Deirdre Deel, left, owner of No Holds Barred Sauces LLC, accepts a ceremonial check from Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority Funds Administrator Jean Jordan representing the VCEDA Seed Capital Matching Grant the Haysi-based business received.
HAYSI, VA – August 20, 2018 — When it comes to flavor, there are no holds barred by Deirdre Deel, of Haysi, owner of No Holds Barred Sauces LLC. From her home kitchen in Dickenson County, Deel makes, bottles and distributes specialty sauces and jams from a Spicy Chipotle Honey Sauce to a Sweet and Tangy Bourbon Sauce. Then there’s the Blueberry Bourbon Jam, a Raspberry Chipotle Jam, a Peach Chipotle Jam and her newest, a Banana Rum Jam.
Deel’s new business was the recipient of a recent Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) Seed Capital Matching Grant for $4,500.
“The seed capital matching grant helped me tremendously,” Deel says. “l needed a lot of supplies to build up my inventory so that as orders come in, I can fill them. Getting our online store started was another critical part of being able to get the sauces to market.”
“VCEDA was pleased to be able to assist No Holds Barred Sauces with the match funding needed to help the new company to grow,” said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. “The seed capital matching fund was established to help provide entrepreneurs with funding they needed to implement and build their business.”
Deel worked with Margie Douglass at the Small Business Development Center at Southwest Virginia Community College to develop her business plan.
She notes that the sauces and jams No Holds Barred Sauces makes have been tested and evaluated by Virginia Tech which also led to approval by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for her to receive a home processing permit to produce the goods. Currently, there are four different sauces and three jams in the No Holds Barred Sauces catalog.
“I have several different ideas for more products,” Deel says, noting all the current sauce and jam flavors available are listed on the business website at www.noholdsbarredsauces.com.
She notes the sauces are her best sellers with the No Holds Barred Sweet & Tangy Bourbon Sauce and its Spicy Chipotle Honey Sauce at the top of that list. On the jam side of the business, the most popular is Raspberry Chipotle Jam.
She makes the jams and sauces in smaller batches which she says enhances the taste and quality of the product since it is not mass produced.
Eight jars at a time for jams; or two gallons at a time for sauces is the general recipe followed. Sometimes multiple batches are made to fill larger orders. All of the products have a one-year shelf life.
The jar label is one Deel designed and the tagline, “Sauce Up Your Life,” is one she came up with and uses to promote the flavor found in both the sauces and jams.
In addition to developing a website, Deel says she also started blogging and at least monthly talks about ways to use the sauces and jams. In her most recent blog, it’s all about pairing the sauces with “Garden Goodness.” The July blogs focused on smoked stuffed burgers and replacing traditional condiments on a hot dog, or at least adding another flavor to it, by using a No Holds Barred Sauce.
Deel says she has also spent a lot of time learning about Facebook and Instagram because of the ability to reach large numbers of people through those social media platforms.
Repeat customers, she adds, are a staple of the business. Just recently, she began wholesaling the sauces and jams to two locations. Haysi Supply in downtown Haysi, Va., began carrying them and when the new Tazewell County Mercantile opens in that county, it plans to offer the sauces and jams for sale along with other locally sourced foods as well.
Deel says plans are in the works to visit a number of holiday fairs and festivals, as well as Farmers’ Markets to offer the No Holds Barred brand for sale at those.
“You have to have a lot of inventory to do those events,” she says.
Each batch takes about two hours to do and at present, Deel says she is helped in the kitchen by husband, Scotty; and sons Damon, age 22; and Dawson, 17. It’s a family endeavor as fresh ingredients are chopped and seeded and sized just right for the product being made.
“It takes a lot of supplies to make the sauces and jams, from the bottles and jars to the labels with our name on them,” Deel says. When they are made, they either go directly to the consumer who purchased them or in an inventory storeroom Deel has developed in the home. Plans in the future call for the business to add two more full-time positions in addition to her and five part-time positions within five years.
When it comes to future flavors, Deel indicates she is always thinking about ingredients one might put together to come up with something unique and different. One might say the sky’s the limit on the flavor combinations possible, but Deel prefers to think of it as if there are no holds barred on the sauce and jam flavors she might put together in the future.
About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Virginia’s e-Region: The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the region’s economy and help create jobs, markets Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship. VCEDA is a unique economic development organization that manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. Located in southwestern Virginia, the region includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton. www.vceda.us or www.e-Region.org.
About the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority Seed Capital Matching Grant Fund: VCEDA region for-profit businesses one year and under with less than 10 full-time employees are eligible to apply for dollar-for-dollar matching grants up to $10,000 from the VCEDA Seed Capital Matching Fund. Applicants work with the Small Business Development Centers at Mountain Empire and Southwest Virginia community colleges to prepare the applications to VCEDA that include detailed business and financial plans. Businesses must be located in or plan to operate in the VCEDA region in southwestern Virginia that includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton.