About US
A New Chapter: 34 Years of Heat, New Leadership
In January 2025, as Ashley Food Company celebrated 34 years of crafting the world's hottest sauces and pepper extracts, founder David Ashley passed the torch to his son, Andrew Ashley, who now leads the company as CEO. Andrew has been deeply involved in the company's operations and strategic planning, and brings fresh vision while staying true to the company's roots — the same award-winning recipes and the same uncompromising heat.
"I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the past 34 years," said David Ashley. "I am confident that Andrew will continue to drive our mission forward, bringing new energy and ideas to the table. The future of Ashley Food Company is in good hands."
It All Began in the Kitchen
David Ashley founded Ashley Food Company in Sudbury, Massachusetts, and served for more than three decades as its President, Director of Marketing, New Product Development and Chief Alchemist, creating all natural, mouth watering, and award-winning products since 1991.
Earlier on, 'round 1976, just round the back, a half mile from the railroad track in a town called Stockbridge Massachusetts, where they got three stop signs, two police officers, and one police car, David walked right in as the General Manager of Alice's Restaurant, made famous by the song bearing the same name by Arlo Guthrie. Managing a staff over 90, it was here that David claims to have learned the true value of fresh high quality ingredients and the fine art of mega multi-tasking.
The first steps of his own venture were launched in his tiny Brighton, Ma. kitchen..."The perfect barbeque sauce tastes great, contains natural ingredients, doesn't burn when you cook with it, and has a kick!" That's what Mr. Ashley was seeking when he started making Mad Dog Barbeque Sauce in 1985. Within five years, he was supplying so many salivating friends with Mad Dog; his wife took the next step and gently kicked him out of the kitchen and into commercial production. Ashley Food Company was started with credit cards, Ashley's stubborn determination and his very discerning taste buds.
Fresh-From-The-Kettle Taste
To this day, every blend has a fresh-from-the-kettle taste. All Mad Dog creations are made in hand-measured batches and cooked to perfection. Only the finest all natural ingredients continue to be used: fresh Habanero and Jalapeno peppers, premium unsulphured sweet molasses, the best Tamari (Soy Sauce) brewed in Japan, fermented in wooden barrels for three years under ground to maintain the perfect temperature and rich flavor. We also use two kinds of imported cloves and the very best Caribbean spices and the exotic Bird's Eye African chili pepper containing their one of a kind fiery taste. Discerning might even be an understatement — a consistent, mad dogged commitment to quality.
Chefs, Critics, Periodicals, "Chilli Heads", America's Armed Forces, Rock Stars and hot sauce aficionados around the world seem to agree wholeheartedly. Cook's Illustrated crowned Mad Dog BBQ Sauce as the "Original Best in USA". The July 2000 Southern Living named Mad Dog Best Original BBQ Sauce, adding that it is the "Best Bottled BBQ Sauce" they ever tried. Mad Dog Inferno Hot Sauce was honored as the first hot sauce ever to have the official title of the World's Hottest Sauce, packing a 357,000-scoville hit that will blow your socks off! And in 2002 Mad Cat Hot Sauce garnered 1st Place Habanero Hot Sauce at the Scovie Awards by Fiery Foods & Barbecue Magazine.
Rock & Roll Roots
Those earlier beginnings at Alice's Restaurant planted the seeds for later stints in the Rock and Roll biz, including work with Led Zeppelin and Foreigner — coming full circle with business partnerships with Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. Joe Perry, an avid fan of Ashley's products, approached David to create a new sauce bearing his name: Joe Perry's Rock Your World Boneyard Brew Hot Sauce. The partnership with Bob Weir and his line of Wok Sauces solidified the company's standing as the premiere purveyor of rock and roll hot sauces.
Mad Dog products have appeared on "The Today Show", "Friends", "King of Queens", "Regis & Kathie Lee Show", "The Drew Carey Show", "Everybody Loves Raymond", in "The Wall Street Journal", "Southern Living", "Cook's Illustrated", and the movie Legally Blonde 2 — plus five seasons of Hot Ones.
Constantly tinkering with new recipes and products, the next Mad Dog concoctions will no doubt remain one of a kind in flavor and personality — now with a new generation at the helm.