Chile Chapters

Since the start of the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, over 70 hot sauces (and grilling/wing sauces) have successfully reached their funding goals. I'm happy to see all kinds of new brands and flavors appearings as a result of homegrown operations.

There is a real excitement and passion behind all of these projects. Something common with hot sauce makers is a palpable enthusiasm. Usually the creators are one or two people, or it's a family collaboration. Often, it starts as a dream or a hobby that keeps growing to the next level.

Running a Kickstarter is a lot of work. From what I've heard, it's almost a full-time job to manage it. But I wondered, what about once things are over? There's a lot of batches of sauce to make and bottle. It must be quite a change to go from bottling a few sauces in your kitchen, to producing hundreds or thousands. And what about the tricky business of distribution and getting the product into stores? I reached out to some sauce creators to find out how things went and where they're headed now:

• Bandar Monkey Sauce

• Apinya Thai Chili Sauce

• Bravado Spice: Artisan Hot Sauces

• Salamander Hot Sauces

• Outer Limits Hot Sauce

• TorchBearer Hot Sauce

• Homesweet Homegrown Hot Sauce

 

Bandar Monkey Sauce

Flavors: Spicy Mango and Mint Cilantro

Bandar Monkey Sauce came about as an idea to bring Indian style chutneys into a more understandable condiment form for Americans. One of the sauce's founders, Dan Garblik, was baffled when he asked for a hotter sauce at an Indian restaurant, and was given a bottle of Tobasco, and when he could not find any bottles of what Americans commonly know as hot sauce at an Indian grocer.

The Bandar sauces attempt to "bridge the culinary gap between traditional Indian kitchens and American plates". It's a puréed form of a typically chunky chutney, with added heat, inspired by the family recipes of the co-founder Lalit Kalani.

They knew they were on to something when they won the Wharton Business School's (at the University of Pennsylvania) innovation tournament. Their campaign was aimed at getting their first batch off the ground, and into stores. They reached four times their funding goal when the campaign ended in August 2012. We asked Dan a few questions about how things are going:

How was your experience in general with getting your sauce funded? What worked well, and what mistakes did you make?

Great experience!  I think that our fun video worked well. We talked about why there was a market opportunity for Indian-inspired hot sauces, rather than just telling people that the product tasted good.  I think that made our backers feel more invested in the entire process. We made a number of mistakes including pricing our rewards too low. We didn't fully understand the cost to ship out product at that time.

What has happened since the Kickstarter ended? What challenges have you faced and what have you learned? Would you give any suggestions to others trying to fund their own sauce?

Since the Kickstarter, we have grown into a real company that distributes our products around the country.  We also released more sauce flavors and snack lines. The biggest challenge is scaling beyond the first batch into a company that needs to produce a regular amount of product to meet the demands of stores.  Our primary advice to other founders is to regularly follow up with your backers to find out how they liked the sauce. Did they use it? With which types of foods? Try to get as much feedback as you can after you launch - both positive and constructive. The constructive feedback will help you transition the project from a hobby into something that can be sold.

Are you expanding or having your sauce distributed? Have their been any growing pains? Where are you headed next?

Yes, our sauces can now be found in many great chains across the country including Target, Whole Foods, Safeway, Sprouts, Fresh Market, and HEB. We are looking to expand our offerings to include snacks and other Indian-inspired product extensions.

Where to Purchase:

• View store locator
• www.bandarfoods.com

 

Apinya Thai Chili Sauce

Combining Thai ingredients with flavors from other world cuisines.

I first noticed this sauce when a reviewer added it to the hot sauce list here. The label with its cartoon/anime style drawing of an octopus stands out from the pack. This character is fun looking and appears to be a big part of their brand and merchandise (such as t-shirts with its teeth and eyes).

The funding they asked for was to make their fifth original sauce, to buy and use more local produce, and to launch some new products & t-shirts as part of the Kickstarter rewards. The new fusion sauce they developed ending up as the Ghost Vindaloo. It's inspired by Indian vindaloo and infused with Thai flavors (it uses Thai chillis, not ghost chillis as one might think from the name). The Apinya Co. had been "actively creating, producing, selling, and marketing their sauces for almost one year" before this Kickstarter that was active in September and October of 2013.

How was your experience in general with getting your sauce funded? What worked well, and what mistakes did you make?

Adam Ross: The Kickstarter experience was great overall. The enthusiasm from supporters is a real driving factor in continuing to do business--it brings a big satisfaction knowing that people out there really like what we put so much time and effort into. The process of setting up takes time to make your project compelling. You don't have to hire a professional designer and videographer, but you definitely need a lot of visuals and a video. Explain everything quickly and clearly. Don't make the rewards system too complex. I can't really think of any mistakes we made; it's still hard to say what we could have done to end up with more backing than we did. The best way to avoid pitfalls is to find project that did not get funded and figure out why. When you compare to other successful projects, there can seem to be little rhyme or reason for the results. I believe as long as you have a good product and take the time to explain why, people will support you and you will succeed.

