Karma Sauce Wins 10 Wing-Sauce Medals at the 2026 Fiery Food Challenge

The Karma Sauce Company LLC, an Upstate New York maker of small-batch hot sauces, placed in all five wing-sauce categories at the 2026 Fiery Food Challenge, the national competition held at ZestFest outside Dallas, Texas. The company says it earned 10 wing-sauce medals across all five categories, including a sweep of first, second, and third place in the Ultra Hot category.

In the Ultra Hot category, Karma Sauce placed first with Funken Hot Yellow Moruga, second with Burn After Eating, and third with Ashes 2 Ashes. The company also won first-place Golden Chiles in the Medium and Hot wing-sauce categories and added medals in the Mild and X-Hot classes.

According to the company, the results reflect its long involvement with wing sauces. Karma Sauce has produced sauces for the television series Hot Ones since 2018, and its Karma-branded bottles have appeared on the program six times.

One of the season’s featured products was the Iron Smoke Old Fashioned, a collaboration with Iron Smoke Distillery, a small-batch farm distillery in Fairport, NY. The sauce, which won the Golden Chile in the Medium wing-sauce category, draws on the classic Old Fashioned cocktail and combines the company’s signature heat with the distillery’s smoky character.

The season also set the stage for Mesa Roja. After a limited debut in Texas, the sauce earned five medals at the 2026 Fiery Food Challenge, including first-place finishes in the Smoky hot sauce and Latin condiment categories. The company says Mesa Roja is now slated for a national release.

At the NYC Hot Sauce Expo, Karma Sauce earned five awards, including Screaming Mi Mi wins for Lift Off and the brand’s Caribbean-style Ghost Island. Ghost Island added further honors in Texas and Atlanta.

“It is a thrill to do well in the wing categories. After making sauces for Hot Ones since 2018, maybe a little of that has finally rubbed off on us,” said Gene Olczak, founder and owner of The Karma Sauce Company. “I am just as proud of what comes next: a collaboration like the Iron Smoke Old Fashioned earning a Golden Chile, and a sauce like Mesa Roja winning over Texas before it goes national.”

According to The Karma Sauce Company, the business earned 36 awards across three national competitions in the past month alone, including five awards at the NYC Hot Sauce Expo and a Fire Dragon for Best Super-Hot Sauce at Hot Sauce Fest Atlanta. The company says that since its first competition awards in 2012, it has earned more than 200 honors at national fiery-food events.

2026 Season Highlights

• 10 wing-sauce medals across all five categories at the 2026 Fiery Food Challenge, including a sweep of the Ultra Hot category

• New Iron Smoke Old Fashioned, a collaboration with Iron Smoke Distillery of Fairport, NY, wins the Medium wing-sauce Golden Chile

• Mesa Roja, a breakout from its limited Texas debut, is headed toward a national release

• Lift Off and Ghost Island each earn a Screaming Mi Mi at the NYC Hot Sauce Expo, part of five Karma Sauce awards there

• Karma-branded sauces have appeared on Hot Ones six times since 2018

• 36 awards across three national competitions in the past month alone; more than 200 career awards since 2012

Karma Sauce products are sold online at www.karmasauce.com and through select retailers in Upstate New York and other regions.

Contact Information

Gene Olczak

Lead Saucer

Gene Olczak

media@karmasauce.com