Self-proclaimed "bacontrepreneurs," Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow have catapulted their love of bacon into a successful line of bacon-scented and -inspired products, sold in grocery stores across the nation.
(ABC)
Surprisingly, bacon is not an ingredient in Bacon Salt or Baconaise. The company says that the salt is low sodium, zero-calorie, zero-fat and vegetarian, bringing bacon's flavor to the masses. Plus, they're certified kosher.
"I had been eating bacon and mayonnaise for six months," Lefkow said. "I would eat a slice of bacon and a spoon of mayonnaise. That was definitely a fattening process. Bacon Salt has less than a quarter of the servings, so you can get bacon flavor in a salt format."
Esch and Lefkow have plans to expand their bacon empire.
"We've got tons of ideas, everything from beer to waffles, hot sauce, ketchup," Lefkow said.
But they're not limited to food. They're experimenting with a bacon-scented body spray, suntan lotion, even soap. The recent hot seller on their Web site is bacon-inspired lip balm.
"We've sold over 10,000 of them," Lefkow said. "People buy it by the dozen. Some people say it's the worst thing they have ever heard of; other people said that's the greatest thing ever."
Operations Manager Shannon Carlston said the rush of orders can make the factory crazy at times.
"I'm shocked and amazed," she said. "The [lip balm], that's just been crazy. They love the feeling of having bacon fat on their lips, I guess."
Lefkow said he has faith in the sustainability of their unlikely recipe for business success -- just add bacon.
"I don't think there is any limit for what bacon can do," Lefkow said. "It's the uber-meat."
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
