Van’s Hot Sauce for sales purposes. Those initial 48 fiveounce bottles sold out quickly, so for the following batch, he greatly increased the volume, making seven cases of the sauce.
Currently, Van’s Hot Sauce is featured in two retail stores, Waterwheel Village and Village Home & Garden, both in Horvath’s hometown of Galway.
When Horvath approached Village Home & Garden about his hot sauce, owner Dan Sollecito was impressed with both the product and its founder.
“He’s a Galway native, and we support local as much as possible,” Sollecito said of Horvath. “We were kind of taken by his willingness to come out and get his product in store.”
“Not to mention the product is very good, so it made it an easy sell for us,” he added.
As a store owner, Sollecito hears product pitches often and appreciated the ambition exhibited by this especially young entrepreneur. “I thought he did a fantastic job of explaining his product, and I give him a lot of credit for coming out and trying to make it happen,” Sollecito continued.
Shoppers at the small town store have provided good feedback on Van’s Hot Sauce so far, Sollecito reported, predicting that once summer and barbecue season return that it will be a hit with his customers. “We’re happy to have it in store.”
Additionally, Van’s Hot Sauce is available through shipping or local delivery.
Looking ahead, Horvath is actively working to grow the local retail presence for Van’s Hot Sauce, with hopes of getting the product into larger stores in time. He would also like to someday sell his hot sauce at a local farmers’ market.
Another long term goal for Van’s Hot Sauce is to expand the product line with some different sauces.
Though he’s still a freshman in high school, Horvath predicts that entrepreneurship, whether it’s hot sauce or another venture, will definitely be part of his future.
More information about Van’s Hot Sauce, including details on how to purchase a bottle, is available online at vanshotsauce. com.