We all have that one friend, whom, when asked what product they can’t live without, say hot sauce! In a post Spice Girls world, consumers are often left to the big retailers when searching for the perfect hot sauce, but rarely stumble upon Grandma’s infamous recipe! Alas, meet the Heatonist, a curated natural hot sauce store, located in Brooklyn, New York, where small farmers and consumer interests intersect.

We met Noah Chaimberg, the founder of Heatonist over dinner a couple of months back in a lofty Brooklyn apartment to discuss his love for all things hot and how he got started. “I have always been dabbling in projects on the side and loved to cook. When I was 15, I would sell Pokemon posters on eBay and then at the age of 16, tried to sell Catamarans in Vermont. I had met a supplier from Canada and convinced him to let me lead the U.S. market.” Not too shabby for a young soul back in the day.

The Aha Moment

However, Noah’s love affair with hot sauce bloomed over an evening brainstorming session with a friend. “I had been working in digital advertising for the past nine years, and it’s funny because looking back, I had majored in Marketing from Concordia University in Montreal, but NEVER wanted to work in advertising. I started out in search and then moved on to social media, display and data analytics. My clients consisted of Uniqlo, Mercedes, etc. but I was itching to start my own brand that I could have control over and execute the ideas that I wanted to. One evening, my friend and I were bouncing business ideas off this huge wall that I had converted into a whiteboard in my apartment and we were stuck on the word data. For some reason, I kept thinking of the word hot sauce as it relates to data and voila, Heatonist was born.”

So why does data relate to hot sauce you might be wondering? The Heatonist is a curator of the best hot sauces in the world, ranging from Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, and New York. All of the products are natural and free of artificial ingredients. They also occasionally engage in collaborations with small mom and pop owners to co-create their own limited edition products based on consumer feedback using data from the store. Fun fact: Noah also operates his own marketing consulting agency in the back of the Heatonist store.

Testing The Market

“I got an account with a hot sauce distributor and ordered a bunch of samples and would have friends come over to choose the ones they liked best. My friend initially told me about a sauce in Colorado that was owned by a brother and sister duo that wasn't available anywhere else, and from there I knew I was on to something. I started attending farmers markets, digging through online communities and noticed a craft brewing movement happening in hot sauce that no one was talking about. I decided to create my own hot sauce mobile with these products sourced from different vendors and sell at events back in October 2013. One year later, we launched our own website.”

“As a solo entrepreneur who is self-funded, logistics has been the biggest challenge when working in New York! You need to have the entrepreneurial attitude that you are going to figure it out somehow.”

Priced between $8 - $12, you can find Heatonist products on their website, showcased on the famous YouTube show, Hot One’s or in their store, 121 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn. Noah’s advice for those looking to start something in the culinary space, “walk before you run. Figure out what you are doing and talk to as many people in the farmers market to get feedback on what they like and don’t like about it. Also, build your customer base before going into Whole Foods.”

Photo courtesy of The Heatonist.