| |
|
In the beginning there was a chilli patch on a very green hill overlooking Byron
Bay. Jalapeno chillies thrived in the rich red soil.
With a little help from a local farmer and
some compost from the old Byron Piggery , the little chilli patch grew strong in the light of the semi-tropical Summer.
" The little chilli patch grew strong in the
light of the semi-tropical summer "
Meanwhile, they purchased a well-used taco van already operating at the Byron Markets. Most Sundays they would hook up the caravan to their old, rusty ute and wind
down the hills to one of the local markets. In those marvelous, busy days
they served soft tacos, burritos and nachos like the markets had never seen.
From
the start, wanting their food to be exceptionally tasty, they knew they would have
to make our their own salsa. After long days of trial and error in their little kitchen at home,
they arrived at two respectably authentic sauces - Salsa Picante and Salsa Verde.
It wasn't long before regular customers showed up with empty jars, hoping to take some of the salsa home with them.
And that's how Byron Bay Chilli Company was born.
Soon labels were printed and the salsas were offered for sale alongside the prepared
food and fresh jalapeno chillies on their stand.
" It wasn't long before regular customers
asked them to bottle the salsas "
Word of mouth spread quickly, and it was suggested they should try selling
to a few shops. Deli Byron and Gourmet Bay took on the products locally, and when
presented to David Jones Department store and Butler's Deli in Brisbane, they readily carried the salsas as well.
Encouraged, they decided to test the waters at a food show in Brisbane. As fate would have it, Graham and Gail Boyd, food writers for the Courier Mail happened by their stand, and wrote an article about the BBCC salsa in their regular Wednesday column, "Fossicking with the Boyds".
What
happened next took them totally by surprise. A telephone call from Bob Bartlett, buyer
for Coles Supermarkets in Queensland, who had read the article, said he and then CEO of Coles, Dennis Eck, were interested in supporting local products and asked if they wanted to trial the salsas in a few local stores.
After
serious deliberation (about two seconds) they said, "sure,"and that's how Byron Bay Chilli Company got
started in the supermarkets.
" Word of mouth spread quickly and it was suggested
that they should try selling to a few shops "
First it was three stores, then five, then eight, then all the Queensland and Northern NSW Coles stores.
In the meantime, they were conducting a lot of in-store taste testings, and
people really liked the cornchips they were using as well as the salsas.
The cornchips
were being made by a friend for the restaurant trade. They designed a bag and approached
Coles with the idea of expanding the range to include their own brand of corn chips.
They said okay, and the rest is Coles' history.
Around the same time, John was attending a trade conference in Melbourne, and happened to be in a workshop moderated by Maxine McKew, then ABC TV presenter. Speaking at the workshop was the CEO of Woolworths, Reg Claires.
During the workshop, Maxine asked Reg what Woolworths could do to help the many small business owners in the audience, and he very kindly offered to meet with anyone after the workshop.
He gave John an appointment right there to come and talk in the old corporate HQ of Woolworths in downtown Sydney, and proved to be a very keen supporter of local brands.
Soon after, BBCC chips and salsa were ranged in Qld stores, and later nationally.
The next three products they developed were a range of Asian/Latin fusion sauces. Inspired by Thai, Indian and Mexican flavours, Lynne and John went back to their home kitchen, and came up with three unique new tastes...Fiery Coconut Chilli Sauce with Curry and Ginger, Spicy Sweet Chilli Sauce with Lemongrass and Smokin' Mango Chilli Sauce with Chipotle Chillies.
In July, 2000 exhibiting at the Fiery Food Show at Custom's House in Sydney, their products were judged to be the "Best Range of Australian Chilli Products" for 2000.
The award was known as the Australian Scovie, after the Scoville unit, the official
heat scale for chillies. The industry calls it the
Golden Chilli
and this was the first year
it was awarded.
As a prize they won a free stand at the "Big Chilli Show" in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In March, 2001, they attended the show and won four awards for their products. (see news and awards)
As a result, they started exporting to America, where the sauces can be purchased at better delis and internet chilli shopping sites.
" As a result, they started exporting to America"
Next came a range of Hot Sauces invented by a friend of theirs, Ashif Mawani. He had been making the sauces in Cronulla and marketing them under the name Ashif's Chilli Experience.
Becoming friends at the Fiery Food Shows, the Bolands considered Ashif's sauces to be masterpieces, and a perfect addition to their range.
" Ashif, Lynne and John near the old Chilli Patch"
They decided to join forces and market the sauces under the Byron Bay Chilli Company brand. Since then the Red Cayenne Chilli with Lime has been awarded "Best Louisiana Style Hot Sauce" twice in America at the Scovies, and both their Green Jalapeno with Coriander and their Gold Habanero with Mango Chilli Sauces have won double Gold at the prestigious Great Taste Competition in London.
About the same time, while exhibiting at the Blues Festival in Byron Bay, John saw a familiar face wander by the stand late one night. It was Jack Thompson, who had been playing harmonica earlier with Billy Thorpe.
Jack tried all the sauces, and bought a couple to take home.
A couple of years later there was a phone call from Jack, who was interested in marketing his own BBQ sauce recipes as a fundraiser for Landcare Australia, one of his favourite causes.
Jack Thompson at the Fancy Foods Show
One BBQ lead to another, and pretty soon they were bottling Jack Thompson BBQ sauces under the BBCC umbrella. Jack and John took a booth at the Fancy Foods Show in Melbourne, where the sauces were one of three finalists for "Best New Retail Product of 2006"
Since entering many Australian and International competitions, the ultimate accolade came in 2007 when their Fiery Coconut Chilli Sauce was voted
Grand Prize Winner
over 740 other entries at the annual Scovie contest in Albuquerque, New Mexico!
Byron Bay Chilli Company products have established themselves as
World Famous Sauces
Hog's Breath Cafe's recently acknowledged this by adding the BBCC Fiery Coconut Chilli Sauce to their own menu in two places!
Try their delicious Byron Bay Chilli Company Prime Rib. It will open up a whole new world of taste sensations and make
Music in Your Mouth
Next Stop Jupiter and Beyond
|
|
