Alan S. Geisler (c. 1931 – January 6, 2009) was an American food chemist best known for creating a red onion sauce most often used as a condiment topping on hot dogs in New York City.[1] Specifically, the sauce, which is marketed as Sabrett's Prepared Onions, is usually served on Sabrett brand hot dogs sold by New York's many pushcart hot dog vendors.[1]
Sabrett brand hot dogs and the red onion sauce which Geisler created are the flagship products of Marathon Enterprises, Inc. The company is headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey.
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Geisler was a graduate of Tenafly High School in Tenafly, New Jersey.[1] He received his bachelor's degree in food technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[1]
Geisler resided in Mahwah, New Jersey, for 45 years.[1]
Geisler founded a company that manufactured shortenings, emulsifiers and other ingredients for the baking and baked goods industry in 1960.[1]
One of his customers was Gregory Papalexis, who manufactured both hot dogs and hot dog buns.[1] Papalexis's customers included hot dog street vendors, who often made a popular homemade, but time laborious, onion sauce as a topping.[1] Papalexis asked Geisler to come up with a factory-made onion sauce for the hot dog vendors to sell at their carts in New York City.[1]
Geisler, with input from Papalexis, created a new, mass-produced onion sauce for hot dogs. The main formula and spice blends of the sauce consisted predominantly of onions, olive oil and tomato paste,[1] which gives the sauce its distinctive red coloring.[1] The sauce proved to be a hit with both the street vendors, who no longer had to make their own time consuming sauces, and hot dog consumers.[1]
Geisler and Papalexis partnered to form their own company, called Tremont Foods, to market and make the new red onion sauce.[1] The sauce was initially sold to New York City hot dogs vendors under the brand names Tremont Foods or House of Weenies.[1]
Papalexis acquired Sabrett Food Products in 1989.[1] As a result of the acquisition, Geisler's onion sauce became the only onion sauce served on Sabrett hot dogs by vendors in New York City.[1] The red onion condiment also became available for purchase in supermarkets under the Sabrett's brand.[1] It is marketed nationwide as "Sabrett's Prepared Onions."[2]
As of 2009, Geisler's red onion sauce enjoys "a couple of million dollars a year in sales," according to Papalexis.[1] Geisler's and Papalexis's original company, Tremont Foods, is currently a division of Marathon Enterprises, Inc., which owns the Sabrett trademark.[1] (Marathon Enterprises is owned by Papalexis.[1]) The only product made by Tremont Foods is the popular red onion sauce.[1] The sauce is manufactured in The Bronx, but production is scheduled to shift to a new facility, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, in 2009.[1]
Geisler remained active with the company until his death in 2009.
Geisler died at his winter home in Hernando, Florida, on January 6, 2009, at the age of 78.[1] Geisler had been suffering from a protein disorder called amyloidosis.[1] He was survived by his wife, Jean Geisler, his daughter, Martha Geisler, his son, Glenn Geisler, his brother and a grandson.[1]