As Hotmaple ends its second year, we want to take a moment highlight those that have made us who we are. In particular, we want to highlight one local grocer who made a world of difference for us as a brand:  Food Fight! Grocery in Portland, OR

When you are a small brand that is just starting out, there is nothing more difficult than getting on grocers' shelves. With any grocer, shelf space is at a premium and margins are tight. So they only tend to let in product they know will sell.  It is a financial risk for a store to give room to an unproven brand... it is an even BIGGER RISK to promote an entirely new & unproven brand to loyal customers.

Food Fight! took that risk. They were the very first grocer to give Hotmaple a chance. Not only did they provide space for us on their shelves, they also recommended us to all their customers physically, as well as on social media -- and boy, did that help.

Here in Portland, Food Fight!'s opinion carries a LOT of weight in the health conscious foodie community that follows a Vegan diet. Food Fight! takes great care in what they stock for their customers, and what products they choose to represent. So imagine our surprise back in 2013 when Chad Miller, the owner of Food Fight! wrote us the following:

"A customer requested that we try out your hot sauce. If you'd like to drop a sample by with pricing, etc, we'd love to check it out.
Thanks.         
Chad"

To this day we still do not know who that mystery customer was, but we owe you a metric-ton of thanks as well.  

Ever since that first sample, Chad and the staff at Food Fight! have been some of our most loyal, and best supporters. I sincerely hope that we have done our part in providing a quality product that fills the needs of their clientele.

For this reason, the Food Fight! family will be receiving the first ever GET SAUCY® anniversary awards. You helped make us who we are. We will never forget that. 

Food Fight! Your award is on the way, create some shelf space for it...  :-)

 

 

Hotmaple’s brand ambassador, Bea, created this tasty appetizer during a recent store demo.   With peaches being in season right now, this is great for all those "last hurrahs of summer" BBQs.

Ingredients:
Peaches
Mint - chopped
Prosciutto
Hotmaple Smokey Habanero

Directions:
1. Cut peach up into large bite sized pieces
2. Place fresh chopped mint on top of peach
3. Wrap with prosciutto
4. Top with 1 1/2 dime-sized portion of Hotmaple Smokey Habanero
5. Serve!

 

Yes Indeed!! Hotmaple Smokey Habanero hot sauce is now available at all 15 New Seasons Market locations in Oregon and Washington... so that means it is time to #GetSaucy!!!

To celebrate, we want hot sauce lovers to #GetSaucy with Hotmaple Smokey Habanero, and enter our contest to be one of 25 lucky contestants who will win a pair of tickets to the July 3rd NWSL match at Providence Park!! (event details)

Entry Details:

• Email or Tweet us a picture of both you and your bottle of Hotmaple together. The more creative the picture - the better. Be sure to use #GetSaucy and refer to specific instructions below.
• Please save your receipt! If you are a selected winner we may ask for proof of purchase.
• Chances are very high of being a winner as we have over 50 tickets!  
• Qualifying purchases must be made from an Oregon or Washington Grocer before April 30th (click here for list)
• Online purchases are not eligible.
• All entries must be posted by Midnight on April 30th. 

 Email entry instructions:

• Send To:  GetSaucy@hotmaple.com
• Subject: #GetSaucy
• Don't forget to attach the picture of you and your bottle together to your email!

Twitter entry instructions:

• Tweet us:  @HotmapleFoods
• Must Use tag:  #GetSaucy

• Don't forget to include the picture of you and your bottle together in your tweet!

The addition of the New Seasons Market locations to our already excellent family of supporting grocers grants us the complete store coverage that our‪ ‎PDX ‬‪hot sauce‬ customers have been begging for.



Please refer to our complete list of stores to find a local grocer near you.

GET SAUCY. GET HOTMAPLE.

Ever wonder if you make a difference in the world?  We sure do. 

To find out, we decided to crunch the "big data" of our last couple years of sales to find out how far Hotmaple Smokey Habanero has traveled. The answers were surprising. We knew we have shipped a lot of international packages, but we never really put any context around what we were doing / where until we put together this chart. Heck, we were just happy to sell a single bottle - much less a dozen!

We never really stopped to think that some guy on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific was exposing his friends to Hotmaple... all thanks to the internet.

So, here are all the locations we have sent minimum of a half-dozen bottles to. The bigger the circle, the more that was ordered over time.

After looking at this we have to wonder about you all in Canada... your brothers in Australia half-a-world away are kicking your butts (eh?)

#GetSaucy

 

 

Hotmaple Smokey Habanero is now available at all 15 New Seasons Market locations in Oregon and Washington.

The addition of the New Seasons Market locations to our already excellent family of supporting grocers grants us the complete store coverage that our‪ #‎PDX‬ ‪#‎hotsauce‬ customers have been begging for.

Please refer to our complete list of stores to find a local grocer near you: 
http://hotmaple.com/pages/where-can-i-buy-it

GET SAUCY®