Today we’d like to introduce you to John Brown.
John, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I had a garden at my home where I grew numerous fruits and vegetables. At the end of the growing season, I would take all my hot peppers and make a hot sauce for my friends and family for the holidays. After the holidays, our friends would get together for many playoff games and I was always asked to “bring the hot sauce”. To everyone’s disappointment, I never had any extra because I always gave it away.
My family and friends encouraged me to mass-produce it and the rest is history.
Living in Chelsea, I named it after the Great Chelsea Fires which nearly devastated the City and ended up unifying the community and Chelsea Fire Wicked Hot Sauce was created.
A portion of my sales proceeds goes to The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation of which I am an Affiliated Partner.
Funds are used for grief counseling for co-workers and families as well as scholarships and other various fundraisers throughout the year.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Had I known all the rules and regulations for bringing a hot sauce to market, I probably would have talked myself out of it but ignorance was bliss and I learned as I went on. I recently went through an FDA audit and passed with flying colors.
Chelsea Fire Hot Sauce – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I make one product – Chelsea Fire Wicked Hot Sauce.
A wickedly flavorful blend of habanero and ghost peppers. What sets my hot sauce apart from the competition is that it’ a hot sauce with flavor.
I use so many other spices in my recipe that it compliments everything without overpowering anything.
My ghost chili’s are smoke-dried and I use sea salt to keep the sodium way down.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
First off, you have to love doing what you do or no matter how much money you make, you will never feel satisfied. Satisfaction is one component of success. Secondly, people need to like your product which translates hopefully into sales. Success needs to be shared. In saying that I mean that giving back from the fruits of your labor and seeing that you can make a difference in your community. I’ve only planted a small seed in a forest with many trees. But that has ultimately satisfied me in the endeavor.
Pricing:
- my 50z bottles sell for retail between $2.99 and $4.59 in Market Basket, Christmas Tree Shop, Big Y, Whole Foods, Roche Bros, Stp & Shop
- My 5oz bottle sell on Amazon for $7
Contact Info:
- Address: www.chelseafirehotsauce.com
- Website: jb02150@chelseafirehotsauce.com
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