Local sauce company gets Walmart deal

Jose Juarez, “The BarbaCuban,” holds his BarbaCuban 455 Everything Sauce at his marketing office Victory Solutions on Southeast First Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Juarez’ BarbaCuban 455 sauce was chosen to be sold in Walmart stores during a visit to Bentonville, AR last week. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.

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Posted October 21, 2025 | By Jennifer Hunt Murty
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Marion County’s own Jose Juarez, creator of the award-winning 455 Sauce, has landed a deal to bring his handcrafted condiment to Walmart stores.

Already sold at almost 300 Publix supermarkets, the artisan sauce will debut in 100 Walmart stores by the end of the year, with plans to expand as production scales up.

But the story of 455 Sauce began long before Walmart. Juarez first created the sauce nearly a decade ago after his wife, Kelly, encouraged him to enter “America’s New Grill Star,” a national contest hosted by “Live with Kelly and Michael” in 2015.

“So, I entered a combined Cuban sandwich and hamburger that I called the Cuban Missile — pulled pork, sweet ham, ground rib-eye steak, Swiss cheese and grilled pickles,” Juarez recalled. “I used to put mayo and mustard on it, but I knew I needed something unique to put me over the top.”

That “something” became the 455 Sauce.

“I started playing around to find the perfect sauce, and after three days, I had it,” he said.

Inspired by his love for classic cars, Juarez named the sauce after his 1971 Pontiac GTO’s 455 engine, a nod to both speed and precision. 455 Sauce is known for its rich blend of high-quality ingredients and complex flavor profile that balances smoky, sweet and savory notes. The sauce quickly gained a following through local restaurants, festivals and word of mouth before landing on Publix shelves.

Kelly said that when they returned from the competition, they started making bottles for friends to taste. When the response came back strong, they decided to test the market to see what the demand would be at a local retailer called Your Heart’s Desire.

“Once we started producing one sauce, others evolved,” Kelly remembered.

The Juarezes expressed gratitude for several other small family-owned businesses that helped them along the way.

A husband-and-wife team, Valery Valero and Romulo Martinez, who own the marketing firm Create 180, have been helping to market the brand for four years.

“When we learned about a chance to present the sauce to Walmart, I called Jose and said, ‘You all are ready. You should do this,’” Martinez said.

Walmart’s open call drew 2,500 suppliers with more than 6,000 products — but only 575 were invited to pitch their items at the company’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.

“We received notification that we were accepted to present our product to Walmart on April 30,” Juarez said. “After the presentation, Walmart notified us that on Sept. 2, they would let us know their decision.”

That message came with good news.

“On Sept. 2, we received the email letting us know that we were chosen to go to Bentonville and be part of the Walmart Open Call on Oct. 8,” he said.

Juarez and his wife loaded up their RV and made the long drive from Ocala.

“Our set time to present was Oct. 8 at 1:15,” Juarez said with a laugh. “Kelly and I both did the presentation — we brought food we made at the campsite the night before. She did a great job. We were able to play off each other with our 40 years of experience. We delivered the message to Walmart and closed the deal.”

The presentation lasted about 20 minutes and ended with a handshake that marked another milestone for the family business.

Coincidentally, while the couple was still in Arkansas, Juarez said he received an online order from a customer just 20 miles away.

“We could tell from the order that the person was likely going to be cooking a whole hog, and I had the product with me, so I called him and made the delivery in person,” Juarez said.

Juarez’s video on how to cook a whole hog using his mojo and rub — products currently sold only online — continues to generate steady orders.

Scaling up for a retailer as large as Walmart, Juarez said, is both an honor and a challenge.

“Our sauce isn’t mass-produced — it’s crafted,” he said. “It takes a lot of care and a certain process that’s hard to duplicate in bulk. But that’s what makes it great.”

One key local partner in that process is Prima Foods, owned by Celeste and Hector Vitale, who have more than 30 years of experience in sauce manufacturing.

Celeste said every attempt to make the product faster or cheaper failed.

“It’s very exclusive; the ingredients and process can’t be changed,” she said, laughing that, “We joke that we’re Jose’s home away from home.”

She credited the Juarezes’ persistence.

“It’s hard when people expect an overnight success,” she said. “One of the perks of working with a company like ours is that we can do smaller batches because when you’re developing a product, you don’t want to tie up money in inventory when you need to spend it on marketing. And Jose is great at marketing.”

The Juarezes have spent eight years promoting their product across the state. Martinez said working with them has been “refreshing.”

“They aren’t transactional,” he said. “They care who buys their sauce and how they’re going to use it — even offering personal advice. That level of personal attention makes them unique.”

Another local family-owned business, Phillips Printing, helped with packaging and labels.

“Phillips helped us design our labels and order them,” Juarez said. “I’ll never forget our first big Publix order — it was going to be picked up the next day, and we were down to the wire with labeling. Jodi and Stacie [Phillips] said, ‘We’ll come do whatever we have to do.’ And they did.”

Stacie Phillips said the partnership soon became a friendship. “My husband Jody grills, and he loves using their products,” she said.

For Juarez, the Walmart deal is more than a business milestone — it’s proof that hard work and authenticity still stand out.

“We’re proud to represent Ocala and to show that a local product with heart and quality can stand out even on the biggest shelves in America,” he said.

455 Sauce and other products are available online at 455Sauce.com and now in select Publix and Walmart stores across Florida.