Defcon Sauces 2006 Annual Report

First off, with the winning of the famous 1st Place “Golden Chili” for the “Best Hot Wing Sauce”, AND a 2nd Place for “Best Medium Wing Sauce” at the 2007 Fiery Food Challenge in Dallas, TX a couple months ago, along with the 1st and 3rd Place Scovie Awards we won last March in Albuquerque, NM, we are well ahead of the curve. That makes 4 of the largest major national awards in 1 year, not to mention the first year we competed in either event. Yeah, we’re happy. These awards have really put us on the map, so to speak, and we have been steadily working with our now-established resume to find our way into many more areas across the country.

Our largest step this year is that we have become official Corporate Sponsors of the New Jersey Devils NHL Hockey Team, which, as you can imagine, is a rather large step for us. We are proud that our company was able to make this step so quickly, and happy to join in a Major League sports operation, especially one that we’ve had season tickets to for years, this soon. Defcon Sauces currently appears on the pocket schedules for the 25th Anniversary of the Devils organization, and in their newsletters, and we look forward to doing much more with them down the line, and in their new arena next season in particular. Granted some of you out there may not be Devils fans, and maybe not hockey fans, but hopefully you do understand the impact of our small company being affiliated with a Major League sports operation in this small amount of time as being insanely huge for us.

We are expanding our exposure within the Whole Foods Supermarket chain. We are currently available in the Millburn, NJ location and also the brand new West Orange, NJ location, and are in the process of expanding to more locations. Our push into the tri-state area restaurant market will continue, as will the possible expansion into a very well-established steakhouse chain. We have also started a push into small, local gourmet outlets and hot shops, and will be expanding outside the tri-state area. So beware, Defcon Sauces may be making its way into your town under cover of darkness! We had never focused on or sought out the small shop market, but have been recently contacted by a number of locations to get our stuff on the shelves, well, gotta keep ’em happy! We have also formed the “Evil-Alliance” with Uncle Big in the Canadian market. Defcon Sauces will now have a chance to warm the frozen tundra up north to the greater Canadian area. Our start-up marketing strategy was slow to medium growth in very focused and specific markets, so as to maintain control without suffering the infamous “growing pains”. We have done just that, and have realized it’s time to add the next branch to the marketing tree.

Our next product, the long-awaited “Habby Horse”, is still in the pre-production stage, but should be available soon. Believe me, all of your e-mails have been read, and I am truly looking forward to offering this insane new product to you shortly. We are currently working on a truly unique formula which will make this different from -any- other condiment like it. Oh yes, Defcon Sauces will be on the cutting edge with this one, and not just with taste (hint)! We are also working on a couple of completely different capsaicin-based products, whose introduction will be some time next year. It is our plan to increase our product line slowly, so as to completely perfect it before it hits the market. Having said that, we also invite opinions and/or suggestions on our products all the time. Due to popular demand we have tweaked our line of wing sauces, and are phasing out the little 4 ounce bottle of our Defense Condition #1, and not only doubled the size to 8 ounces, but made it substantially hotter as well. We’ve done somewhat the same to our Defense Condition #2, now having both an 8 ounce and a 16 ounce bottle available.

We are in the process of expanding our merchandising as well. We’ve gotten many suggestions from a lot of you, and really appreciate the ideas. From glow in the dark beer coozies to a “Defcon Creator” Action Figure (you think I’m kidding), we’re considering many different options, which will most likely be available sometime next year. The addition of “special” t-shirts will be a definite plus, and is explained later. We never really planned on focusing at all on merchandise, but with some of the ideas that were received, and the overall twisted way we think, we’re going to come out with some seriously off the wall and strangely unique items, stay tuned.

We have also undertaken a somewhat unique approach in our marketing philosophy as well. We are now catering public and private parties. Nothing like having your very own “Wingman” show up at your party to serve his famous culinary masterpieces to the masses! With the recent acquisition of the “Defcon Trailer”, it allows us much more flexibility with the amount of equipment we can now show up to at an event with, so “Have Wingman, Will Party”. And yes, we do tailgates, very well I might add, stemming from years upon years of experience and practice.

We are also expanding our cultish hit, the Defcon Day, to other surrounding areas and states. So far, it looks like we will be hitting NY, MA, NJ, MD, and Toronto so far next year. If you know of a bar/restaurant that enjoys large crowds that love wings, contact us, and depending on distance and calendar dates, you never know, your town may the next one assimilated by Defcon Sauces. These events have really grown for us, and it’s a great way to meet fellow chiliheads, share a couple of beers, and just have a really great time. We have people driving from many different states to join in the fun with these, so if you find there is one near you, you should definitely check it out. With the incorporation of our infamous and ruthless wing-eating competitions now an integral part of virtually all of the Defcon Days, not only can you enjoy free Defcon wings and raffles all afternoon, but you can do it along with prizes and bragging rights at the competitions. And as an added bonus, we will be making up special t-shirts for the winners of these competitions, so you can take the bragging rights to the next level! Check out the website, www.DEFCONsauces.com, for pictures from the past events. I know we already have 2 slated for January, one in NJ and one in MA, exact dates to follow. We will be having many more Defcon Days coming up, as previously mentioned, figure one per month at least. I will be sending out, like always, the information regarding these events, once the dates are confirmed. We would love to greatly expand these events across the country, even internationally, however, at the moment, both of us having regular 9-5 jobs doesn’t quite allow it.

We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting a number of you guys out there, and look forward to meeting even more of you as time goes on and we begin expanding our event calendar. We will be setting up our booth again in March for the Fiery Foods show in Albuquerque, NM. Same place as this past year. We had a great time at the last one, and with the increasing number of people that will be attending, the next one should definitely be a weekend to remember. Next year will also be the next releases of the Defcon ZERO (Batch #4 & #5). If you thought the last releases were interesting, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

Between myself and The Createss, we are having an absolute blast with our little company, and are meeting friends we never knew we had all along the way. The e-mails we receive almost on a daily basis, supporting us and our products are great, and it makes us realize we’re not just selling the best damn wing sauce on the market, we’re forging friendships with people we never would have met if we didn’t follow a dream. The best part is, this dream seems to have become a reality, and I’m glad to say that this reality is here to stay.

Just as a little insight into the behind the scenes stuff at DEFCON HQ, we have expanded our market to include sales/distribution in 43 states and 9 countries, and are currently in the negotiating process of landing major distribution channels to many more, including The Netherlands, Southeast Asia, and Germany. I can truthfully say I never expected this, but it’s fun riding this seemingly endless wave of positive energy, not to mention being a couple more steps closer to Global Domination, the supreme goal in any business plan.

Hopefully this report will shed a bit of light on our company. We are quite proud of our accomplishments thus far, and are looking forward to many more. With the fun we’ve had with our products, I find it hard to stop trying to come up with new and original ideas. The sky is the limit when it comes to originality, which is half the fun. We look forward to many more ideas, and welcome any input and/or ideas you and others may be willing to share with us. We take our customers very seriously, and have tweaked many things in the past couple of years to make things easier and just plain better overall. It is you who inspires us, and gives us ideas and direction. You have all given in some part, and helped us evolve our business venture into something I wouldn’t have believed 3 years ago, before the inception of Defcon Sauces. We look forward to keeping our ideas fresh and new, and with your input, however subtle, it will allow us do so.

We here at Defcon Sauces would like to thank each and every one of you for your support of our company. It’s great to know there are this many cool people out there, and the knowledge that there are many more we just haven’t met yet. It makes our journey into the unknown that much more intriguing.

John & Maggie