Ahead of the Berlin Chili Festival this September, we caught up with the founder of The Original 1983, whose journey from burnt-out radio presenter to award-winning chili oil maker proves that sometimes the best career changes come from following your taste buds.
The Spicy Origin Story
How did you first discover your passion for chili and spicy food?
I’ve loved chilli for years but was a latecomer to it. I first tried chilli when I was 19, working in an Italian café in Adelaide, South Australia. About 7 years ago a friend of mine started sending me recommendations for her favourite chilli sauces and oils and I just fell back in love with it again on an all new level.
What drove you to leave radio and start your own hot sauce company?
I was working in radio for 25 years and working in Sydney and just realised I was miserable. The place was sucking the life out of me working with idiots and to be fair Led Zepplin is a great band but there is only so many times I could sell Stairway to Heaven on air like it was my favourite song. My wife begged me to quit and it took me actually about 4 years to throw the towel in, I was set to take 12 months off and renovate our house and instead bought 3,000 jars hired a commercial kitchen and the rest they say is something something.
Tell us about developing your signature recipe.
So much. I started off making sauces and liked them but realised there are so many great ones out there, so started looking at oils which had just started to become big in Australia. I had been a fan of Lagoama which is the godfather/ mother of oils (still a life goal to meet the Queen of Oils) and really wanted a fresh take on that but something that could do pizza and pasta as well as Asian style dishes. My Nanna was an amazing chef so I went through her cookbooks that she left me and found a recipe that was pretty close to where we ended up.
Any memorable disasters from the early days?
The first 200 jars I ended up throwing out when I went into full commercial production as the shallots and garlic had a burnt flavour too it. That blew hard as I was super confident that I was going to take over the world in the first batch. Turns out running your own business is a lot harder that I first thought. Who would have thought.
From Neighbor’s Garden to Commercial Success
How do you source your peppers and ingredients?
The first batches were made from my 90 year old Italian neighbours’ Cayenne Peppers but they couldn’t grow them fast enough plus the heat was super inconsistent. He said something about his back hurting, its like he wasn’t committed to make me the El Chapo of Chilli. That’s also why we did batch number so I could tell that batch 22 was hotter than batch 23.
How do you approach balancing heat and flavor?
I found people were really after flavour first and the heat was second. The focus for us is always flavour as the product took off I did get a proportion of the fans of the Cartel asking for a hotter version so we developed an extra hot version which ticks the box for those who like it a little spicy.
What’s the most surprising ingredient you’ve experimented with?
Heroin. People find it super addictive and Im not sure if anyone else has used it as an ingredient for some reason.
Award-Winning Products
Which product are you most proud of and why?
We only have 2 in the range so its pretty easy- The Original 1983. It has sold over 80,000 jars in 2 years and won almost 20 Australian local and international awards. The biggest have been the Mr Chilli Awards for Australia and NZ 2 years in a row, Best in Class at the Melbourne Fine Food Awards beating out 300 other chilli sauces and products and the European Hot Sauce Award for Best Chilli Oil. It basically keeps my wife in the expensive European handbags she ahs become accustomed too.
How do you develop new flavors?
Id like to say I listen to people about what they want but I make sauces and oils for myself. I worked out what I want and then hope people like them. When I first started The Original 1983 everyone had an opinion and I realised not to take too much notice of the people in the peanut gallery.
Tell us about your hottest offering.
I judge heat 2 ways going in and coming out. I didn’t people to feel the burn too much so when we launched The Original 1983 – Extra Hot we wanted it at a solid 7/10 heat. It has some really great Carolina Reapers and Habaneros in there that I get from a lady in Regional Australia. She thinks Im doing her a favour by taking them off her hands but she is saving me thousands by not having to buy them. Shhhhh don’t tell her.
Any special releases for the Berlin festival?
Not this year. We literally just want to introduce Europe to our award winning oils.
Berlin Chili Festival Excitement
What are you most looking forward to at the Berlin Chili Festival?
The free beer!!! What? There is no free beer? What a jip. Honestly, we are getting so much traction in Australia, I just want people to see if the hype is real. Oils are such a fast growing segment of the industry and the versatility of them is huge. I just want people to try us and see that Australia is a real force in the industry there are so many great sauces and varieties of chillis here. It’s a hidden secret.
How important are these festivals for connecting with chili enthusiasts?
Massive. Its full of people who really know their chillis and Alicia Keys sung “if you can make it here you can make it anywhere”. Sure she was probably singing about something else it seems a little niche that she would sing a whole song about a chilli festival but you get the idea.
Business Philosophy and Future Plans
What’s been your biggest business challenge so far?
Working out which car you should buy with your first million is it a Rolls Royce or a Lambo? I guess Ill find out in about 50 years.
Any exciting new products in development?
We are working on a chilli chicken salt and an a bloody Mary mix. I think I will leave the sauces to the people who know what they are doing.
Advice for aspiring hot sauce entrepreneurs?
Do it. You only live once. Who wants to be working for the corporate slaves anyway. Look how unhappy those people are with their 9-5 jobs. Sure they have money and a regular income and did I mention money? They also have to sit in meetings about HR and performance reviews and dumb stuff like that. Don’t let them kill your dreams, get out there and “just do it” unless someone has trademarked that slogan already and if they have then- Do it.
Get Your Fix
Ready to try the award-winning oils that are taking Australia by storm? You can find The Original 1983’s products at their webshop: www.allchilli.de
Visit The Original 1983 at the Berlin Chili Festival this September to experience the flavor revolution firsthand – and maybe help settle the Rolls Royce vs. Lamborghini debate.