Welcome to the Official Web Site for

Vernon's Jamaican Jerk Sauce Products

www.vernonsjerksauce.com

PEOPLE

Entrepreneurs on the move

THE SAUCE BOSS

Franchising is his dream, but for now Allan Vernon is working 18 hours a day to make his latest expansion profitable. The small takeout shop he and his late brother Neville opened nine years ago to sell Jamaican specialty barbecue dishes marinated in ultra-spicy "jerk" sauce has spawned a midtown Manhattan restaurant patronized by celebrities such as Bill Cosby. And Vernon's sauce is sold in delicatessens nationwide.

How did this ex-carpenter evolve into the entrepreneurial "King of Jerk"? Born in Jamaica 48 years ago, Vernon emigrated to England and in 1972 moved to the United States.

Soon afterwards, he told Neville his great ambition; becoming a business owner. And what could be more natural than an eatery offering native dishes to New York's expatriate Jamaican community?

It took the brothers three years to accumulate the $12,000 needed to open the first Vernon's Jerk Paradise restaurant in 1982. The 20-seat establishment soon developed into a profitable business. Vernon bought out his brother in 1984, and in 1989 opened a second location in Manhattan.

Customers constantly asked for the sauce, so Vernon began to sell it by the jar. He now sells up to 150 cases of the sauce per month at $4 a jar. From a strictly local market, sales of the sauce have expanded all over the nation, with steady buyers as far afield as Southern California.

- Mel Mandell