Frank's Red Hot Sauce

"The year is 1918. In Detroit, horse-drawn carriages have fully given way to automobiles and yet who really cares? Because over in New Iberia, Louisiana, Adam Estilette and Jacob Frank partner up to create a hot sauce perfectly spiced with a rich blend of cayenne peppers. Bless their spicy hearts." 

We all know that buffalo wings were invented in 1964 in Buffalo, New York. But it was actually ONE HUNDRED years ago, that the very first bottle of Frank's RedHot Sauce was bottled! Yes, it was 1920 when Estilette and Frank bottled their magic mixture which would go on to change the world by becoming the main ingredient in our beloved buffalo wing sauces.

When Teressa Bellissimo threw together that very first batch of buffalo wings in the bar that fateful night, she reached for the Frank's RedHot (and the butter). Billions of buffalo wings have been devoured in the 56 years that have followed and most of those buffalo sauce recipes included, yes . . . Frank's.

The company was sold to Durkee Famous Foods in 1977, and in 1995 Durkee was purchased by Reckitt Benckiser Group, a British multinational consumer goods company who took the brand to the next level by creating it's own pre-made buffalo wing sauce. In the years that followed, the company added a "hot" and an "extra hot" version, a sweet chili and a chile 'n lime hot sauce,  a stingin' honey garlic sauce. 

The original sauce recipe was low on the scoville scale at around 450 SHU's (Scoville Heat Units) but their extra hot hits much hotter at 2,000 SHU's.

Frank's busted the status quo again when it created an ad campaign in 2009 which featured a sweet old granny character, Ethel, saying "I put that $#!T on everything!" It stuck.

In 2017, spice maker McCormick purchased French's Mustard and the Frank's RedHot Sauce brands for $4.2 billion. Their newest creations include "Thick Sauce" in original, honey/bourbon,  buffalo/bbq, and buffalo/ranch. They've also tacked on dry rub seasonings, dip mixes, and now even sell their own packaged wings and a bloody mary mix!

Today, Franks RedHot is by far the #1 hot sauce in the world, being sold in 20 countries.

Wings up!