Locally Owned Halo + Cleaver Revamps Keto BBQ Sauce Recipes
The three sauces hitting shelves in June are the company’s flagship Perfect Ketchup, Backyard Red BBQ Sauce, and Gold Mustard BBQ sauce, all of which have zero grams of added sugar. Each sauce was reworked to pack even more flavor while also earning Whole30, non-GMO, and Keto Diet certifications.
Halo + Cleaver, the St. Louis-based brand known for its better-for-you sauces, recently announced the launch of three re-imagined low sugar sauces and updated its packaging to be more vibrant and approachable. The revamped flavors will be available at Schnucks, as well as new retailers Fresh Thyme and Straub’s later this month.
“We set out to make the best-tasting low sugar sauces on the market, and we’re confident our newest recipes will quickly become kitchen favorites,” said Halo + Cleaver Founder and Chief Product Officer, Matt Richard, in a press release sent to EQ.
“Families are cooking at home more than ever, and they’re also more informed and empowered when it comes to putting healthy, great-tasting food on the table. Halo + Cleaver sauces are simply delicious without the sugar and artificial sweeteners that are so common in name brand sauces.”
Halo + Cleaver’s innovation centers around the use of naturally sweet ingredients such as apples, bananas, and pineapples in place of the more commonly used table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. A lifelong BBQ enthusiast, Richard developed the low sugar recipes after undergoing a health crisis in his early 20s despite exercising regularly.
“It came back to food and sugar. I realized that a few servings of my favorite BBQ sauces contained more sugar than a can of soda. I didn’t want to give up sauce, so I set out to find a no-compromise way to keep the trademark sweetness of BBQ sauce and ketchup,” said Richard.
Owned and operated by two St. Louis natives, Richard founded the company in 2019 before recently joining forces with fellow Olin Business School classmate, Rob Garwitz, who serves as CEO and Co-Owner. Already available in some of St. Louis’s largest grocery stores – including Schnucks and Dierbergs – the new recipes and expanded distribution are a key milestone in the company’s ambition to expand the brand beyond the region.
The new packaging is intended to be more playful and approachable – a reflection of the brand’s overall approach to good health as more than a diet and exercise equation.
“At Halo + Cleaver, good health is about finding balance, having fun, and connecting with friends and family,” added Garwitz. “Our new brand pays tribute to life never being as tidy and perfect as most brands make it seem.”