His Hot Sauce Exploded. Then He SOLD 100,000 BOTTLES. Here's How

A customer opened a bottle of Lost in the Sauce and it exploded.

Fresh mangoes were fermenting inside sealed glass. Karthy pulled every bottle, went back to the drawing board, and rebuilt. Eight years later, he's sold over 100,000 bottles across retail, DTC, and farmers markets in Canada.

Karthy started making sauce in 2017 after his best friend Brandon passed away. Brandon's Trinidadian father taught him the recipe. Blank bottles, e-transfers, cash sales to friends.

Then retailers came calling.

Then TJX wanted 20x his production volume in a single order.

That forced him to scale from kitchen blenders to a HACCP-certified co-packer, and nearly broke the business in the process.

This conversation covers the real math behind retail margins, every hidden cost most CPG founders miss, and why Karthy believes revenue without profit is the fastest way to kill your brand. GUESTKarthy Subramaniam - Lost in the Sauce (LITS)Instagram: @litssauceWebsite: https://lostinthesauce.ca/ SHELF TO SCALEWeekly conversations with CPG and FMCG founders on distribution, retail, and scaling.Hosted by Devesh Tilokani