Daddy Cool’s Chilli Sauce

When it comes to who they are, Daddy Cool’s Chilli Sauce is a family run business based in the High Peak, Derbyshire that prides themselves “on being at the forefront of flavour innovation and aims to bring inspiration to your kitchen and sparkle to your taste buds.”

“We’re always on the frontline thinking of exciting ideas and working hard using only the finest ingredients and small batch cooking to bring you unrivalled quality and flavour.”

“This has been proven through our many achievements which include the Great Taste Awards, The Hot Pepper Awards and World Hot Pepper Awards.”

“Our mission statement is: “why have ordinary when you can have extraordinary!”’

The Daddy Cool journey first began when Stephen first met his wife, who comes from a Caribbean descent. He started with a few Caribbean chilli sauces, going on to create his Jeepers Reapers Revenge, Scorpion Annihilation (Finish Him), Ghost Pepper (Extreme Caution) and Fatalii Attraction.

“Since then the Daddy Cool family has unleashed a range of products so diverse it makes Lady Gaga’s wardrobe look like a Primark clearance rail. Hot sauces, chutneys, jams, rubs, nuts and pickles are just some of the products people have been queueing up to try at food markets and festivals around the UK.”

Their products have become extremely popular with people of all ages and we were keen to find out which are the most popular. Stephen told us: “It all depends on which market or clientele we are facing. We tend to take a few hot ones but most of our sales when we are on food festivals are the medium to mild range. At chilli festivals this is the complete opposite, it’s all about hot, hot, hot.”

As well as offering individual items, you can also purchase monthly subscription boxes which include different spicy products for you to try.

“We try our very best to make sure that the subscription boxes offer different things all the time. We are currently looking into collaborations with other chilli providers to include their produce so this is something that could happen later down the line.”

We absolutely love this idea and think it would make the perfect Christmas or birthday gift for any chilli-lovers out there!

One great thing about Daddy Cool’s Chilli Sauce is that they grow their own chillies using a secret organic soil mix, which is then used in all their products.

“The secret soil mix is a combination of organic material and we find that if we get a good summer in the High Peak it makes the chillies perform outstandingly well. The flavour becomes juicier and fresher, which also means the chillies can become hotter as they will have been grown in ideal conditions.”

Using the freshest ingredients is extremely important to Daddy Cool’s Chilli Sauce, and Stephen told us that: “Only the freshest of ingredients are always used in our produce where possible.”

“We know that this is one of the things our customers love as they are repeat customers. Most of them don’t like vinegar-based products that other producers supply, and the fresh ingredients we use taste much better to them.”

“Fresh is always best. Yes, it takes longer to prepare but this makes us stand out from the crowd and each year, the hard work pays off and we achieve yet more awards for the Daddy Cool name.”

Stephen comes from a chef background and has spent years perfecting his recipes. He said: “It’s a trial of taste testing. If anyone in this game never tastes their produce, then they shouldn’t be in the chilli business. You must have a passion for heat and flavour.”

As mentioned earlier, Daddy Cool’s Chilli Sauce has won multiple awards, including the Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Food. We asked how these achievements have affected the business and Stephen told us: “We have achieved worldwide recognition for certain products along with achieving the Great Taste Awards and Chilli Awards etc.”

“As the Guild of Fine Food are a well-known company, it helps us to get more people talking about Daddy Cool’s Chilli Sauce and show wholesalers and stockists that we have a product their customers will love.”

“We are also extremely pleased to tell you that we have just won another award, this time in the USA! Daddy Cool’s Sauce was awarded 1^st place in the Condiments (hot and spicy) category, also knows as ‘The Scovie Award’, which we are absolutely delighted about.”

If you hadn’t guessed, Stephen adores chillies, and they even make it into his hobbies!

“I spend my time growing chillies, cooking them, and then growing more chillies!”

“I’m 100% ‘Chillification’ in the kitchen I’m afraid. My hobby is providing lovers of all things spicy with new exciting tastes each year.”

In the future, we can expect to see a lot more of Daddy Cool’s Chilli Sauce. “Ideally, I may look for an investor or sales representative to help take the Daddy Cool’s Chilli Sauce range to the next level.”

“I’m even thinking about crowd funding to helps us create even more mouthwatering products.”

“If anyone is interested in any of these opportunities, feel free to hit me up!”

Reaching the end of our interview, it was safe to say that we were craving something hot and spicy! But we had one final question about, you guessed it, insurance!

We asked Stephen why it’s important for crafters, especially those working with food and drink, to have insurance cover.

He told us: “You have to have insurance for both parties, so that not only your business is covered but your customers are too.”

“This protects you from any malicious accusations or if an event is cancelled through no fault of your own, or you have to destroy your stock or its been condemned.”

Another reason you must have insurance is that you are required to have certain certificate in place before any event team will look at allowing you to trade.”

“We are still in an age where certain people think they’ll get away with selling produce they have zero traceability for.”