What has happened since the Kickstarter ended?

Awareness of our sauces has grown and the number of retailers has expanded from around 20 to over 100. We are currently in the process of finding distributors to enable us to get into larger supermarkets like Giant and Harris Teeter. We've had a good stream of press coverage, won a few awards, and participated in about a dozen festival and events. We are always in the process of developing new products.

What challenges have you faced and what have you learned?

The biggest challenge for Kickstarter was figuring out how much initial funding to ask for. Before starting, try to reduce your expenses as much as possible so you can lower the goal. Some people lowball it with the hopes of getting to the goal quickly, but you risk funders not taking you seriously. To the same end, some people ask for absurd amounts to fund their own sauce factory. The goal has to be realistic without looking greedy--tell people exactly why you need the amount you're asking for and not more.

Would you give any suggestions to others trying to fund their own sauce?

I suggest doing your homework long before ever starting the campaign. Search out all the similar products and understand why they succeeded or failed. What is the ideal price point funders are willing to pay? What options can you add besides only your end product that will get people to back at higher levels? What type of visuals and video can you include? Read through the Kickstarter FAQ so you really understand the system. Personal stories are great, and photos/video add a lot of engagement. Finally, listen to comments as the campaign is active so you can respond to what backers want.

Are you expanding or having your sauce distributed? Have their been any growing pains? Where are you headed next?

Yes, see above re: distributors and expansion plans. Distributors have been the real headache as they tend to ignore the smaller guys in favor of their existing larger accounts. It's very hard to get your foot in the door. The best strategy is to keep building a base of smaller, direct wholesale retailers in the mean time.

Where to Purchase:

• View Map of Retailers
• apinya.co
   

Bravado Spice: Artisan Hot Sauces

Flavors: Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Sauce and Crimson Chili Sauce

Bravado Spice was founded by James Nelson and Jeremiah Tallerine, based out of Houston, Texas. Their two sauces use all natural flavors and local ingredients, without any preservatives. The pineapple sauce uses fresh pineapples, along with a little garlic and bell pepper. The Crimson sauce is a thick sauce that uses a blend of arbol chillis and guajillo chillis (which are dred mirasol chillis).

This campaign was to fund Bravado Spice's first batch of hot sauces. Their sauce was making its way into some local establishments, and they had set up in a commercial kitchen. Funding was needed for production costs, kitchen rental, equipment, storage, packaging, shipping, and more.  

How was your experience in general with getting your sauce funded? What worked well, and what mistakes did you make?

James Nelson: Overall, it was a great experience. It let us build an audience before our products were even available, which was very beneficial. It was challenging to manage so many backers but it was absolutely worth it.

What has happened since the Kickstarter ended? What challenges have you faced and what have you learned? Would you give any suggestions to others trying to fund their own sauce?

Since the Kickstarter ended, James went on to star on Season 4 of MasterChef in 2013, which helped to boost our popularity. We’ve experienced obvious growing pains (maintaining growth, marketing, etc) but that comes with the territory. The old statement of “you gotta break some eggs to make an omelette” is absolutely true.

Are you expanding or having your sauce distributed? Have their been any growing pains? Where are you headed next?

Currently we’re distributed by 2 companies in the southwest region of the US and by ourselves to the rest of the country. We’re in 17 states and in over 120+ locations. We’re expanding west rapidly and plan to be national by the end of the year if all goes well.

Where to Purchase:

• Available at retailers such as Whole Foods & Spec’s. You can use their map tool to find the closest location to you.
• www.bravadospice.com
   

Salamander Hot Sauce

Flavors: Original, Tropical, Strawberry, & Whiskey

Salamander Sauce is the creation of Timothy Kavarnos, based in Brooklyn, New York. He wanted to make a sauce that was more than your average commercial flavorless vinegar-based sauce; something with more complex body and depth to go with the heat. His sauces are all natural and use locally-sourced ingredients.

The Original Salamander flavor is "smoky and intense", and uses "red bell pepper, habanero and jalapeno, and blended in carrot, garlic, ginger and cilantro". The Tropical flavor combines several sweet fruits with habanero and jalapeno; pineapple, papaya, magno, and kiwi. The Strawberry sauce sounds tame, but has a fiery habanero heat, and finishes with an orange taste. Since they reached their stretch goal, a fourth sauce was created—the Whiskey Sauce, which indeed does use whiskey, and many other interesting ingredients.

How was your experience in general with getting your sauce funded? What worked well, and what mistakes did you make?

