Image of True Made Food veggie ketchup with its vegetable ingredients
Revolutioniing Condiments

We’re remaking America’s iconic condiments using foods that are rooted in tradition, heritage, and most importantly, the ground.

Ketchup splatter

Ketchup was ruining dinner. Our founder knew ketchup has more sugar than ice cream, but his kids poured it all over their food anyway. So, he decided to make his own. Abe went back to how his mom and grandma cooked and sweetened his ketchup with nothing but flavorful fruits and veggies. Even the pickiest eater was asking for more. He then partnered with legendary Pitmaster Ed Mitchell to craft high flavor, low sugar barbecue sauces. Together, they’ve returned American barbecue to its real food roots. With an insatiable appetite to bring back delicious, traditional, and healthy ingredients to the table, True Made Foods is revolutionizing condiments for good.

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OUR MISSION

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Save BBQ. Save America.

We LOVE food. We love bringing families together for meals, we love backyard cookouts and we love real BBQ. But over the past few decades American BBQ and cookouts have been taken over by high fructose corn syrup and fake foods. We believe real food tastes better…True Made Foods tastes better.

We started True Made Foods because a backyard barbecue or a trip to the ballpark should not be a compromise for your family’s health. We are out to create a world where people can enjoy their favorite foods without compromise. By using naturally delicious vegetables to flavor our products, we are bringing real food back.

Why Ketchup & BBQ Sauce?

Sauces and condiments can seem innocuous, but they are often the most unhealthy part of any meal. A serving of ketchup (1x TBS) has 4g of sugar, which is a teaspoon of sugar (4g = 1x tsp).

Every squirt of conventional ketchup is a spoonful of sugar!

The leading BBQ Sauce has 16g of sugar per serving (one serving is 2x TBS). 16g of sugar is four teaspoons of sugar or about the same amount of sugar as a full-sized Hershey's chocolate bar. We are revolutionizing America’s favorite condiments by using the sweetness of real fruits and vegetables instead of sugar. The result is a naturally delicious flavor without compromise. By using True Made Foods, you are taking the first step in cutting out hidden sugar from your family’s dinner table.

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MEET THE TEAM

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ABE KAMARCK

FOUNDER

A native of Washington, D.C., Abe grew up with Southern Italian cooking on his mom’s side and Southern Virginian cooking on his Dad’s side. After graduation from Vanderbilt University, he spent eight years in the US Navy as a Seahawk helicopter pilot before earning his MBA at the London Business School. In 2013, Abe and his family returned to the US and he worked as Director of Innovation for a charity to launch a direct trade Ugandan coffee with social impact. This experience introduced him to the food industry, and in 2015, Abe made the decision to combine his passion for healthy cooking with his entrepreneurial spirit to create True Made Foods. He now lives with his wife and four kids in Alexandria, VA, where what little spare time he has is spent shuttling kids between multiple sport practices and events.

Abe and his family
Ed Mitchell's portrait

ED MITCHELL

CO-FOUNDER, LEGENDARY PITMASTER

Known as “The Pitmaster” in barbecue circles, Ed Mitchell has been cooking traditional whole-hog barbecue since he was a teenager in Wilson, North Carolina. A grandson of a small farmer, Ed was surrounded by natural, good-tasting food as a child. Thanks to a chance launch and Ed’s habit-forming barbecue, Mitchell’s Grocery soon morphed into Mitchell’s Ribs, Chicken & B-B-Q. As the business grew, so did Ed’s reputation. In 2017, Abe reached out to Ed to collaborate on new barbecue sauces. True Made Foods fell right in-line with what Ed was looking for—Ed had recently been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and was worried about the sugar that had crept into his family's life and his beloved barbecue over the years. An immediate bond was formed, and True Made Foods and Ed launched the Pitmaster line together in 2018 at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party.

RYAN MITCHELL

CO-FOUNDER, CO-PITMASTER

Ryan Mitchell grew up in barbecue. He was prepping hogs and tending the coals alongside his dad, Pitmaster Ed Mitchell, for as long as he could remember. While barbecue is in his blood, growing up alongside it was a constant chore. The unrelenting work around barbecue pits initially made Ryan want to forge his own path. Ryan earned a scholarship to play football at East Carolina University, and after graduation, went into investment banking. The 2008 financial crisis then changed everything for him—Ryan was given the choice of taking a severance or moving to Singapore. He chose the severance and turned the experience into a growth event. He took a look at his life and realized that his heart and heritage was really back in barbecue.

Ryan Mitchell's portrait
Vanessa Jaikaran's portrait

VANESSA JAIKARAN

MARKETING, EMPLOYEE #1

A native of the Bronx, NY and a daughter of Indian Guyanese immigrants, Vanessa grew up with various culinary influences, from the Caribbean to Asia.  Vanessa graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York and began managing restaurants in New York City. She has managed some of the busiest and most famous restaurants in the City, from Harlem to downtown. Vanessa now lives on Long Island and manages True Made Foods’ various marketing programs.

OUR DISCERNING BOARD: PICKY EATERS CLUB Picky approved icon

Image of picky kids loving True Made Food's ketchup

Kids love to slather on the ketchup and BBQ. But all that sugar can add up. We’ve cut the sugar and kept the flavor, sweetening with apples, butternut squash and carrots. Even the pickiest eaters are on board, and you can put more veggies on the table, without actually putting more veggies on the table.