BIz Bits: WSU student elevates classroom assignment into a sauce business

PULLMAN — A family recipe is the foundation of Unkle Drew’z Ginger Sauce, a business a Washington State University senior is launching from his Pullman apartment and his parents’ house.

CEO Brighton Maughan started the company with the $15,000 he won with the Herbert B. Jones grand prize in the WSU 2021 Business Plan Competition.

The condiment is prepared and bottled at a Tacoma company called SauceWorks, which does that type of work for a number of similar brands.

It goes for $9.99 a bottle at unkledrewzsauces.com. Out of three batches made, most of the second batch is sold, Maughan said.

“It has a ginger flavor to it, but it’s mixed with other ingredients like soy sauce, so it’s kind of tangy,” he said. “I would describe it as zero or one on the heat scale.”

The product is named after his dad, Edward Andrew Maughan, the chief financial officer of the company, who also runs trade shows for medical and dance equipment at Century Expo Services.

The elder Maughan, who goes by Drew, created the condiment when he worked on the East Coast as a restaurateur and served it at family get-togethers, Brighton Maughan said.

They used unkle instead of dad because that was how children referred to the fathers of their close friends in the neighborhood where he was raised.

“We’ve always talked about starting this ginger sauce business,” Brighton said. “It just kind of fell into place.”

Low-sodium and spicy versions of the sauce will be introduced soon, with updated labels that feature a caricature of the elder Maughan.

“We just wanted something that would pop a little more,” Brighton said.

They also plan to sell the product at farmers markets and get it onto the shelves of specialty food stores before expanding into large retailers such as Safeway, Trader Joe’s and Amazon.

The venture, Brighton said, is something he intends to pursue this year and after graduation.

“We’re hoping the sky is the limit,” he said.

Coronavirus relief available for business in the town of Palouse

PALOUSE — Small grants for as much as $1,000 are available as COVID-19 relief for business owners who live in the town of Palouse and other parts of the 99161 ZIP code.

The money will be awarded based on need in order of applications received for documented expenses such as rent, utilities and internet.

Applications are available at visitpalouse.com/funding.

The grants are funded by the Innovia Foundation. The Palouse Chamber of Commerce is facilitating the program.