For Randy Pulayya, pepper sauce is more than heat or flavor. It is about family, memory, and preserving Caribbean food culture, the mission behind West Indies Peppa Sauce (WIPS), a brand dedicated to sharing and safeguarding the culinary heritage of the Caribbean.
Pulayya is the founder of WIPS, a Caribbean-owned food brand based in Orlando, Florida. Launched less than two years ago using his great-grandmother’s recipe, the company is rooted in a single mission: to ensure Caribbean flavors survive across generations.
“Our brand represents the 42 million Caribbean diaspora,” Pulayya said. “When grandma and mom pass on, the flavors don’t have to disappear. They’re still here for future generations.”
That message has resonated beyond Caribbean households. In about 20 months, WIPS has expanded from local farmers’ markets to placement in Sprouts Farmers Market locations across Florida. The brand has appeared on “Hot Ones: Caribbean Edition” and was featured among the top five products at the Fancy Food Show, where Martha Stewart described WIPS as “Caribbean sunshine in a jar.”
West Indies Peppa Sauce has also earned multiple international food awards, all without private equity backing.
The company’s growth coincided with major personal setbacks. Pulayya was laid off from his corporate job on his 40th birthday, just one month after launching the business. Three months later, his wife and co-founder, Shauna Vo Pulayya, lost her job as a marketing director.
“We told our kids, when life gives you peppers, we make pepper sauce,” Pulayya said.
Raised in Richmond Hill, Queens, known as “Little Guyana,” Pulayya spent two decades working in corporate consulting roles for companies including UPS and DHL Express. While financially successful, he said the work left him disconnected from purpose.
“I was chasing the money,” he said. “But I realized food culture is dying, and I couldn’t sit back and watch that happen.”
Pulayya’s perspective was shaped by extensive travel. He and his wife have lived and worked abroad, including a year teaching English in South Korea and time in Vietnam, where they operated a small manufacturing business. Together, they have visited more than 60 countries across six continents.
“That taught us that food is culture,” he said. “You don’t learn that from a Netflix show. You have to live it.”
West Indies Peppa Sauce reflects that philosophy. The company currently offers red and yellow Scotch bonnet pepper sauces, both vegan and gluten-free, with short ingredient lists that include peppers, cucumbers, vinegar, salt, and turmeric. The sauces are designed to emphasize flavor over heat.
“We’re flavor first, spice second,” Pulayya said. “If you want more heat, you add more sauce.”
The sauces are packaged in jars rather than bottles, a nod to Caribbean households where pepper sauce is often shared at the table with a spoon. Customers use it on eggs, seafood, curries, fried chicken, and even cocktails, Pulayya said.
Beyond the product, Pulayya views the brand as a stand against cultural erasure.
“There’s a lot of ‘teefing’ going on in food,” he said, using Caribbean slang for stealing. “Big brands imitate cultures they don’t belong to and profit from it. We’re unapologetic about who we are.”
That authenticity has helped WIPS compete with celebrity-backed brands that have far larger marketing budgets. The company recently won International Favorite Sauce of the Year in both 2024 and 2025 for its red and yellow Scotch bonnet sauces.
Pulayya credits the growth to relentless work, including 25 farmers’ markets a month, thousands of miles driven for in-store demonstrations, and direct customer engagement.
“This idea that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life, that’s a lie,” he said, laughing. “We’ve been working nonstop. But we do it with gratitude.”
Next, the company plans to expand retail distribution in the U.S. and internationally, while developing new products, including jerk sauce, curry sauce, green seasoning, and a Caribbean-inspired alternative to hot honey. Those launches are currently paused as the company focuses on scaling responsibly.
“We’re not trying to make a quick dollar,” Pulayya said. “We want to be around, just like the brands we grew up with.”
Customers often tell Pulayya the sauce reminds them of a grandmother or parent who has passed away, a flavor they believed was lost.
“That’s nostalgia,” he said. “That’s culture. And once it’s gone, you can’t get it back.”
West Indies Peppa Sauce retails for $15 per jar on the company’s website and $18.99 on Amazon.
“My advice is simple,” Pulayya said. “Get a jar. Taste it for yourself.”
For Pulayya, each sale represents more than revenue. It is a way to pass Caribbean culture forward, one spoonful at a time.
“We’re only just getting started,” he said. “And we’re grateful for everyone on this journey.”
