Driven by their common bond as Marines and as graduates of the University of South Carolina (from left) Kevin Cox, Chris Behling and Stephen Osegueda are the leadership team behind The General’s Hot Sauce.
Photo by Mic Smith
Dillon Cox, Chris Behling and Stephen Osegueda
Claim to fame: Executives and part owners of The General’s Hot Sauce (generalshotsauce.com), a veteran-owned, Columbia-based business whose product is sold worldwide to support veterans.
Ages: Cox, head of business development, and Osegueda, head of operations, are 32; Behling, head of finance, is 24. All three are Marines and graduates of the University of South Carolina.
Favorite food for hot sauce? Cox and Osegueda splash their signature Danger Close sauce atop slices of Little Caesars pizza. “I put it on everything except ice cream,” Cox says.
Who is the general? That’s top secret, Cox says. The Buffalo, New York, native was the “hardest-working guy, frying up his wings” at a tailgate party for the 2012 Army-Navy game, where the idea for the company first formed.
Deep roots: The peppers in every jar of the company’s products are S.C. grown in Lexington County.
Co-op affiliation: Cox is a member of Edisto Electric Cooperative.
___
When Marine Reserve Staff Sgt. Dillon Cox was finishing up his business degree at the University of South Carolina in 2014, his friend and fellow Marine, Cpl. Stephen Osegueda, was nearing the end of his sixth year of active duty and his second deployment to Afghanistan.
Neither man imagined they’d soon be spending their days and nights churning out signature hot sauces that are now sold in all 50 states and 23 countries.
Their plans, and those of Marine Reserve Sgt. Chris Behling, changed when one of the founders of the company they now lead reached out to the Darla Moore School of Business for help in developing a business plan. Cox became the company’s first full-time employee when he was hired as the head of business development. Osegueda came on as head of operations. Behling, a reservist in Cox’s unit, became the company’s head of finance in 2020.
Their sauces—which can be found on shelves at Harris Teeters and Publix stores in South Carolina as well as Buc-ee’s and Ace Hardware—come in hand grenade-shaped containers with names like Grunt Green, Hooah Jalapeno and Shock and Awe. When customers see that grenade, Cox says, they’re thinking of “the explosive heat and flavor and it also leads you to what is really important to us: our mission of donating to veterans.”
Since the first sauce was bottled in March 2016, Behling says, the company has donated more than $750,000 to organizations aiding veterans, including the Warrior PATHH project at the Big Red Barn Retreat Center in Blythewood. “I hope someone would do the same for me if I was in need, and there’s something rewarding about helping those who have already given so much.”
The men are proud of their time as Marines and say the can-do attitude of the Corps is the secret to their success.
“The brotherhood is what bonds us,” Osegueda says. “I don’t see why it should change just because my uniform consists of a beard net now instead of bloused boots.”
“The mission is going to get accomplished,” Cox adds, “regardless of 9 to 5.”
___
Related stories
Thriving on the homefront—Blythewood’s Big Red Barn Retreat and the Warrior PATHH program offer a place of healing for veterans and first responders fighting back against post-traumatic stress.
A new mission—For the founders of Summerville’s OneNation Coffee, defusing bombs, roasting beans and supporting military and law enforcement personnel are all in a day’s work.
Behind the scenes at PuckerButt Pepper Co.—The devilish Carolina Reaper super-hot pepper is a “gift from God” that changed everything for Fort Mill’s “Smokin’” Ed Currie.
Some like it hot!—From jalapenos to Carolina Reapers, here’s how to grow your own hot and super-hot peppers.