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By David G. Jackson "Insane" Dave
|  "Insane" Dave Hirschkopf
Photo by Harald Zoschke |
Every business has to start somewhere. Dave Hirschkopf of Dave’s Gourmet Specialty Food Company just wanted to get some late night drunks out of his Burrito Madness restaurant in College Park, Maryland. "My plan was to mix up the hottest sauce I could and put it on the burritos. The plan worked at first. Then people began asking for the sauce, which was served in a paper cup. Some of my customers claimed that you had to be insane to use the stuff," he said. So was born "Dave’s Insanity Sauce," one of the first superhot sauces on the market. Deciding to make a business out of his hot sauce, Dave went to the 1993 National Fiery-Foods Show where his product was banned from the show. According to Dave DeWitt, who produces the National Fiery-Food & Barbecue Show (as it’s now called), "Insanity Sauce was just too hot for the normal method of tasting--getting a dollop on a cracker or tortilla. So we eventually had to come up with a method to allow the tasting of superhot sauces, and there are now many of them to be sampled. There are no problems today." The method was to allow tasting only on the end of a toothpick. Of course, this banning was the basis of a great advertising campaign. Dave’s products have since won many awards, including Scovies, the latest of which are for the Chile Head Survival Kit in the gift basket/box category and Insanity Popcorn in the snacks category. Other awards have come from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, International Mustard Festival, Fiery Food Challenge, Food Distribution Magazine, Atlanta Gourmet Show, and dozens more. Not too bad for a man named Dave who started out with a degree in Soviet Studies from Boston University. Yes, Dave does have a last name, a wife and a family. But he prefers to be known as Dave the Spice Meister. When Insanity Sauce became a hit, he moved to San Francisco and worked as a mortgage broker while selling sauce on the side. He then went full time in the sauce business and has produced more than 100 products over the last ten years. "I am basically a chef and I love to make a new recipe. We have experimented with just about everything, and some of our products have really made for great sales," he said. His kitchen and office are in the San Francisco produce district. "This is a great place to formulate products because we are exposed to so many culinary ideas. The different kinds of produce from all over the world available in San Francisco are great," he said. His products use many different varieties of chiles, including habanero Most of his heat is produced by oleoresin capsicum, or extract. "Working from a chef’s perspective we have been able to experiment and design foods that are not only fiery hot, but very tasty," said Dave. He has eight employees and uses an independent sales rep force. "Our main exposure is through hot shops and specialty food stores, but we are beginning to make sales in some mainline grocery stores." Dave does not manufacture his own products but has them manufactured by large firms. "The bigger firms have high quality standards and know all about the laws and regulations for designing and canning all of the various products we sell. We also do about two percent custom products for other firms such as restaurants, specialty shops, and companies who want their names on products," he said. In addition to California, they have excellent sales in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida and Texas. The products are also sold in Canada, England, and several European countries. "We currently have abut 60 products on line," Dave said. In developing products we have a creative process that has to take in several factors: Will the new product live up to the "Insanity" name? Will it sell? Anything that sells fast can’t be too exotic. "Hot sauces actually don’t turn too fast, so you need other products like a great pasta sauce. We experimented with all kinds of tomatoes and found that the heirloom variety was the tastiest and developed two best-selling sauces, Red Heirloom and Yellow Heirloom." Dave also produces Bloody Mary and Margarita mixes, barbecue sauce, pickled veggies, mustards, salsas, a full line of seasonings, candies, and snacks, all with Dave’s signature tasty zing! He has also branched out into other brand names such as Jump Up and Kiss Me salsa, and sauce is flavored with chipotle, mustard, curry and cocoa. The Joe’s Sauces brand includes Soak Sauce with garlic and bourbon; Grilled Fruit and Fish Glaze, and Roasted Garlic Grill Sauce. "A number of our products are made in Costa Rica in the Guana Caste region," he said.. "This is a stable country with a good workforce that can produce the volume we need. Transportation is cheap and there is no problem with meeting US pure food standards." Dave believes that business will continue to grow as long as his firm can produce innovative items that create a more enjoyable eating experience. "All the awards we have received are great, but the customer has to be satisfied and accept that our products are really innovative, unique, and a pleasure to use," he said. During the cooking demonstrations he gives, Dave comes on stage in a straight jacket, which reinforces the "Insanity" brand name. But soon the audience realizes that Dave is more crafty than crazy, and is really an excellent cook–in addition to being a successful businessman.
Dave’s Gourmet Specialty Food Company 2000 McKinnon Ave., Bldg 428 #5 San Francisco, CA 94124 800/758-0372 , 415/401-9100 Fax: 415/401-9107 www.davesgourmet.com Top of Page
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