Introduced 1929 | Website texaspete.com | |
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Owner T.W. Garner Food Company | ||
Texas Pete is a Louisiana-style hot sauce in the United States developed and manufactured by the TW Garner Food Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The brand has 6 and 12 ounce bottles with bright red sauce, shaker top, and white and yellow label featuring the name in red and "Texas Pete," a red silhouette cowboy. Texas Pete is fairly mild, registering 747 on the Scoville heat scale. Its auxiliary branded Hotter Hot Sauce is claimed to be three times hotter than original Texas Pete. In 2015, Texas Pete introduced the "Cha!" Sriracha sauce with the marketing slogan "Embrace your "Cha!ddiction."
In 2015, the TW Garner Food Company discontinued production of its Texas Pete Chili Sauce for hot dogs and hamburgers.
History
Texas Pete hot sauce was introduced in 1929 by Sam Garner, operator of the Dixie Pig barbecue stand in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Customers asked for a spicier sauce, and the Garners concocted one with cayenne peppers.
Developing a product name, a marketing adviser suggested "Mexican Joe" to connote the spicy cuisine of Mexico. However, Thad's father Sam Garner opposed this, saying that the name should be American. Texas is known for its spicy food; this was combined with Pete, the nickname of Thad's brother Harold Garner.
Texas Pete is the third best selling hot sauce in the United States as of 2004.