Willard Reynolds Ashburn, III

Culinary Visionary and Entrepreneur and CEO of Ashburn Sauce Company.

Ashburn attended Hampden-Sydney College and received a Bachelor of Science. Later he went on to earn a graduate degree in microbiology at the University of Virginia and obtained his Thermal Processing Credentials (needed to process sauce) from Cornell University.

Ashburn began by bottling his first barbecue sauce, Bucking Willy’s Sassy BBQ, in the early 1990s. The name originated from a conversation with a friend who tasted the sauce and described it as “sassy”. In 2000, Ashburn made it official by leaving his day job to create and manufacture his own line of sauces and food products, including the critically acclaimed Sassy Mary Bloody Mary Mix.

In 2004, Ashburn Sauce Company became a member of Virginia’s Finest. The program works to highlight top quality Virginia-produced and processed products that meet the rigorous quality standards of the organization.

Today, Ashburn Sauce Company and its product lines have expanded in all aspects. Demand for his line of bloody mary mixes and the original Bucking Willy line of barbecue and hot sauces are at an all-time-high. Ashburn continues to expand both his menus and push the creative pallet of his customers. Refreshingly, Ashburn and Ashburn Sauce Company are vibrant and have a cutting-edge philosophy and blueprint for many future sauces combinations and other gourmet specialty foods!

Ashburn is a native of Virginia Beach and the quintessential, southern gentleman. Growing up on his family’s farm, he became a sportsman at an early age, enjoying hunting, fishing, horseback riding and anything else that took place outdoors. To this day, Ashburn claims to cook and eat anything that “flies, walks or swims”.