Lost in the Sauce is bringing bold flavors and exotic sauces to the MU Student Center. Having opened on Sept. 10, owner and senior Jack Schroder plans on selling sauces produced all around the world.
The idea for Lost in the Sauce sparked from Schroder and his roommate, Robert Enyard’s, trip to Ireland.
“We stopped by this little coastal town on one of the weekends and there was this mustard at this little restaurant that was really unique tasting,” Schroder said. “So we started thinking it would be cool if we could have something obscure like that sold in the United States.”
Lost in the Sauce plans on selling all kinds of sauces like barbecues, mustards, hot sauces and other condiments. While a lot of their producers are from the U.S., many of the sauces they sell are produced internationally, such as sauces from North Africa, Asia and Europe.
Starting his business, Schroder had no clue which sauce producers to turn to or what to sell until he joined a Facebook group called “For the Love of Hot Sauce”. After putting out a post asking for information on running his own business, Schroder received over 60 comments from sauce consumers and producers around the world. The group continues to help Lost in the Sauce find its latest, unique sauces.
Schroder attributes a lot of his success to roommate Brian Dugan, who helped him with the Unions Entrepreneurial Program application. Being a business major, Dugan was able to help Schroder organize his thoughts for the business and make the storefront a reality.
“We came up with tons of ideas and different ways to [make] the business, but the hardest part was probably picking out what parts of the business we want in this draft,” Dugan said. “We had to figure out what we actually want to do, what’s realistic, what we can do with our amount of money and what’s realistic in terms of how we expect to grow.”
Lost in the Sauce aims to collaborate with campus restaurants, dining halls and Mizzou Markets to get their sauces sold in more than one location. The business has also considered asking (What’s Poppin’ Gourmet Popcorn Company LLC.)[https://move.themaneater.com/stories/on-campus/new-store-popped-into-the-student-center-this-year] to do a collaboration for “hot sauce popcorn”.
After their lease is up in May, Lost in the Sauce plans to stay local in Columbia and become a part of the Columbia restaurant community. After getting connected to Columbia, the business will potentially look at expanding to other college campuses around the U.S.
Lost in the Sauce plans to be open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can follow their Instagram @LostintheSauce_Official or their Facebook @LostintheSauceOfficial. Their website is under construction, but will be up and running soon with more information.
_Edited by Alexandra Sharp | asharp@themaneater.com_