Imagine quadrupling your bottom line in one year. That is a possibility for Mike Konefal, owner of Flagstaff-based RisingHy. For the 31-year old businessman whose products have been picked up by Sprouts, the future looks better each day.
After producing his popular sauces in borrowed spaces, two years ago, Konefal purchased the Tortilla Lady on Fourth Street, where people can find his products easily. In addition to his popular Habanero Hot Sauce, Honey Mustard, Habanero Olive Oil, GreenGo Sauce and Citrus Habanero Salt, fans of the preservative and lard-free tortillas can still get their fill in Flagstaff.
More than a decade ago, Konefal was given a make-your-own hot sauce kit; he enjoyed the process and began improving upon it, quickly making a name for himself among his circle of college friends. Upon graduation in 2005, he formed an LLC for his hot sauce company while accepting a job as a pharmaceutical representative. Konefal began focusing on his own business a year later. While working for Taryn Beveridge at Cuvee 928, who allowed him to use the restaurant’s kitchen on Sundays, he was able to make sauce for sale.
Momentum gathered when the Tortilla Lady became available. “My brother told me I should buy it and I told him he was crazy because I didn’t know anything about tortillas,” Konefal said. But he took the leap and has not looked back, enjoying his commercial kitchen and Fourth Street storefront, and keeping locals happy with the well-loved, preservative-free tortillas.
But the space is not ideal. The oven and press were built in 1975. Tortillas are made Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, sauces on Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Saturdays. Supplies are shuffled back and forth from a shed each day and the kitchen is vigorously wiped down because Konefal’s product line is gluten-free. “It’s very important for someone who [has] celiac [disease], and for us it’s very important that we don’t have any cross contamination.” The RisingHy brand is certified gluten-free. And if Konefal expands the Tortilla Lady line to include large burrito sizes and corn tortillas, a bigger kitchen would be in order.
For now, Konefal is making it work. He and sales manager Dawn Stoyer have worked together for the past four years, doing farmer’s markets and learning the ins and outs of the grocery store business. A big break came a year ago when Konefal received a call from a distributor he knew. “He said, ‘I’m sitting here with a national buyer for Sprouts and he loves your sauces and the packaging.’” Konefal says Sprouts was a good fit for RisingHy’s specialty sauces.
In August, Konefal was doing demonstrations and offering samples during a Flagstaff Sprouts grand opening event. Some company executives took notice of his positive energy and decided RisingHy would be a good choice for a pilot Meet the Brand marketing project. “It is pretty much their campaign on meeting a small brand that’s going big and showing a grassroots movement, farm to table.” In addition to a newly released video, RisingHy product demonstrations are scheduled for many of the company’s more than 170 stores, including 50 locations in California. Konefal says he is appreciative of Sprouts’ management team that is working to help him succeed.
2014 has seen more than 4,000 bottles of sauce created, each labeled by hand. If RisingHy continues its ascent, co-packing operations could be set up in other states. “If I make it [the sauce] here and I have to ship it, freight costs are astronomical.” Co-packers would use the exact recipe, make the product and send it out regionally. “I’d like to keep the test kitchen in Flagstaff,” Konefal said.
Manager Dawn Stoyer-Graham credits the community for helping build the brand. “Starting out working at our local farmers market it was an amazing experience to be able to shake the hands and see the smiles of the people who have such passion in supporting our RisingHy product,” she said. Stoyer-Graham’s long-term goal for the company is for RisingHy to be a household name.
As Konefal’s brand grows and demand increases, he plans to continue involvement in the community. He enjoys participating in panels and other talks at Northern Arizona University, and would like to help restaurant owners and others who want to bottle their products.
On a personal note, the hot sauce entrepreneur plans to be married to Flagstaff native Erin Middlebrook next year. FBN
2114 N. Fourth Street, Flagstaff, AZ 86004
928-853-3810
To watch RisingHy’s Meet the Brand video, Click Here.
By Theresa Bierer
Flagstaff Business News