Timothy Kavarnos: It took me three KS campaigns to get funded. I pulled the first one several weeks in because I didn't realize the amount of work involved especially when going it alone. KS is a full time job both leading up to and during the campaign. I teamed up with a friend and a marketing firm for the second but that required a substantial increase in funding, we came close. I ran the third campaign on my own again but went in some private funding and quite a bit of experience.

What has happened since the Kickstarter ended? What challenges have you faced and what have you learned? Would you give any suggestions to others trying to fund their own sauce?

Pre campaign prep is huge, I would say 90% of the campaign rides on it. Reach out to media, friends, friends of friends, family. Talk passionately to everyone possible constantly about the campaign. Build your social media following as much as possible. During the campaign try to cross promote with other campaigns as they can reach other demographics that you won't. The biggest mistakes I made were underestimating the work involved, lack of prep, and pissing off a few people by talking about the third campaign. One thing I've been told is to have an angel investor in your back pocket to cover the rest of the campaign if you are falling short. Personally that was not an option that I wanted to take.

Are you expanding or having your sauce distributed? Have their been any growing pains? Where are you headed next?

I've been able to get some sleep, occasionally, and I truly love what I do now. I do still work another job to support myself until the business expands but having Salamander has made my life more enjoyable!

I have been working to expand my presence through events, tastings and social media. I host the semi-annual Salamander Spicy Cocktail Competition which has been huge and is about to expand. I have been approached by stores from Brooklyn, NY to Montreal to carry the sauces and I have been picked up by a few restaurants. It's a slow growth operation here. I am currently a one man show so everything falls on me from marketing to sales and distribution.

Where to Purchase:

• View list of stores that currently carry the line
  (As of March 2015: 4 stores, and 5 places to try in New York)
• www.salamandersauce.com
   

Outer Limits Hot Sauce

Flavors: Jalapeno Lime, Habanero, and Serrano Cilantro

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture... just sit quietly and enjoy your hot sauce.

This sauce comes out of New Jersey, and was made by Ed Martin and his father when they were out of work. They ramped up their hot sauce cooking and found that people were interested and suggesting that they start selling the sauce. They asked for funding to help turn this dream of doing what they love for a living, into a reality.

Outer Limits Hot Sauce started with two flavors: Jalapeno Lime, which is made of red Jalapenos, lime juice, lime zest, & spices (sounds like it'd be good on tacos and Mexican food). And Habanero, which is all natural, with some spices, and a hint of garlic. Their third variety, Serrano Cilantro, got its approval in 2014 as a result of the campaign. It has a medium heat level that is a bit spicier than their Jalapeno Lime, but a good bit milder than their Habanero. The fresh cilantro is accompanied by a onion and garlic.

How was your experience in general with getting your sauce funded?

Ed Martin: Our experience with Kickstarter was great.  I think the best thing that we did with it was to have a strong social media presence ahead of the launch of the campaign.  We had a lot of people excited for the release of the sauce and they were all very happy to be able to back it and get the first batch.  I'd say that next time we would probably go ahead and make a video as it seems that the projects that Kickstarter highlights all tend to have a video.

What worked well, and what mistakes did you make?

Since the Kickstarter ended we have gotten into a dozen stores and have strong sales on our website, we also set up distribution in Canada and Australia. Things are really moving along well for us. Challenges that we have run into mostly come from sourcing our peppers. Living in the Northeast we can't really grow all year long so the off seasons prove a bit difficult for sourcing sometimes. As far as suggestions, I would go back to the last question a bit and really recommend that people build a strong following online before launching a Kickstarter, that made all the difference for us.

What has happened since the campaign ended?

We have added two new flavors since the campaign wrapped up and have been picked up in a dozen stores.  I handle all the US distribution myself and was approached by distributors in Canada and Australia that I am working with, it is helpful to have people on the ground in those territories. Our next step is just to keep hustling and trying to get in as many stores and as many homes as possible!

Where to Purchase:

• www.outerlimitshotsauce.com
   

TorchBearer Hot Sauce

All-Natural, Gourmet Condiments

TorchBearer Sauces is a family-run company in Pennsylvania, started by Vid Lynch. They make over 20 sauces and marinades, that use all natural ingredients (avoiding high fructose corn syrup or any others that don't read as real food).

Their 5 best sellers, as given out as part of the backers rewards, are their Sultry Hot Sauce, Tarnation Hot Sauce, Oh My Garlic! Sauce, Honey BBQ, and Chipotle BBQ. Their four new sauces (unreleased at the time of the campaign in Sept/Oct 2012), are Thai Curry Sauce, Z Wing Sauce, Ow My Garlic! (A spicier version of Oh My Garlic!), and Root Beer BBQ.

