A West Philadelphia catering company is getting a rare chance Friday to pitch their special barbeque sauces on reality TV.
“We are just so excited,” says Jorrae Beard.
She is one-fifth of force behind Joyce’s Soulful Cuisine and creator of a quartet of bourbon, barbecue, Asian and hot sauces they call Joyce’s “Lulu Bang” sauces.
“We pride ourselves on excellence,” she says, “our customers really identify with us because they know we are down in the trenches.”
“The minute I tasted it— no joke, I said– you going to make me a million dollars with this,” says CEO Kelly Beard.
She says Joyce’s Soulful Cuisine at one time was a restaurant and catering company. But the request for Jorrae’s sauces were so intense, they decided to sell it.
So they sat in the kitchen to brainstorm a name and came up with “LuLu Bang” — the nickname of their late brother Michael. The business is already named after their mom Joyce, who passed five years ago.
“Everything we do– it’s about family,” says Kelly, “but we all stay in our lanes.”