Sauce Makers

Geosojda

Geosojda

Hi sauce makers,
To make a long story very short, i want to take my growing peppers hobby (obsession) to the next level and create a side business. i've sold small numbers of fresh peppers on this board and will have a good number to sell pretty soon here. This year i'm up to about 100 plants, of many varieties (mostly super hots) and need to do some market research to maximize the potential. So my question is what do you guys need more of? What are the peppers that are in your most popular sauces? Any advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Hot serrano's (I know that may sound like a misnomer to some of you :)

Seriously though, my sauce has a delayed heat that only serranos can provide

Problem is, most of the serranos I can get around here (san francisco bay area) have been "fattened up" to look like this and have almost no heat


Serrano-Pepper.jpg



I need thin serranos (I guess they are picked earlier?) that look more like this:

veg_PepperHotSerrano.jpg
 
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Honestly, unless you are planning on sticking with the "in" varieties, it might be better just to find a sauce maker and hook up with them. You could exclusively grow the peppers needed for that particular company. Another option would be contacting a co-packer to become a supplier. One drawback with a co-packer would be the amount of pods needed for large batches.

That being said, there is always a need (and market) for commonly grown peppers like habaneros, cayenne, jalapenos, etc. and the popular specialty varieties like Bhut Jolokias and Trinidad Scorpions.
 
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I also use Serranos but have had no issues sourcing locally. Orange habs, jalapenos.

I decided against going "exotic" for my 1st 3 flavors - that makes sourcing ingredients and sourcing them with consistent quality/heat levels much easier.

My 4th flavor TBD is likely to be an extra-hot, but I am undecided on the pepper variety. Starting to experiment now.

And X2 to Redtail's comment. Better to just work 1:1 with sauce makers/manufacturers.

many here won't tell you what exact pepper blends they use in their sauces (mine are on my labels so it's not like it's a secret).

I'd advise you to have a contract in place before putting a single seedling in the ground. Especially if growing something exotic.

another tale of caution is with regard to supply & demand. Since I've started hanging out here at THP, I've read a few tales of "I looked around to find the peppers that were selling for the most $ and planted a field of them! I'm gonna be rich!"

Except what they fail to realize is that the peppers were so costly due to rarity, and by virtue of flooding the market with them they are driving their own price down.

So yeah - totally agree that sticking with the standards as your core business is likely going to be the safest route. Then maybe throw down a couple risk/reward special varietals to suppliment. :cheers:
 
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+1 to MnZ, RTF and LDHS. All good points.

Shipping of a large quantity is also a consideration. If you're just looking to make money, find a sauce maker in your area and grow for them. And don't limit your search to hot sauce makers. There might be some salsa makers out there who are only selling in their local areas.

BTW, I need some Red Savinas. But they have to be grown from a verified RedSav seed source, not just some generic carribean red habs.
 
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Thanks for all the posts guys, some good things to think about here. My main goal is to basically support my obsession and maybe make a few bucks here and there. I just really enjoy growing, not limited to peppers but peppers are by far my favorite. I don't really have room to grow enough to support a farmers market type set up though. I guess i have some googling to do and see if i can find some local folks who need peppers!

salsalady - i am growing red savs this year, but they were gotten through a trade here, so they should be the real deal but i can't varify that yet.
 
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