Their Kickstarter was started because they needed help with expansion; making larger batches to keep up with demand and getting into more stores. They reached their initial goal which allowed them to make a full pallet of their top sellers and gave them the inventory to expand around the country.

How was your experience in general with getting your sauce funded? What worked well, and what mistakes did you make?

Vid Lynch: The experience was interesting. It was a lot of work to get everything done to launch the campaign and a lot more to keep up with social media. The biggest mistake we made was having too many rewards. Shipping them out took a LOT of time and money. In the end we really made little profit. The mistake we DIDN'T make that most companies I have noticed do is we made sure to price for the shipping.  I have seen some companies with heavy rewards sell a single unit for $10. Well if you are shipping further than a zone or two away from you, you are actually losing money.  

What has happened since the Kickstarter ended? What challenges have you faced and what have you learned? Would you give any suggestions to others trying to fund their own sauce?

The challenges were mainly in the shipping of the products. Like I said, we had TOO many rewards.  Keeping track of who wants what and getting it to the right person was difficult. My two main suggestions are keep is simple. Don't over do it on your rewards or you will regret it in the end. And make sure to price in the shipping very well.  Even with us being careful we had some issues. One person was from Hawaii and his shipping ended up being almost as much as his reward package ($120).

Are you expanding or having your sauce distributed? Have their been any growing pains? Where are you headed next?

We expand every year, we are trying to start working with more distributors but for us it has been a slow process. The main growing pains we have seen is keeping up with production and finding funding to get our own kitchen up and running.

Where to Purchase:

• View List of Stores (including some Wegmans and Whole Foods)
• www.torchbearersauces.com
• And any festivals that they attend
   

Homesweet Homegrown Hot Sauce

Flavors: Orange Crush, Punch Drunk, and Aramingo

The Homesweet Homegrown company was founded by Robyn Jasko and Paul David, in Kutztown, PA. They grow their own heirloom hot peppers and garlic, which are used in their 100% natural sauces. Before starting the kickstarter, they planted over 100 peppers plants. You can't get any fresher ingredients than that!

The Orange Crush hot sauce that they make contains orange habaneros, carrots, and citrus. The second sauce Aramingo, is a habanero sauce with mango and pineapple. The third variety, called Punch Drunk has me very intrigued. It combines ghost chillis with their fresh garlic, guiness stoudt, and raw cacao.

Their campaign was funded in May of 2013. There were lots of interesting backer awards, like Smoked Hot Pepper Garlic Salt and plantable hot pepper seed cards. The funds allowed them to grow more pepper plants (250+) and garlic, and work towards possibly getting their own plot of land just for their Homesweet Homegrown garden.

How was your experience in general with getting your sauce funded? What worked well, and what mistakes did you make?

Paul David: Overall it was a very positive, exciting experience, though not without some challenges. Setting a realistic low goal on Kickstarter worked really well for us since we reached and exceeded it quickly. Setting stretch goals, adding rewards, and posting frequent updates kept people engaged with the project. One mistake we made was not adding an international shipping reward tier until halfway through the campaign, all though I believe Kickstarter has since improved the shipping options and how they're implemented.

What has happened since the Kickstarter ended? What challenges have you faced and what have you learned? Would you give any suggestions to others trying to fund their own sauce?

Kickstarter really did kickstart our company. We've been fortunate as there has been a great demand for our hot sauce. Fulfillment of the Kickstarter rewards was our first challenge and was an enormous task. We did the shipping ourselves as third party houses were too expensive. We learned so much from this process, however, I think we could go into the shipping business!

Scaling up, I would say that choosing a good co-packer is critically important and turned out to be a big challenge. We interviewed many co-packers in our region and even ended up changing paths mid-stream with one who didn't work out. You'll have many partners as you expand your business but the co-packer for your product needs to be fair, knowledgeable, and supportive.

Are you expanding or having your sauce distributed? Have their been any growing pains? Where are you headed next?

We are constantly adding new stores! Currently our sauce is distributed to the entire northeast region of Whole Foods (NY, NJ, and CT). We are also available in our local PA Whole Foods and our total reach is around 160 locations. One of the most exciting developments on the horizon was our acceptance into the NYC Greenmarkets. Starting April 3rd we'll be at Union Square on Fridays and Greenpoint / Mccarren Park on Saturdays!

Where to Purchase:

• Available at Whole Foods and a variety of other shops and grocers throughout the Northeast
• homesweethomegrown.com

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Thanks to everyone that shared their experiences. If you're looking to financially back some new sauces, check out some current campaigns with new sauces that haven't reached their funding deadline yet.

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**Featured image: ‘Pepper and chilli sauce’ by jillicious / Cultivate Oxford available at under CC BY-NC 2.0