Sauce maker gets Whole Foods deal
Washington Business Journal
By Missy Frederick, Staff Reporter

Friday, May 15, 2009

Chef Keaton Hopkins has been seduced by Italy.

Ever since the 26-year-old chef spent eight months cooking there, he has been hooked on making sauces, pastas and everything Italian.

“It was weird because with all the restaurants I’ve worked in, I’ve enjoyed it, but I didn’t enjoy it the way I enjoy cooking Italian food,” Hopkins said.

Now, he is putting his love — and experience — to good use.

Hopkins’ company, McLean-based Cucina 39, which produces Italian food items with an emphasis on sauces, just signed a deal to make four sauces for grocer Whole Foods Market Inc.

The sauces will be available in 36 stores in D.C. and seven states, including Maryland and Virginia, beginning in July.

The deal is a boon for Cucina 39, which Hopkins just recently started. Its products are currently available in some Wegmans grocery stores, as well as smaller outposts such as McLean’s My Organic Butcher.

Hopkins, who would not disclose revenue figures, said it will be some time before the company is profitable enough for him to make a good living. “But we’re doing well and growing fast,” he said.

In the meantime, like any good entrepreneur, Hopkins is finding chances to showcase his goods wherever he can.

One spot is Romantic Deli and Pizzeria in Great Falls, where Hopkins prepares a daily lasagna dish for sale. He is investigating possible outlets for his sauces in Richmond and other areas.

And if Cucina 39’s Whole Foods Sauces, available in such flavors as garden vegetable and porcini mushroom, do well, Hopkins has the opportunity to expand to seven additional markets each year.

He has worked in such local kitchens as the former Maestro in Tysons Corner and The Occidental in downtown D.C. Hopkins also spent some time as a personal chef for business executives and athletes, including the Washington Redskins’ Shawn Springs, before going into the sauce business.

Still, he can’t stop thinking back to those years spent in Italy.

“We learned how olive oil was preserved, we visited Parma and learned how to make parmigiano reggiano,” Hopkins said nostalgically.

The 39 in Cucina 39’s name? Italy’s country code, of course.