About Lucky 19

Lucky 19: How It All Began

It all started in 2009 with a simple idea—and a little kitchen experimentation. One night, while making dinner, I decided to try creating my own barbecue sauce. I had no clue that playing around with flavors that evening would lead to something so much bigger.

As the years passed, I kept perfecting the recipe, cooking for friends and family. And time after time, I heard the same thing: “You should sell this stuff!” At first, I laughed it off, but as the compliments poured in—not just from friends, but from total strangers—I started to wonder… Could this really be something?

Then came a game-changing moment. A friend invited me to a local rib competition and suggested we enter using my Sweet Lil’ Devil sauce. We gave it a shot—and won first place! Our turn-in box was #19, and just like that, Lucky 19 was born.

2014 was a whirlwind year. I reached out to my friend Eric Bartsch for help designing labels, sending him the product names and descriptions. After a few quick discussions, he told me he’d put something together. Just a couple of days later, an email landed in my inbox with three design concepts. His message was simple: “Let me know what you think!” I opened the files and couldn’t believe it—he absolutely nailed it!

By 2015, Lucky 19 was in full swing. We teamed up with Croix Valley Foods for co-packing, and by April, we had our first full production batch ready to go. From there, we hit the ground running—getting our sauces into stores, selling at events, farmers markets, street festivals, and competitions.

And we’re just getting started. Want to see where we’ll be next? Follow us on Facebook @Lucky 19 Sauce Company and come say hi—we’d love to meet you!