About Adoboloco

Founded in Maui, Hawaii, in 2011, ADOBOLOCO® is a family-owned business known for creating extraordinary flavors using simple, high-quality ingredients. With meticulous craftsmanship and passion, ADOBOLOCO® sauces deliver unparalleled intensity and uniqueness. With manufacturing in Oahu, Hawaii they expanded their reach to the West Coast and the nation with a facility in Bend, Oregon, in 2020, offering private label, collaborative sauces, and custom formulations.

Adoboloco Life! What a ride!

Maui is and always will by our home and original location where we started Adoboloco. All with a single hot sauce born from a homeschool garden. Since establishing the business on Maui in 2011 a lot has changed, kids have grown and our family business has transformed along the way. Who new in 2020 we’d be where we’re at with all of the ups and downs. We’re still a small family business and will continue that way, we love working together as a family.

With some of the changes and growth, in 2014 we moved our Hawaii production to Oahu, Hawaii. Due to major logistical challenges of making a product in Hawaii and learning about shipping inter-island and then to the lower 48 and beyond. To make this work, in 2015 we decided to add production in Oregon (Connection via my wife’s family). Slowly over the last 3 years, we’ve been personally building out a small commercial kitchen in Bend, Oregon. Everyone in the family has had a share in it. We wouldn’t change a thing. Challenges? Absolutely! 2018 almost forced us into bankruptcy… scary to say the least (massive production issues). Blood, sweat and tear equity all the way. Then 2020 hit, we’re so close to completion… we’re going to keep pushing forward. Now we’re in 2021, still here and making really tasty food for all of you to enjoy.

Born in Maui, Enjoyed Everywhere!® Adoboloco is local family owned, made in small batches in Hawaii and Bend, OR.

BACAK! Parsons Ohana 2021

parsons in a family pic with a pitchfork

BACAK! Parsons Ohana Circa 2013

OUR HISTORY // WHERE IT ALL STARTED

ADOBOLOCO EST 2011 MAUI HAWAII LOGO

Where did the name “Adoboloco” come from? My love of Chicken and Pork Adobo, easily one of my favorite meals. My mom showed me how to cook it when I was about 12. She learned it from a Filipino family friend here in Kihei, Maui. She grew up cooking Vinha d’Alhos ( Portuguese Pickled Pork ) which is very similar to the Filipino style Adobo everyone is use to in Hawaii.

Both the word Adobo and Loco are of Spanish origin, when translated to English means “Crazy (Loco) Sauce (Adobo)”. Our logo with the double headed rooster is the actual silhouette of our daughters first pet rooster named Coco. He was a bit crazy so in the logo we added a second head. He lived a happy life but passed away in late 2015. We can now remember him on every bottle of Adoboloco Hot Sauce.

ADOBOLOCO: THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT

In the beginning of 2009 we lived in Bend, Oregon I created a blog called Adoboloco.com to share and post different Adobo recipes from around the world. I had to cook my own all the time since there were no Filipino/Asian stores or restaurants in Bend Oregon. People seemed to really like the fact that they could find these recipes in one place.

Then I had an idea about creating some products under the Adoboloco name. I trademarked it in 2010, then started with the first concept of creating a traditional sauce. The best adobo is pretty easy to cook but it takes awhile to really master the flavor balance. So I originally wanted to create a true Adobo (Filipino Style) sauce that someone could use for a quick adobo meal. Just cut up your choice of protein or vegetables, throw in the pan, pour on the sauce and have a tasty meal in minutes.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get the flavors right in the pre mixed form that would be shelf stable. So I scrapped the product idea and kept developing other adobo recipes and sharing them on the blog.

In 2010 my wife, kids and I started a garden as part of their home schooling program. We planted a bunch of Jalapeño peppers. They grew so well we didn’t know what to do with all the ripe peppers and I didn’t want them to go to waste so I created a sauce with them. I had no idea that it would work but it did. Family and friends would come over and I would have it on the table with meals in an old shoyu bottle. They liked it so much that they requested their own bottles. I started making larger and larger batches and couldn’t keep up with the requests. At that point I knew it was time to go bigger. Now my immediate family is addicted to it along with my extended family and friends. Seriously one bottle will be drained by the end of a meal sometimes.

Family History in Hawaii:

My (Tim Parsons-Fernandes/z) maternal side of the family originally arrived in Hawaii from São Miguel, Azores on August 25, 1881 aboard the Suffolk

My great grandfather planted sugar cane for Hakalau Sugar on the Hamakua coast on the island of Hawaii (Big Island). He took a mule train loaded with cane from the stables to the fields every day. They lived in camp housing a short distance from the stables and the sugar mill.

My grand father worked for and played baseball for Onomea Sugar Company also on the island of Hawaii. They were 1939 baseball champions.

My paternal side can be read about in this blog post about my great grand father.

1939 Baseball Champions Onomea Sugar Company William Fernandez Big Island of Hawaii
Adoboloco Born on Maui, Enjoyed Everywhere!