A candle-lit dinner intended to mend a spousal dispute unexpectedly became the inspiration for a Jamaican food business now struggling to keep up with demand. Chrishaunas, the company behind Sweet and Spicy Cheese Sauce, is now expanding production, developing new products, and pursuing export opportunities.

“It was actually just a romantic gesture, basically. I was trying to make amends with my wife after a dispute, and I wanted to make a special dinner for her,” shared Anthony Reid, CEO and founder of Chrishaunas.

Chrishaunas’ Sweet and Spicy Cheese Sauce is available in mild and hot varieties. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Not a chef and rarely spending time in the kitchen, Reid said he found himself experimenting in 2014 while preparing fried chicken for a candlelit dinner.

“I wanted a different sauce. I wanted to do something different that she never had before and I never had before,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

REID…this product is actually created now to compete with ketchup. That’s what I was looking for. It does everything that ketchup can do and moreNaphtali Junior

What emerged was a cheese-based sauce unlike anything he had tasted before. Originally intended to be used as a batter, the recipe instead evolved into a dipping sauce that he says belongs in the same category as ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise. His wife’s only critique after dinner was that it “could be a bit more spicy”.

His daughter, who is now the company’s co-founder, was among the first to try the sauce. Family members and friends soon followed, with each encouraging him to continue refining the recipe. However, despite the overwhelmingly positive feedback, Reid never considered turning it into a business until a decade later. Having always pursued entrepreneurial ventures, his initial plan was to open a restaurant using the sauce as its signature product. But while discussing the idea with a friend, his business plans took a different direction.

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“It just dawned on me, like, ‘Why do you want to…do a restaurant with this sauce when you can actually manufacture this sauce and do this sauce as a business?’ ” he recalled.

Reid said his original intention wasn’t to spend years building the business. Instead, he envisioned creating the product, building the company, and eventually selling both to GraceKennedy so he could fund his clothing business. But those plans shifted after he visited the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) to license and patent the product. There, an employee who sampled the sauce was so impressed that an impromptu tasting session followed, with other staff members also giving positive feedback. The encouragement prompted referrals to Jampro and later the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), where Reid was guided through the process of formalising the business. Although the company officially started in 2024, commercial production was delayed after the introduction of preservatives unexpectedly affected the product’s shelf life.

“Once we started putting in the preservatives we found that the product was going bad quickly. It wouldn’t last more than a week, and it would go bad,” he shared.

Chrishaunas’ Sweet and Spicy Cheese Sauce sits alongside established condiment brands on supermarket shelves.

Surprisingly, the original, preservative-free recipe had remained stable for much longer.

“Before the preserve and everything we had shelf life up to a year —so that was the crazy part about it. We removed that; we fixed that. All that was fixed.”

Bottles of Chrishaunas’ Sweet and Spicy Cheese Sauce on display at a supermarket. The product is now stocked in several retail outlets across the island as the company works to increase production..

By 2025 the sauce entered the market through small vendors as Reid tested customer demand before approaching supermarkets. Networking eventually opened the door to K&M Supermarket, although he first had to convince the company’s general manager to give the product a chance.

“She gave me one day to test the product in the supermarket in Portmore. I had to do a tasting, and she took a case and put it on the shelf. It was on a consignment basis.”

Sweet and Spicy Cheese Sauce by Chrishaunas is served here with a home-cooked meal.

Under the agreement Reid was given a Saturday to promote the product in-store. If it performed well, K&M would begin purchasing the sauce. If not, he would have to take back the remaining bottles. The promotion proved more successful than expected. After being invited back for a second weekend, more than 40 bottles were sold within a week, earning the product placement in all K&M supermarkets across the island by April 2025. The sauce later secured shelf space in Loshusan Supermarket and Sampars in early 2026. Through Sampars the product has also begun reaching customers in the United States, but growing demand has created a new challenge.

“The demand that I’m having right now, I cannot fulfil,” Reid admitted.

Sangieanna Reid, co-founder of Chrishaunas, poses with the company’s Sweet and Spicy Cheese Sauce. She was among the first to sample the recipe..

Production is currently limited because the business rents manufacturing space, restricting both production time and output. As a result, raising capital to lease its own factory and expand manufacturing capacity has become the company’s immediate priority. Even as production constraints remain, Reid is already looking ahead to expanding the product line with new offerings, including a nacho bowl and another sauce he calls the “Tapa Tap Sauce”, a hotter alternative for consumers seeking more spice. Despite the product’s name, he said consumers are often surprised that it does not have an overpowering cheese taste. Instead, he describes it as a balanced, mild sauce that can be used as both a dip and an ingredient in cooking. Reid himself has even used it while preparing steamed fish, and believes its versatility makes it unique enough to be used as a cooking sauce, dipping sauce, and even a salad dressing. A hotter version was introduced this year for consumers with a preference for spicier flavours. Reid believes the product appeals to anyone looking to try something different.

“My target audience is people that are looking for a bold new taste and that enjoy food, period,” he told the Sunday Finance. “It could be a kid; it could be somebody elderly. As long as they’re looking for something new for their taste buds, they could try the Sweet and Spicy Cheese Sauce.”