Ewing builds on his hot sauce success

Is Rick Ewing a builder who makes hot sauce, or is he a hot sauce maker who builds?

Either way, the Seaford resident has carved out a niche business as the only person who makes his own hot sauce in Delaware.

The Delaware Sauce Company had humble beginnings in Ewing's kitchen, but continues to grow. He's sold 85,000 bottles of sauce in his part-time business.

He sells to restaurants in bottles or in bulk to be used in their own recipes, and he has several outlets where his sauce is sold, including his Seaford store. He's shipped his sauce to locations all over the United States.

His signature trademarked Eaglewingz Chesapeake Brand Hot Sauce is finding its way to more and more restaurant tables either under its own name or under more than 40 private labels. Recognizable private labels in the area include Texas Roadhouse, Big Fish, Fins and Woody's.

Hot sauce cooked in his own kitchen

Ewing said the idea for his hot sauce developed in 1988 out of a personal desire to have his own hot sauce at home to put on wings. “I used whatever I had in the kitchen,” he said.

He served it at parties, and his friends really liked his sauce. “They told me that I needed to do a little more and bottle and sell it,” he said.

The light bulb went off. With the help of his daughter, Cassie, he ordered 20 cases of bottles to get his part-time business off the ground. “I would give away 10 cases and sell the other 10 cases on consignment. It grew from there,” he said.

It wasn't long before the business grew to the point he had to move out of the house, and he opened a store on Phillips Street in Seaford. Two part-time employees work weekends cooking and bottling the sauce.

When not on a construction job site, Ewing has been on a mission to promote his sauces at events all over Delmarva. He also attends as many national hot sauce expos as his busy schedule allows.

Early on, he says, his business got a big boost thanks to Chip Hearn of Peppers in Lewes who allowed him to sell his sauce at the store and also set up tasting events.

Working to get on tabletops

While his signature sauce recipe has remained unchanged, Ewing experiments with other ingredients to create unique sauces. He's excited about selling his Delaware Peach Hot Sauce at the new T.S. Smith & Sons market on U.S. 13 in Bridgeville.

“I'm always thinking about other recipes. There has to be something for apple sauce,” he said with a laugh. “My sauce is not super hot so it appeals to everyone; it's the flavor and not the heat. It's an easy sell for me,” he said.

He also has a sauce named after his daughter, Cayenne Cassie.

Ewing says his sauce has a slight crab taste and is great on seafood, but it can enhance the taste of all kinds of meat.

“The most valuable real estate for a sauce is a table top. I'm fortunate to be on at least 30 table tops in some very nice restaurants,” he said.

And he plans for that number to grow rapidly over the next few years as he continues to market his sauce.

His said his sauce is getting more and more popular in Delmarva towns associated with seafood including Cambridge, St. Michaels, Easton and Tilghman Island in Maryland and Chincoteague, Va.

He said the Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington, D.C., area is a growth area he wants to tap into more. He has a distributor who sells his sauce in that area, but wants to personally get involved in marketing there.

Locally, his sauce is available at Grub Grocery in Rehoboth Beach and Lewes Fishhouse in Lewes. Mail orders are accepted through his website, eaglewingzhotsauce.com.

He has also developed some distinctive bottle labels over the past four years thanks to work provided by Zeke Wing of Impact Graphix in Bridgeville.

Ewing has presented his business story twice at the nationwide One Million Cups program hosted by Delaware Technical Community College. The program provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to present their business to local business people.

He's also owner of R.L. Ewing Company, a Seaford-area construction company.

Sauce recognized with awards

In 2014, Bon Appetit Magazine selected his sauce as Delaware's representative in a listing of the the best hot sauces across the United States. He's been named a Best of Delaware winner and in 2016 garnered third place in New Orleans competing against sauces from 36 states and 18 other countries.

Recently, he won a Screaming MiMi Award at the annual New York City Hot Sauce Expo for his pineapple teriyaki sauce.