An improved online experience is the latest development for the emerging Warren-based condiment maker, 13 Stars Hot Sauce, the company owned by military veteran Sean Maloney which sells six varieties of "premium" sauces made and packaged in town at the Hope & Main culinary incubator.

The overhauled website features an upgraded platform with new, interactive components designed to streamline the buying experience. Visitors can now also custom build a bundle while completing a personalized flavor profile quiz. The new site also includes a comprehensive recipe database.

"Our goal with this new website is to make the customer experience as bold, balanced, and approachable as our hot sauces," said Maloney, 33, and a veteran of the United States Air Force.

He continued, "We wanted to give our supporters the tools to easily find their favorite flavors and discover incredible new recipes to share with friends and family. Every meal shared is an opportunity to build community, and every bottle purchased through this new platform helps us continue our mission of supporting those who serve."

In service to the nation is at the root of 13 Stars. Maloney has been in the Air Force for 11 years and remains on call with the National Guard. It was the inspiration for the company's naming. And it's also at the heart of what decided to call each of the six flavors on offer.

"I chose '13 Stars' for our military, my own military heritage, and my geographical heritage," Maloney explained, referencing Rhode Island being among the 13 original states. "And the flavor profile, the philosophy we have with all the sauces, it's really the melting pot of America. And those are the same values that created this country. And so I'm inviting all of that with the brand itself."

The six sauces, ranging from mild in heat to crazy hot, are: "Dragon's Breath, the company's take on Korean American flavors; "Mean Green" and "Big Red One" leans into the traditional stylings of sauces in New Mexico, the American Southwest; "Tango Mango," is its Caribbean American entry; "Nuclear Option," is its homage to Louisiana cooking; and "FUBAR," takes its moniker from the military phrase and is its hottest offering.

Maloney said Dragon's Breath is the company's most well-received creation, winning several awards and is its best-selling sauce.

Key to the product is how it's made. All of the sauces are derived from fresh produce grown at farms locally and nationally. The fermenting process is natural, creating what Maloney calls a "garden flavor profile."

Dragon's Breath contains soy sauce, brown sugar and sriracha. Mean Green, the next-best selling sauce, is made with jalapeño and lime. Big Red One has poblano and red jalapeños. Tango Mango has mango and habañero. Nuclear Option raises the heat with Carolina Reaper and ghost peppers, habañero and red bells. FUBAR is made with Scorpion peppers and the Carolina Reaper.

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Maloney, who just recently moved to Sturbridge, Mass., started 13 Stars six years ago. As he describes it, the idea of getting into the hot sauce game came naturally, emanating quite literally from the womb.

"So, this is one of those things where it's like life coming full circle. The legend starts before I was even born, when my mom (Cheryl) was pregnant with me, she used to actually just eat hot sauce pockets," Maloney quipped. "Fast forward to the age of 10, and I was diagnosed with a high blood pressure from having hot sauce on my pancakes."

The actual genesis of the company, though, came when he was deployed in Djibouti, the northeast African country, in 2018. It was then that Maloney said he fully grasped the importance food has on culture, the daily experience.

"Deployments have a great way of putting life into perspective in terms of what's truly important. And I found that a shared meal with friends and family really was at the center of everything," Maloney explained. "And it really was those small moments. I wanted to do something that could emphasize that.

"And I found that through one of the books I was reading about entrepreneurship. I wasn't actually sure what it was going to be. But when I got back home, my friend was growing peppers in his backyard, a range of jalapeños and ghost peppers. And we started using them to make some sauces, not really thinking much about it at the time. 90% of them were terrible, absolutely terrible. But 10% was good. I had friends and family over. Every single person at the table was like, 'I need this.'"

Maloney's first meaningful outside venture occurred at a New England Patriots game honoring veterans. He brought some bottles along for the tailgating and they were a hit.

And then when he looked to produce his sauces on a larger scale, rather than concoct each in his apartment kitchen as he was initially, Hope & Main proved an appropriate fit. The facility has all of the necessary means, from its 440-gallon kettles to the people who can create the product.

"The biggest catalyst here was the flexibility. Basically you're paying an hourly rate. And you're able to utilize those kettles, each one of those things if you buy one brand new is around $25,000. And then you pay for warehouse space and what have you. So it just made the most sense for a business starting out," Maloney said of Hope & Main.

He continued, "The stage we're at now is I have the team cooking for me. We have people actually making the sauce on my behalf. Initially, it was always me doing all the labor. As a business owner, it's been very difficult to let go of your baby. But now I wish I did sooner. I really wish I did sooner because it's a freed up so much of my mind's capacity. And the people at Hope & Main, they're rock stars. They're really good."

Currently, 13 Stars is distributed around the country with considerable sales in Texas and southern states. Besides its own website and on Amazon, the sauces are also available in some 50 grocery stores, including Clements Market in nearby Portsmouth. Maloney credited 13 Stars' inclusion at Dave's Marketplace, the West Bay chain, for spurring on sales as well.

"Dave's Marketplace has been great. They're an awesome catalyst for us. They're one of the first stores to stock us when we launched. And they've just been selling like hot cakes there," Maloney added.

Those sales contribute to the company's philanthropic aim of giving back to the community, specifically veterans and first responders. Proceeds from each bottle sold are donated to local nonprofits that support their mental health and overall well-being.

It's a significant aspect of Maloney's new mission and is something he holds close.

"I'm very open about the mental health aspect of it because this is a big part of the business, being able to have those vulnerable, those open conversations with people," Maloney said, again referencing his tour in Djibouti.

He described the death and destruction he saw while there as being akin to a movie like the cult classic "Mad Max."

"During the deployment itself, it was difficult, a lot of traumatic experiences that can happen. and did happen during that period," Maloney said. "The biggest part of it is being able to tell my story to other veterans. So they can then share theirs and they can get the help they need.

"For six months, you're basically just in this super activated state. It took a lot of time for me to recognize what that did to my body. It took me about seven years to actually physically ask for help. Being able to have open, honest conversations about the reality of the work helps others come forward and heal as well."

Among the places Maloney sought aid was through The Wounded Warrior Project, where he learned some stunning figures.

"One of the stats they shared with me is it typically takes a veteran, on average, about eight years to ask for help," Maloney said. "The same thing that helped when you served you is now hurting you, unfortunately. And, unfortunately, sometimes eight years is too long to wait."

He hopes 13 Stars will set an example to his peers, that they can overcome any challenges they face once they return to the civilian world.

"Veterans are a different breed of people, generally speaking. I found it myself, I'll be honest. I'm a terrible employee. And I found a lot of my other veteran buddies struggle with to be in the workforce, essentially, because it's a different culture in the military," Maloney added. "So I found entrepreneurship to be a good way to go. It's controlled chaos, if you will. You are in control."

For more information about the company or to purchase some product visit www.13StarsHotSauce.com.