It started because nobody else would help.
I couldn't find a co-packer to take on a small run, so I decided to make it myself. Somewhere along the way, I realized I genuinely enjoyed making things for other businesses.
One fateful day, while visiting Kranz Hill Farms (now The Produce Peddler) in Newark, Delaware, I overheard the staff debating what to do with thirteen pounds of surplus cayenne peppers. Half joking, I suggested they make hot sauce. To my surprise, they asked me if I would do it myself, peppers free of charge.
A few days later, a bucket of peppers was fermenting in my dining room.
After giving the owner a few samples, he suggested I sell him a few bottles. I hesitated, because I wasn't sure I wanted to turn something I loved doing for fun into a business. But as the samples kept going out and the feedback kept coming back, I knew I had something worth sharing.
Over time, I turned more of Kranz Hill Farm's produce into gourmet artisan goods, building a line that now includes hot sauce, pepper sauce, pickled beets, and apple cider vinegar — and a manufacturing partnership that helps other businesses do the same.