From the start, 32 years ago, Danielle’s Sauces has been a family business, crafting all natural, low-salt gourmet sauces perfect for dipping, marinating, glazing and finishing foods.
“We opened our first restaurant and were unhappy with the sauces supplied to us by the food brokers,” recalls Danielle Caplan, co-owner of Danielle’s Sauces with her husband, Marc. She created two sauces, Sweet Chili Sauce and Teriyaki Sauce, for which customer demand drove the family’s decision to bottle and sell them.
Danielle’s Sauces won national awards and national attention from Martha Stewart and the Better Homes and Gardens TV network. However, the national attention also brought its challenges.
“In 2006, we were in 3,000 grocery stores, which was a horrible experience for us,” Danielle says. “In late 2006, we ended all our relationships with brokers, distributors and grocery chains, and became an online company.”
Known by her family as “the sauceologist,” Danielle focused on appealing to online customers by expanding the company’s line of sauces, adding to the two originals: Chiliyaki, Sweet BBQ, Smoke & Spice BBQ, A-Too Savory, Sweet Jalapeño, Sweet Habanero and Extra Hot Habanero. Two more flavors are nearly market ready and another is in development.
In 2021, John Boyle of Market of Choice approached Danielle and Marc about our MOJO program, designed to help food and beverage makers develop distribution solutions.
“We started doing business with MOC in early 2022,” Danielle says, “and we could not be happier.”
As Danielle continues to develop gourmet sauce recipes, the family business is going strong, with Marc in charge of business-to-business sales and day-to-day operations, their daughter Charisse heading business-to-consumer sales and social media, and Danielle’s niece and her husband, Katherine and Tolo Tuitele, serving as webmasters and marketing creatives.
“We have always been a family business,” says Danielle, and she is grateful for the support from Market of Choice: “Far and away, the best grocery chain program for small vendors we have encountered in 32 years in the business.”
