The Story Behind CHOOKS Australian Hot Sauce
Chook, I’m an ex-chippy that decided to take a different path and create a Hot Sauce that was wildly different. I needed to break into the market with something very unique, so I started combining staple Aussie ingredients with chilli to create flavours like no other! The result is the Almighty Range! Aussie ingredients, maximum flavour, the perfect touch of heat that keeps you coming back for more!
Meet Chook and the Idea Behind CHOOKS Hot Sauce
My name is Kurt and I’m an ex-chippy of 10 years. I’m now in Sales with Chooks Hot Sauce as a side hustle business. The nickname Chook comes from some shenanigans at the end of high school, a story for another day.
I’ve always been hands on and very creative with plenty of side projects out of work to keep me busy. Growing fruits and veggies in the garden has always been one of them which I thoroughly enjoy! Chillis, well they were the most fun to experiment with! Finding a gap in the market was my main mission and viola, The Almighty Range from Chooks Hot Sauce was created.
How Growing Chillies at Home Started the Journey
I don’t know if you’ve ever grown chillies before but they can fruit a lot of chillies! From memory, I planted around 4 - 5 different species of chilli. The classic Habanero, Oz Brain, Mustard Habanero and a hectic white chilli to name a few.
Once I harvested these chillies I knew I had to do something with them. I packaged a lot and gave them to family and friends (the chilli lovers), the rest were cooked and some frozen. I then did some research to work on ratios and bottle quantities and started cooking!
The most memorable sauce I made at the time was with the Mustard Habanero, a beautiful yellow chilli with a lovely balance of flavour and spice. I paired this with mango and my god, this sauce was like no other. It was so good I had to share it with friends and family to which they all loved, sparking the idea. Here is where I sourced some help and the adventure started.
The Feedback That Turned a Hobby into a Business
The reaction from friends and family is what really edged me into committing to the hot sauce game, though it was years after my backyard creations became Chooks Hot Sauce. I approached my friend Chef Tom (who had made Hot Sauce in the past) with the Mango flavoured sauce. He said great, find the Chilli and I’ll help. Went searching high and low, couldn't find them. Found alternatives but at the end of the day Tom said, start again.
Time passed, a serious side hustle flopped, lost my job, changed careers into sales (story in itself) and went full circle back to Hot Sauce, this time approaching Tom with Almighty OG. He loved it and he asked, “want to go soft (500 Bottles) or go hard (3000 Bottles).” With Tom’s expert guidance and preparing for over 1000 bottles, that’s when it hit and I fully committed to Chooks Hot Sauce!
Building a Hot Sauce Brand in St Kilda, Melbourne
Experimenting with fermentation was one of the first steps I took towards experimenting with Almighty OG. Tom helped me scale this fermentation method by blending the chillies into a mash and putting them into buckets. This saw huge challenges as some of the buckets reacted aggressively and exploded due to the fermentation process.
This required me to travel from home to the kitchen, clean, check and put back every 2 - 3 days. This was very time consuming and we lost a fair bit of produce. Thankfully, the kitchen’s located in St Kilda and I live in St Kilda East! This means that it was actually achievable to monitor. I’m forever grateful for this! I would not be in the position I am now without the generosity of Tom and the location I live in.
What Makes CHOOKS an Aussie Original
Chooks Hot Sauce brings full Aussie flavour and attitude. I’m a bit of a bogan myself so I didn’t want to veer away from that too much. I like to have a laugh, not take things too seriously and bring a bit of fun into peoples lives. Chook is my nickname but it’s also a very common Aussie nickname so it would relate with a few.
It wasn’t until I sketched the logo that I was sold on the name and design. The logo was loud, cheeky and me. The idea of using Vegemite was to substitute it with salt while adding a wild Aussie flavour. Combining the two worked on every level for me and it was something I needed to make happen!
What Comes Next for CHOOKS Hot Sauce
It gets very tough juggling Chooks Hot Sauce. It’s a side hustle so I still work fulltime, have a young family and enjoy spending time with family and friends. Allocating time for it all is very challenging but there is a lot that motivates me. The satisfaction of happy customers, family time, family & friends showing up and supporting you, experimenting with new flavours and creating something of your own.
The Almighty Range is solid but it may not necessarily be a completed range, there may certainly be something else in the works. We also may have a range outside of the Almighty banner so that is something to keep your eyes open for. Before we get there though be sure to begin your Chooks adventure and try Almighty OG, the one that started it all!
Try CHOOKS Full Range of Hot Sauces and Beef Jerky Here
