Trini-style, All Natural Hot Sauces - FIRECRACKER PEPPER SAUCE

Team Subkit -

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Carmen McCracken, Founder of FIRECRACKER PEPPER SAUCE, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We produce authentic, premium, award-winning Trini-style pepper sauces in small batches. Our customers are typically people who enjoy healthy eating and enjoy diverse flavour profiles from around the world.

Tell us about yourself

Our story began when Michael and I were planning our wedding. Our wedding was a fusion of 2 cultures - my Indo-Trinidadian culture and Mike's Canadian heritage. When it came to deciding what kind of wedding favour to gift to our guests, we didn't want anything that didn't represent who we were. We both love spicy food and Trini-style "pepper sauce." With a recipe from my family, we made a batch for our guests, and the sauce was a hit! Realizing how hard it is to purchase authentic, Trini-style pepper sauce made with fresh ingredients, this birthed the idea of FIRECRACKER PEPPER SAUCE. We've won 6 awards, including double awards for our mango madness sauce, 2nd place at YOW 2021 for our Nuclear Bacchanal sauce, and 3rd at the prestigious FIERY FOODS awards 2021 for our Bazodee sauce! We were also a top 3 finalist at the 2022 Ontario Made Awards in the Manufacturing category, our biggest honour to date.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Seeing the embrace that Canadians have shown to this small, unique pepper sauce blend is the greatest feeling. Building this business hasn't been just about bringing it to market - it's been about the documentation, preservation, and continuation of Trinidadian food culture in its authentic form. The Indian diaspora in Trinidad is a very strong community, but living outside of the country in Canada, there is a disappearance of that unique food culture that we hold. Seeing the history of diaspora Indians from Trinidad on the shelves of big grocery stores in Canada makes me keep going.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

One of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner is just to keep going. Some days it's easy to keep going, and other days, you can feel lost and overwhelmed. Some months you don't meet sales targets at all, the business becomes stagnant, and there are so many problems to resolve and no money to solve them... so being able to just get up and go and tackle challenges one by one and keep pushing upwards and onwards is really important.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Just start. Whatever your idea is, just start it. Do it one day at a time. There's no perfect time to ever really start a business, and the best entrepreneurs learn by just getting started.
  2. If you are going to have a business partner, choose someone you can trust wholeheartedly. Business can be pressing, and you need someone you can go through ups and downs with and still come out strong as an entity together.
  3. Know that it's okay not to have it figured out. Sufficient for the day is its own problem, and while strategic planning for the future is important, it's also important to not overwhelm yourself with all the things that need to be done and just focus on doing what's really important and be open and flexible to grow, and figure it out as you go.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://firecrackerpepper.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firecrackerpepper/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firecrackerpepper/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/firecrackerpepper/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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