There and Back Again: Rochester Based Karma Sauce Company Comes Full Circle With Wegmans Deal

Entry into Wegmans is a homecoming of sorts for a Rochester-based company that has traveled far and wide. 

Karma Sauce can now be found in Wegmans grocery stores all across the Northeast, a significant milestone for the growing company.

Over the past two years, the Karma Sauce vendor list has expanded substantially, with around 250 locations across the country (and a handful across the globe) currently carrying the sauce. But the question of whether Karma Sauce had a home at the mega-grocer was often top-of-mind. “You see, when you are from Rochester, NY and you tell someone you sell hot sauce… the first question you get asked is… ‘Are you in Wegmans?’” remarked head of sales Don Maxwell.

While it’s reputation as a grocery mecca has now extended well beyond its hometown of Rochester, Wegmans is still considered an essential part of the region’s DNA. “Growing up, you couldn’t go to Wegmans without running into someone you know,” says ‘Wegmaniac’ Christian Phillips to Business Insider. “It was like a social hub in addition to being a grocery store.” Both the Wegmans company headquarters and the one-of-a-kind “Super Wegmans”, where Wegmans showcases and experiments with new brand concepts, are still located within the city’s limits.  “The store is an amazing tribute to suburban shopping plazas” the local ROC-Wiki gushes. “To be sure, Wegmans is not to be missed.”

In addition to their common origin, both Wegmans and Karma Sauce have similarly committed to giving back to the community that supported them as they grew. Wegmans engages in extensive community outreach which only bolsters its reputation with locals. The company has been ranked #1 in the Harris Poll Societal Return on Investment Index, which measures a company’s corporate reputation for social good. In 2020, Wegmans donated 19.6 million tons of food to food banks, over 10 million dollars to community-wide donations and events, and almost 3 million dollars in hunger relief donations. 

Similarly, Karma Sauce has a longstanding partnership with FoodLink and a commitment to donating at least 5% of proceeds to charity every year. When Karma Sauce launched in 2010, company founder Gene Olczak maintained ties with the charity in a number of ways, including frequent sauce donations and participation in their annual “Festival of Food” fundraiser. Additionally, Karma Sauce has made regular donations with a portion of the company’s profits. During the height of the COVID pandemic, Karma Sauce donated the entirety of its sales for the month of April to the charity. 

And like Wegmans, Karma Sauce defines itself by the quality of its products and produce. In order to maintain these standards, Karma Sauce grows fresh hot peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillos on its company farm in Bristol, NY, and ingredients that can’t be grown on the company farm are locally sourced by some of the best farms in the Finger Lakes. Each and every vegetable is processed in-house and filled by hand at the Karma Sauce microfactory in downtown Rochester, NY. This commitment to quality has led to over 100 award wins for the company, as well as the attention of the sauce curators of the hit youtube show Hot Ones. Karma Sauce has been featured multiple times on the show, and is also the exclusive manufacturer of the Hot Ones-branded sauces Los Calientes. 

Given the similarities in outlook, origin, and commitment to quality, it only makes sense that Wegmans and Karma Sauce would eventually cross paths. Now Wegmans shoppers can find 5 of Karma Sauce’s award-winning products in the condiments aisle; Good Karma, Bad Karma, Huhu Pina, Cherry Bomb and Ghost Island. For many, it will be their first introduction to a hometown company that has been quietly amassing a national reputation. Fortunately, that’s a story Rochesterians familiar with the Wegmans brand know all about. 

To learn more about The Karma Sauce Company visit www.karmasauce.com.