Get ready to turn up the heat with Whoa Doggie, an artisan-crafted, small-batch hot sauce and salsa company rooted in the heart of East Tennessee. Founded by Heather and Billy, Whoa Doggie brings bold, homemade flavors to the table, all crafted with passion and a commitment to quality.
In this blog, we dive into the story behind this unique brand, their dedication to crafting the perfect sauces, and how they’ve enhanced their product presentation with custom labels from Wizard Labels. Whether you’re a hot sauce enthusiast or simply curious about the journey of this growing brand, Whoa Doggie’s story is sure to inspire and delight.
Customer Spotlight: Whoa Doggie Hot Sauce
Q: How would you describe your business? What types of products do you offer?
“Whoa Doggie is an artisan crafted, handmade, small batch hot sauce and salsa company based in East Tennessee.
We received our food manufacturing license from the TDA (Tennessee Department of Agriculture) and FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) in October 2023. This allows us to take our products and brand to wherever our dreams take us – local stores, national chains, US and international shipping – with no limitations to put in the work and meet our goals.”
Q: How did you start up the business, and why is your industry so important to you?
“Whoa Doggie was founded in February 2023 by husband-and-wife business partners Billy and Heather Rivet and fueled by a shared love of spicy food. Billy, a native of New Orleans and Louisiana’s Cajun country, had become an accomplished experimental home cook in search of the flavor and spice of home. Together, they would spend their time cooking up spicy foods and complaining about the lack of flavor in foods at restaurants (haha).
Having ‘joked’ about how he should make his own hot sauce, Heather bought him a hot sauce making starter kit. Well that didn’t last long, because it simply wasn’t sufficient. This kit, largely still intact, instilled a passion and obsession into Billy. Together they researched, learned, experimented and created many small batches of hot sauces for fun.”
"Billy shared his newfound passion on social media and friends and family wanted to try some. That went over wonderfully so Billy, as a graphic designer and marketing professional by trade, created the Whoa Doggie brand to sell the hot sauce creations. As the following and demand continued to grow, Heather and Billy decided to make it all legit, jump through hoops, climb through small caves and swim against the current to sell legally and make larger batches to share their flavorful sauces with the masses.
As we finish our first year commercially selling our hot sauce, we are thrilled with the consumer response and feedback. We have built a tremendous local following and repeat orders through local farmers markets and festivals. Seeing the joy in people’s faces as they taste our sauces never gets old. We are introducing our salsa for this holiday season and are confident they will go over as well as our hot sauces after the feedback received from taste testing. We are in several restaurants locally and working on getting into local stores, hot sauce and spicy condiment stores and grocery chains.
Our goal is to bring flavor to the heat and create sauces and salsas that enhance the flavor of your food and eating experience, and not just an overpowering taste of peppers and heat."
Q: How does packaging play a role in your brand’s identity?
“Your brand and your story are key to any products success. How you convey your story and live your brand will determine how far your company will go. As a consumer packaged goods company with products that have an extended shelf life, the ability for our package design to convey the brand to the consumer and visually standout in a kitchen is paramount.
Our packaging is key to building a connection with the customer and securing repeat orders, but more importantly building a loyalty to the Whoa Doggie brand. Consistency in your labels and brand design across all product offerings, and marketing efforts, builds a visual recognition with consumers to easily spot and recognize your products. “
Q: Which products do you order from Wizard Labels and why did you choose Wizard for your labels?
“Whoa Doggie orders labels for our hot sauce bottles and salsa jars from Wizard. We use White BOPP Plastic with permanent adhesive and matte laminate. After researching many different companies, we choose Wizard for their variety of printing techniques offered and their reputation in the market. The customer service, turnaround time, quality of printing and variations offered, knowledge of their products, desire to help small brands look good and grow are all reasons we would never choose another label company.
We look forward to trying out additional printing techniques for limited edition and seasonal offerings we have in the works for 2025 and beyond.”
Q: What feedback have you received on your packaging?
"The feedback on our brand and how our packaging and labels convey our brand has been phenomenal. Not a minute goes by at markets and festivals that a customer doesn’t mention our brand and labeling. We put our personality into our names, packaging design and labels and it has really helped build a consumer connection to our brand and products. It also helps draw people into our booth at crowded markets and festivals. As much joy as we get from people loving the flavor of our sauces, we take just as much pride in our customers love of our brand and visual presence. "
Q: What advice would you give to others choosing labels for the first time?
“I think the first thing I would say is to make sure your labels follow any regulations and guidelines that your industry requires. No one likes to have to reprint labels that aren’t approved by an industry’s regulatory agency.
Second, consider your target audience and design a label that will appeal to them. Is your product a high-end upscale brand, whimsical fun products, meant for men or women, etc.? Creating a label that appeals to who you are trying to sell to will help sales and build brand connection with the consumer. If you don’t have the design skills to achieve this on your own, bite the bullet and hire a designer. Getting it right from the beginning will only help you on your path to meeting your goals and expectations.”
Q: What’s next for your business? Any new products you’re working on?
"We are currently working on our 2025 event schedule but also submitting our sauces for consideration in several mail order subscription services, retail chains and local stores, as well as ramping up our Amazon store presence. We are introducing three salsas this month (a verde sauce that is a salsa version of our Guard Dog hot sauce and a medium and hot restaurant style tomato salsa that is a 60+ year old family recipe of a dear friend), have 2 new flavors of hot sauce being added to our current lineup of 6, and a line of salt free dry seasonings and rubs that we will bring to the market in early 2025."
“Our Alpha Dog hot sauce took first place in the Habanero category at the 11th Annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo held September 21 and 22 in Brooklyn, New York. The competition, appropriately dubbed the Screaming Mi Mi Awards, is one of the most prestigious awards for hot sauces and spicy foods in North America.
Alpha Dog is a blend of flavor and heat made with Red Savina Habanero peppers and garlic. We have our sauces entered into other competitions as well and plan to continue competing in 2025 with full confidence of more awards to come throughout our full product lineup.”
Want to heat up your brand like Whoa Doggie?
At Wizard Labels, we bring your label ideas to life. With our expert support, we help you create custom labels that captivate and elevate your products—ensuring they stand out on the shelves!