11/01/2026
Where it all started! Six years ago today. 🌶️
I spent the first few months of COVID playing “gardener.” It was a hobby to keep me busy. Becoming a hot sauce maker wasn’t even on my radar.
When fall came, I couldn’t bring myself to lose some perfectly healthy habanero plants, so I moved them indoors and kept growing. I’d made a few hundred bottles of sauce for friends, family, and neighbors with my first harvest, and they kept telling me I should sell it. They loved the flavors and the fact that they weren't focused on heat.
My initial reaction? “Yeah, let’s start a hot sauce business during a global pandemic. That’s smart! 🙄”
But the idea stuck. I spent that winter growing more plants, then printed some absolutely terrible labels on my home printer and signed up for the Campton Hills Farmers Market in spring 2021.
Two markets later, my modest inventory was gone.
Okay. Maybe there was something here.
Today, Chef Heatley’s Hot Pepper Farm has a home in Sandwich, Illinois, a team helping me build and scale it, and a schedule of hundreds of events across multiple states every year.
And this year, “You Are Dead to Me” earned Grand World Champion at the 2026 NYC Hot Sauce Expo. Da Pope won Best Mustard Sauce, and Smashin' Punkin won Best Label.
Not bad for the “least creative guy on earth.” 😂
There have been plenty of long days, hard lessons, and things I’ve had to figure out along the way. But I still get to do what got me excited about those first bottles: create something in the kitchen and watch people enjoy it.
Flavor first. Heat with a purpose. That hasn’t changed.
To the friends and family who encouraged me before this thing even had a name, the team putting in the work alongside me, and everyone who has bought a bottle, stopped for a sample, recommended us, or come back for more: thank you. You’ve helped turn a pandemic hobby into my livelihood.
I look at these pictures from 6 years ago and remember being excited just to see those seeds sprout. I sure as hell didn’t see all of this coming. And there is always more to come!
www.chefheatleys.com
