The Pink Sauce – which went viral on TikTok – has been for sale in Walmart now for more than a year. But the creator of the pink sauce, a Black TikTok creator named Chef Pii, also known as Veronica Shaw, is claiming that she’s not getting a penny from the sales, Media Take Out has learned.
The Pink Sauce was a viral sensation, but it quickly hit a snag, as it faced safety concerns and complaints about incorrect labels and damaged bottles upon its 2022 launch.
In January, Veronica partnered with Dave’s Gourmet to release a shelf-stable version of the sauce, adhering to FDA guidelines and selling for $8 at Walmart. It seemed like a perfect solution to the problem.
But in a recent TikTok video, Media Take Out learned that Veronica claimed to have sold around 200,000 units. At $8 a piece, that would mean $1.6M dollars.
But she launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $100,000 for herself claiming to have seen no profit from her product. Although she didn’t directly name Dave’s Gourmet, she expressed her belief that a company is attempting to undermine her success.
“They lied to me,” she wrote in the GoFundMe description, which has raised just $921 to date. “They are not paying me and are not being transparent about records. I have tried on multiple occasions to try and come to one accord with them but they refuse to reimburse me for marketing expenses that I spent my own funds towards….They are refusing to pay me the royalty that is owed to me.”
In her GoFundMe she expressed she is a single mother struggling to provide food and clothes for her children, living on $20 a day and facing eviction. Dave’s Gourmet, when contacted, expressed disagreement with Shaw’s account of the situation.
“We disagree with Ms. Shaw’s allegations,” a company spokesperson said. “Dave’s Gourmet has paid Chef Pii over $120,000 to date and it continues to make all payments as due and on time based upon the terms of the contract.”
Dave added in a statement, “We’ve offered to reimburse Ms. Shaw for her lawyer’s time to go over the terms of the agreement and how it relates to the payments that were made to Ms. Shaw… She indicated that she’s open to an amicable resolution of the dispute and the parties are in discussions.”
