Pandemic entrepreneurs started over 4 million new businesses in the U.S. during 2020—the highest total on record. People responded to forced furloughs, layoffs, and business closures by starting small businesses. Some started simply out of boredom and needing to pass the time. That was how Wholly Fire Foods from Hattiesburg started.
James Louis, a retired teacher, enrollment officer, and recruiter for Tougaloo College, and his wife found themselves at home, looking to pass the time. Louis, an avid cook suffering from high blood pressure, decided to try gardening.
“COVID hit, and my wife and I ate a lot,” explained Louis. “We decided to start a garden.”
They grew all the traditional Southern things, but by September 2020, the carrots, tomatoes, ginger, and peppers were abundant.
“We enjoyed what we wanted and had a ton of surplus,” shared Louis. “So I started making sauces.”
Louis served his first sauce over salmon and shared it with a neighbor. It was such a hit that Louis recalls hearing his wife say, “If you don’t put this sauce on the market, I’m going to leave.” With a big laugh, Louis said, “I did like any man; I went to the other room and flipped a coin. Heads make the sauce. Tails get divorced.” Of course, Louis’s wife got her wish, and together, they started turning homemade sauce into a thriving business with little to no formal marketing campaigns.
“I like to cook; I have been cooking since I was a baby,” explained Louis. “My mother came from the Mississippi Delta from a little town called Drew, and they salted and buttered everything!”
Louis has been managing hypertension for years and understands the importance of lowering sodium in his diet as much as possible. “Hot sauce companies count on your taste buds wanting more salt. Where I was determined to strive for more flavor.” Genesis, Louis’s original hot sauce, has 3 mg of sodium per serving compared to Louisiana Hot Sauce’s 200 mg of sodium per serving. Wholly Fire Foods can achieve this by using sea salt with a more robust flavor, requiring less.
Utilizing the Mississippi Cottage Food Law, which allows private citizens to sell certain food products made in their home kitchen without following the Mississippi State Department of Health permitting requirements, Louis ordered bottles and labels and started peddling their product. “We ordered 60 bottles off of Amazon, bottled the Genesis recipe ourselves at home, and knocked on neighborhood doors,” said Louis. “Once we sold those 60 bottles, we were good; I felt like I had done what I wanted to do.” But Louis would receive a phone call three days later that changed everything.
“Remember now, I live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and have not promoted our products to anyone but our neighbors,” emphasized Louis. “I received a phone call from a chef out of New Orleans! He wanted 30 bottles for his restaurants.” One of Louis’s neighbors who had purchased several of the original 60 bottles of sauce was the parents of the restauranter. “I told him I didn’t have 30 bottles, nor do I want to go to jail for breaking the cottage law and selling out of state.” Louis did what any good entrepreneur would do: sold 30 more bottles to his neighbors down the straight fair and square, and they gifted them to their son in New Orleans.
As the interest in Wholly Fire Foods grew, so did the flavors. Louis chose Wholly Fire Foods because they believe their foods are wholesome and wanted to share their spiritual beliefs. The original sauce is Genesis, and the final sauce is called Revelation. In between, there are Wholly Ghost and Wholly Smokes, which offer more intense, but not too hot, flavors. Flambeaux and Revelation will give you the most heat but with a unique flavor that will leave you wanting more. There is also a BBQ sauce, Lee and Mary’s, inspired by his Aunt and Uncle. Louis’s secret ingredient in all his products is ginger. “Adding the ginger to each sauce helps balance out the peppers,” shared Louis. “People who have acid reflux from hot sauces tell us they can enjoy our products with no problem, thanks to the ginger and wholesome ingredients.”
By December 2020, with only word of mouth, not even a social media presence, Wholly Fire Foods was averaging 480 bottles a month. By February 2021, it had reached 1,000 bottles a month, and Louis knew he had to make a giant leap of faith. “We knew we had to go through the hoops to get a commercial license and turn it over to a manufacturer so we could ship out of state and get some personal time back to grow the business,” said Louis.
Wholly Fire Foods has shipped to all but 5 of the 50 states. “Shipping to Alaska without marketing blew our minds!” exclaimed Louis. Wholly Fire Foods is also a part of the Genuine MS Program, started by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, to make it easy to find products created or produced by Mississippi farmers and entrepreneurs. With the help of Genuine MS, Wholly Fire Foods is positioning itself to go international and be in the commissaries of the U.S. Military stationed overseas.
Louis finally got a website from which people can order and started a presence on social media. “It’s crazy that it’s the people who have made this happen,” shared Louis. “We haven’t paid for any marketing. Look where the fine folks who liked and shared it with others have gotten us.” When asked for his best advice for entrepreneurs, Louis said, “The biggest lesson I’ve learned in this process is patience, patience, and patience. And more patience! You have to be patient with the entire process. You can’t just say I will be a millionaire overnight. You’re going to lose. You have to be patient with yourself. You’re going to mess up. But you’re also going to learn.”
