When Brittany Futrell started selling hot sauce about a decade ago in Chapel Hill, she went door to door with the secret recipe she concocted in 2006.
Now, her sauces are on shelves at nine stores across the Southeast — with seven of them in North Carolina.
Angel Wing Sauce is now based in Raleigh and generates $40,000 annually. The mother-daughter duo makes all of their products at home and turns roughly half of the income into profit.
Futrell, founder and chief operating officer, said the inspiration for starting her own business came from her years in foster care, where she said she was being financially robbed.
“I wanted to build some type of generational wealth for my daughter and future grandkids, where nobody can take it from them,” Futrell said.
So she took her popular homemade recipe and went commercial. She received her certificate in manufacturing certified foods from North Carolina State University. Angel Wing Sauce is a certified home manufacturer based in Raleigh, listed on the N.C. Manufacturers list.
The company is also almost entirely a mother-daughter duo, with occasional seasonal help for catering events and such.
Her daughter Jada was in middle school when Futrell was selling Angel Wing Sauce door to door. Now, she is the CEO of the company.
Out of the nine stores that Angel Wing Sauce is sold in, two are located in the Triangle — at Black Farmer’s Hub and Paul’s Grocery in Raleigh.
Futrell said the duo has a lot of plans for Angel Wing Sauce heading into the future, but some will have to stay a surprise for now. What she can say is to expect new flavors coming soon.