About

Robert Ujevic had an idea in 2015 to create a line of food products using hemp before it became the darling of agriculture and industry.

At the time, Ujevic was working with others advocating to allow hemp to be grown and used in Virginia because of the health benefits.

He was so passionate about hemp that he started making two pasta products using hemp seed protein powder, which he initially sold during the holidays in 2015.

“People really liked it,” he said.

A couple of years later, Ujevic wanted to branch out to create some sauces using hemp oil and hulled hemp seeds, but he was struggling with crafting the products.

A chance meeting with two local chefs in the fall of 2018 helped form Gourmet Hemp Foods that eventually led to the creation of hemp-infused barbecue sauce and hot sauce.

Gourmet Hemp Foods started selling its Hemp Hottie Sauce and Hemp Honey BBQ Sauce at Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market in the fall of 2019 and at The Market @ 25th grocery store a couple of months later. The sauces are also available in a handful of area independent grocery stores, including Good Foods Grocery, and a couple of local restaurants such as City Dogs and Capitol Waffle Shop.

The company reached a milestone last fall when it started supplying its sauces to about 275 Food Lion stores in Virginia.