Page 29 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2019

“My dad, James Lee Jr., gave me a base recipe for sauce when I was on active duty in the U.S. Army,” Lee said. “I took that base and created my own sauce and I took it to military bases across the country and to Germany and Korea. I did a lot of events for soldiers because we liked to get together and cook out.”
After he retired from the Army in 2007, Lee returned to Biloxi where he took a job at Keesler Air Force Base. However, he had a dream of bottling and marketing his own sauce. In 2013, Lee started out selling bottles of his sauce at the Biloxi Farmer’s Market under the Interstate-10 overpass.
By 2014, he had his product on the shelves of Neco’s Family Market in Pass Christian.
“I met Rodney Ladner, who has since passed away, at the farmer’s market and he told me to take the product to Neco’s and tell them to put it in the store, so I did. Today,
we are in about 600 stores across the South and we are always looking to get into more. I’m in Walmart, Publix and both the Island View Casino and Scarlet Pearl Casino have my sauce on their buffets.”
As his distribution has grown, so has Lee’s product line. He started with J. Lee’s Gourmet BBQ Sauce and then added a spicy version. Today, Lee
has added five more products: Sweet Heat BBQ, Clearly Hot Sauce, J. Lee’s Marinade, J. Lee’s Salad Dressing
and a diabetic-friendly version of the original sauce that uses agave instead
of sugar. Every bottle has a photo of Lee on the front.
He said he is the first soldier in uniform to have a photograph on a food or beverage product.
Not only has Lee’s product line increased, but so have the accolades. He was given a key to the City of Biloxi in 2017 during the Juneteenth Celebration. His sauce was featured in swag bags for the 2017 Academy Awards and it’s a favorite with football legends like Warren Sapp, Michael Irvin and boxing great Floyd Mayweather.
“J. Lee’s Sauce is the number one sauce in the world for four years in a row – 2016-2019 – by BBQ Superstars (bbqsuperstar.com),” he said. “We are the best sauce out of 269 sauces and we are very proud of this and we love bringing the title belt back to Biloxi.”
Regardless of the accolades, Lee remains humbled by his success, giving all of the credit “to God.” He is also committed to helping other veterans with life after the military. He gives 10 percent of all of sales to toward helping homeless veterans.
“It makes me proud to not only represent my family, but the veterans,” he said. “Veterans are overlooked in a lot of ways and we love to give back to them. Our motto is ‘a taste all families love – put it on anything.’ My father taught me to work hard and be dedicated – it’s all about hard work. I want my dad’s legacy to live on. This all about family and people – we love people.”
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
May 2019 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 29
His father James Lee Jr.
Receiving the key to the city during Juneteenth Celebration.
Warren Sapp posing with his favorite J. Lee BBQ Sauce.