Small Business Spotlight: Ladale's Houses

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Whether you're making ribs, tri-tip, chicken, or fish, if it's going on the grill, Ladale's Houses are adding the wow factor to your dish.

Owner Rance Ladale Johnson started the business in 2020.

"When you taste a bottle of Unc's House, you're like, aww man, this feels like something my uncle made on the grill. You taste Mom's House, it tastes like the cinnamon sugar warm love from your mother," says Johnson.

His company now makes eight sauces and seasoning blends, but it all began with a happy accident.

"I was trying to make a pineapple mango sauce, and when I went to the store, all the mangoes were gone," says Johnson.

He would eventually find the perfect balance of spice and citrus that would launch the company. He called his concoction "Granny's House".

Each of the company's sauces and seasoning blends is named after a family member's house.

"We're a close, tight-knit family, and we look out for each other, so I was like I'm going to do something that honors all of us," says Johnson.

The Auntie's House sauce is a combination of serrano peppers, peach, and apricot.

Unc's House, made with yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers, and green onions, has such a following that the Meat Market in Fresno, the first store to carry Ladale's Houses, makes an Unc's House sausage with both the seasoning and sauce.

Johnson says the burst of flavors packed in each bottle celebrates family, the Central Valley, and the Easton home that started it all.

"My Grandma's house is on the actual bottle," says Johnson. "It embodies us as Fresnans because we're big in agriculture. You see my Grandpa's cotton pickers and my Mom's horse stable."

The high tower label is a special blend made without salt or sugar, and boasts a special message from Rance's Grandparents.

"Our family has salt, but we've come to a place where salt is no longer necessary; life goes on with health, happiness, and good food," says Johnson.

Now available in 20 stores, Rance says he enjoys pop-up tastings where he can meet the community he and his loved ones made this for.

Visit the Ladale's Houses website or Instagram to find out where he'll be hosting tastings, and you may even find some grilling inspirations for your next barbecue.