Capsaicin Cartel is Canada’s choice

Kary-Ann Deer and her husband Nico Hoogendijk have been winning awards for their creative collection of hot sauces for years now, but taking home a Canadian Choice Award for their small business this month has been one of their biggest achievements since starting their company almost six years ago.

“It was pretty incredible. We weren’t even sure we were going to get past the nomination part, so even just being a finalist was really exciting,” said Deer. “I think it’s sort of a next-level kind of appreciation.”

The duo run The Capsaicin Cartel, a brand designed by and for “chiliheads” that focuses on small-batch production of hot sauces that pack a punch. They sell fan favourites like Anti-Virus 19, an award-winning BBQ-style hot sauce, and the Can’Eh’jun, an Acadian-Cajun hot sauce made with fresh cayenne peppers and red bell peppers.

The sauces have already picked up awards at prestigious events in the hot sauce world like the YOW Awards, but a Canadian Choice Award is a level above, giving the company more reach and hopefully getting the sauce on the plates of more people.

The company took home first place in the Specialty Foods category at the competition.

“This is national, it’s not just our small little hot sauce expo events in Ottawa or Nicolet, this is a national award. It’s absolutely the biggest award we’ve ever won,” Deer said. “We’re a national player in the Specialty Foods category. It’s above just being recognized as a hot sauce company.”

When the husband-wife duo first came up with the idea for their company five and a half years ago, they never expected to take home awards for their creations. Instead, their focus was simply on fresh, flavourful sauces – the widespread recognition has been a happy consequence of the hard work they’ve put into their business.

“We just wanted to make a living, to just pay our bills and bring amazing sauces through the market,” said Hoogendijk, a former professional chef. “It all still blows our mind.”

The business started with spicy maple syrup made with local syrup from the couple’s neighbours. One day, a customer asked them if they’d ever consider making hot sauce, and though the couple originally said no, the spicy seed was planted, and a few months later, they were returning from hot sauce expos with prizes for their sauces.

“We had absolutely no idea that it was going to explode,” said Deer.

She remembers the journey home from one of those early expos, when she and Hoogendijk realized just how good a business idea they had on their hands.

“We celebrated that whole drive back, we just kept looking at each other and thinking, ‘Did that really just happen?’” she said. “I think it’s the first time for the both of us that we’re doing something that we love to do.”

The two are confident about what they can achieve as a couple, having found the perfect match in each other not just as spouses, but as business partners.

“Other couples I’ve talked to who have a business or work together say it’s really hard, because it should cause a lot of conflict, but for us it doesn’t,” Deer said. “I know my role and responsibilities and he knows his, and sometimes we get to push each other, it just works.”

With the Canadian Choice Award under their belts, Deer and Hoogendijk are looking forward to continuing to grow their business, hopefully with an in-person storefront, ideally located here in Kahnawake.

“We want a brick-and-mortar business where we can have employees and build a business and scale it,” Deer said. “If we can have our own store, that would be the dream.”

[email protected]