HOMEGROWN & FRESHLY MADE

THE BACKYARD STORY

HOW THIS HAPPENED

Honest truth? Back in 2023 I lost my licence for a while. No car, stuck at home, a lot of time on my hands.

I've always loved chilli, and I picked up a love of gardening from my grandpa. So I did what any reasonable person would do: built a garden bed in the backyard and filled the whole thing with chilli plants.

Turns out chilli plants don't care about your plans. I ended up with way more chillies than I knew what to do with, so I started turning them into sauce.

Jason holding the very first bottle, Batch No. 1, in front of the chilli garden — BATCH NO. 1. THE GARDEN BED BEHIND IT IS WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG. OR RIGHT.

Batch No. 1 was a mild mango & habanero, and it was a hit straight out of the gates. Family and friends kept asking for more, and pretty soon I was rocking up to every family BBQ with a bag full of bottles.

At some point "can I grab another bottle?" turned into "can I buy a few?". And here we are. I've got my licence back now. The chillies stayed.

Batch No. 1 bottle lying on a pile of habaneros, chocolate habaneros and aji limón chillies — ONE HARVEST. NOW YOU UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM.

Rows of early Jason's Hot Sauce bottles with hand-tied tags — EARLY DAYS. FILLED, CAPPED AND TAGGED BY HAND. STILL ARE.

THE WHOLE COMPANY

MEET THE TEAM

Big operation. Four staff, two of them dogs. Here's who you're actually buying from.

THE BLOKE ON THE LABEL

JASON

Founder · grower · cook · bottler · delivery driver · customer service · IT department

Does most things. Some of them well. I've got a day job too, so most of this happens at night and on weekends.

Photo: Me at the office. It's not usually this relaxing. Or this many chillies. Yet.

PHOTO WITHHELD AT THE REQUEST OF MANAGEMENT

THE ACTUAL BOSS

MY WIFE

Operations · bottling · packing · keeping Jason on track

Prefers to stay anonymous, which tells you she's the sensible one. Keeps me on track and helps out heaps with the bottling and packing. If your order arrived looking neat, that was her.

HEAD OF SECURITY

STELLA

Pomeranian × Cavalier

The switched-on one. Barks at anyone who comes close. Takes the job very seriously and has never once been off duty.

Photo: Still on duty. Cone and all.

Kai, a ginger Pomeranian cross, tilting his head at the camera

HEAD OF VIBES

KAI

Pomeranian × Cavalier

He's just happy to be here, and not totally sure where 'here' is. There's not a lot going on behind those eyes, and honestly? He's thriving.

Photo: Trying his absolute hardest to follow along.

STRAIGHT ANSWERS

Is it actually homegrown?: Yes. The chillies start in my backyard. When the garden can't keep up, I buy the rest from Aussie growers. The mangoes I buy myself, straight from the farmers market.
Is it Australian?: Made in Australia from at least 95% Australian ingredients. The drop of Canadian maple syrup is the only thing getting in the way of that last 5%.
Anything weird in it?: No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. The ingredients list on each product page is the whole list. It is short on purpose.
Will it blow my head off?: No. I'm flavour first. Original is everyday heat. Extreme is properly hot. Neither one is a dare, and I'm not putting a skull on the bottle.
Why is shipping $12.95?: Because glass is heavy and Australia Post isn't cheap. I used to just pass the postage on, and some people were paying over $20 to post a Starter Bundle. That's cooked. So now it's a flat $12.95 anywhere in Australia, and free over $50. In Sydney? I'll drive it over myself for $5, by Saturday midday.

More questions? The FAQ has the rest, or email me.

THAT'S THE WHOLE STORY.

If you'd rather your hot sauce came from a factory, no stress, the supermarket's open till 10. If not, the sauce is this way.

Show me the sauce

— Jason