By Eshaan Mani
Three brothers from Katy, Texas, are saving rhinos halfway across the world by selling their mom’s homemade creamy cilantro sauce.
13-year-old George, 16-year-old Luke, and 18-year-old Ayden, along with their mother, Traci Johannson, run 3SonsFoods, a salsa company that donates the money from each sale to the International Rhino Foundation and Endangered Rhino Conservation.
Luke’s passion for protecting rhinos from illegal poachers was quickly realized as an opportunity to fulfill the family’svision to make the world a better place through entrepreneurship.
“Before 3SonsFoods, our mom would make this amazing salsa as gifts for friends, neighbors, and our teachers,” Luke said. “Around the same time, I had begun fundraising for rhino conservation by collecting donations in lieu of birthday gifts along with other community outreach efforts. We saw an opportunity to make the world a better place and seized it!”
3SonsFoods started as a homegrown operation, making Diablo Verde salsa to raise money for rhino conservation, with the brothers working in the kitchen and their mom handling marketing. “When we were filling jars with salsa in our home kitchen, we never imagined we’d be where we are today,”Ayden said.
In 2017, 3SonsFoods donated $500 to the International Rhino Foundation, and in 2018, they doubled the donation to $1,000. To date, the company has donated more than $17,000 to IRF and ERC.
3SonsFoods was crowned Grand Champion in H-E-B’s 2019 Quest for Texas Best, which the brothers say was the foundation of continued growth onto store shelves across the country. Karah L. was one of many customers who found out about the company after they began selling their salsa at H-E-B.
“I first learned about 3SonsFoods when I saw them on an episode of ‘Localish,’” she said. “Soon after, I found their products at my local H-E-B and have been a loyal fan ever since! Their sauce has more flavor than any other sauce I’ve tried, and I’ve tried a lot.”
Karah said she was drawn to the company’s mission. “Most companies create a product and tack on a philanthropic component later,” she said. “When you follow 3SonsFoods on social media, however, you get the chance to see who they are and their passion for saving wildlife.”
Karah said she would like the company to make the sauce available in larger sizes, try out a chipotle pepper red sauce, and make their Diablo Enchilada Recipe available in the frozen section.
Currently, Diablo Verde is distributed by retailers like H-E-B, Fresh Thyme and Albertsons, and it is available on Amazon.com for purchase. By the end of this summer, the company will have its products on more than 1,000 store shelves in the U.S., two international markets, Amazon, and Walmart.com.
The brothers say that each sibling plays their part in the business; Ayden is the “shipping master” responsible for managing shipping logistics to retailers nationwide. Luke is the “inventory wizard” and keeps tabs on the company’s product to ensure demand is met. George is the “design genius” and often serves as his mom’s right-hand man, managing tasks such as product development, marketing and social media.
They all agree that their success came with its fair share of struggles.
Ayden said it was very challenging to keep 3SonsFoods running during the pandemic. “Launching a new product line, Diablo Vegan, at the start of the pandemic came with several production roadblocks, including glass and paper shortages, price increases on all of our ingredients, and challenging shipping and distribution logistics,” he said.
With the new Diablo Vegan product line, 3SonsFoods expanded its conservation efforts to support the St. Francis Wolf Sanctuary. In the future, Ayden says he hopes to support sea life as well.
Additionally, the brothers admit that it can be tough to balance school and work. “It’s important to excel in our education to gain the skills we need to continue building a thriving business,” Luke said. “We’ve had to sacrifice R&R time, and all of our friends have probably had to help jar some salsa at some point.”
The boys’ mother, Traci Bourque-Johansson, has supported the boys every step of the way. “From sharing her creamy cilantro salsa recipe and lugging us and our products to farmer’s markets and competitions across the state to pitching national retailers to get our product on store shelves, she’s been through it all with us,” George said. “We can’t imagine a better co-founder.”
Recently, the boys embarked on a journey to South Africa to visit the same rhinos they raised money to protect. “Interacting with the rhinos in South Africa further confirmed the “why” behind our business and makes us want to work even harder to protect these intelligent creatures for many generations to come,” George said.
After this milestone, the boys say they hope to expand further, though things may look different with Ayden attending college at Penn State this fall. Their message to kids who wish to become entrepreneurs is that it’s never too early to pursue your passion or try out your big idea. “We’re just three kids from Katy that turned our homegrown wildlife conservation mission and mom’s salsa recipe into a nationwide family business,” Luke said.
