North Carolina Father And Son Are Hot Sauce Moguls
I think, even if they don’t want to admit it, fathers would feel a sense of pride if their offspring chose to follow in their footsteps in terms of chosen profession. Moreover, if father and child can find a way to be successfully in business together? Well, that might be a whole other level of pride. Perhaps, such is the case with Gastonia father and son who have turned their Elijah’s Xtreme Hot Sauce from a garage hobby into a multi-million-dollar business.
Origin Of Elijah’s Xtreme Hot Sauce
Up until 2014 Bret Morey and his son Elijah’s hot sauce curation had just be a family hobby in the garage. It was at the time, while Elijah was attending a Gastonia, North Carolina high school, that he began taking samples in for his friends to try. He’d collect the feedback. The Morey’s would tweak things with recipes. They even sold some on Amazon that year. And for the next few that followed, their hot sauce business was just an elevated, fun hobby.
Elijah’s Xtreme Hot Sauce Gets Serious
Once Elijah graduated from Anderson University in 2020, father and son decided to see what could become of their hot sauce hobby. The Morey’s dumped their garage for a new base of operation: a 2500-sqaure-foot warehouse in Ranlo, North Carolina. Keep in mind, 2020 was the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Can you imagine trying to grow a business during THAT?! No thanks. However, the Morey’s planted their flag in a social media marketing campaign and now? That 2500 square feet isn’t enough space. The Morey’s business, named Elijah’s Xtreme is curated from a 12000-foot-warehouse and generated nearly $5 million in sales last year!
Where Does Elijah’s Xtreme Hot Sauce Go From Here?
As great as $5 million in sales sounds (and don’t get me wrong, it’s GREAT!), the overall sales of hot sauce and hot sauce related products in this country is more than $1 billion annually. So, it comes as no surprise when Elijah Morey tells the Charlotte Observer, “’I’m not going to be satisfied when we hit $15 million (in revenue). I think we’ll be a $1 billion company. We will be a food brand.”